Cartoon Network's mature animation bloc Adult Swim began its illustrious career by cannibalizing cast-offs from other networks, most notably Fox. And it really hit its ratings stride once it netted aborted Fox shows like Family Guy and Futurama.
So it's sticking with the streak by syndicating Mike Judge's recently canceled Fox lifer King of the Hill, which just wrapped up its 12th season, and expanding its programming to seven nights a week. The new schedule starts in January 2009, at which point Adult Swim will broadcast its envelope-pushing cartoons at 10 p.m. every night. The move will no doubt solidify its stranglehold on the 18-24 demographic, which it has more or less ruled for 14 straight quarters.
"With King of the Hill joining Family Guy in our Adult Swim lineup we now have two of the greatest animated series ever made," said Mike Lazzo, Swim's justifiably excited senior vice president of programming and production, in a press release.
I won't dispute that Adult Swim has ruled late-night television since 2001, when it first dropped -- along with Underwire's jaw -- after screening the first few episodes of the brilliant Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. But calling King of the Hill and Family Guy two of the greatest animated series ever made? Well, that just invites skepticism.
I suppose the catch would be deciding on how long that list is. I can think of more than a few classics that rule over those two shows, including the criminally underrated Birdman, which gave cultural phenomenon Stephen Colbert serious legs, and Lazzo's own Space Ghost: Coast to Coast.
Then there is Avatar: The Last Airbender, Samurai Jack, various animated iterations of Batman, which includes Justice League, and onward. And those are just some shows from this century; the 20th century was no slouch either. After all, that's when the greatest animated series in the history of television, The Simpsons, was launched, inspiring a series of clones like ... Family Guy and King of the Hill.
But as election day proved, this is a democracy. So make sure to take part and post a comment on your favorite animated shows of all time. Underwire can't wait to see the people's list.
Photo courtesy Cartoon Network
See also:
- Futurama Animators Roll 20-Sided Die With Bender's Game
- Adult Swim's *Superjail *Skewers Surveillance State
- The Ratings Force Is Strong With Cartoon Network's Clone Wars
- Robot Chicken: Star Wars Sequel in the Works
- Family Guy Creator Seth MacFarlane Unveils Web Toon
- King of the Hill's Judge Curates Freaky Animation DVD
