In addition to the self-reflexive parodies presented in Harvey Birdman and Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast, Lazzo and Crofford resurrected an entire series from 1972, Sealab 2020, and re-dubbed large portions of it with scathingly funny, very adult dialogue. The Venture Brothers continued the practice of applying a wrecking ball to the Hanna-Barbera tradition. In this case, the victim was Jonny Quest. Jonny and Hadji have been replaced by two clean-cut, brain-dead youths who are equally ill served by their crabby scientist dad and his lusty bodyguard Brock in the course of their sick, warped adventures. Bandit the dog has become a grossly abused robot.

Robot Chicken (left) and Tom Goes to the Mayor are the direct descendants of MTV’s Liquid Television.

Robot Chicken and Tom Goes to the Mayor, two highly variable products, are the direct descendants of MTV’s Liquid Television. The former show is a series of blackout gags enacted by animated action figures. Robot Chicken is comparable to Saturday Night Live done with a cast of toys on amphetamines. The pace is rapid but the thickly layered pop-culture gags are haphazard. Tom Goes to the Mayor concerns a civic-minded simpleton whose idiocy is matched only by the local municipals. Tom is barely animated, with shaded cutout figures popping from one pose to the next. The style is interesting, but the show is more clever than funny and does not hold one’s interest for long.

Then there are the inevitable missteps, Squidbillies and Stroker and Hoop. Squidbillies is proof that a ridiculous concept is not necessarily a funny one. This show is a squalid nightmare of poor design and poorer animation and should not to appeal to any audience that doesn’t appreciate Jerry Springer. Stroker and Hoop sort of recalls what might have happened if Beavis and Butthead had grown up to be PIs. While S&H does reference some of the 1980s PI genre (there is even a talking car), it does so in a flat and humorless manner despite frantic efforts to the contrary; the unappealing animation is no help, either. Such are the consequences of taking risks. The jury is still out on the crudely animated 12 oz. Mouse.

They Can’t All Be Winners: Stroker and Hoop (left) and Squidbillies don’t quite measure up to Adult Swim’s standards.

CN’s acquisitions consisted of shows gunned down in the Primetime Slaughter of 2000. They are also of variable quality, although each of them have at least a cult following. The most successful (and best) of them are Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy and Matt Groening’s Futurama. Family Guy seems to be a show that has either devoted fans or vicious detractors; CN relied on the fans to such a degree that the series is actually producing new episodes. Futurama is a genuinely witty show with an endearing ensemble cast; it skewered the sci-fi genre for four years on the FOX Network.

Home Movies was a desultory series that straggled in from the Primetime Slaughter, yet another animated show about family dysfunction. In the case of Mission Hill, unattractive animation and poor writing easily demonstrated why it failed on network TV. The Oblongs was a short-lived, very bizarre series about an environmentally damaged family engaged in some version of class warfare. The Oblongs was at least a daring, if failed experiment.

The anime series imported by CN are generally excellent, and several of them ended up in a synergistic relationship with Cartoon Network, each boosting the other’s popularity. Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo come immediately to mind. CN was sharp enough to avoid derivative series filled with endless armies of ninjas, robots and bloodbaths for the hell of it in order to present cerebral efforts such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex and S-CRY-ED. Popular series like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Witch Hunter Robin and InuYasha brought anime fans in droves. CN found several series to lighten up the proceedings and broaden the scope by nabbing The Super Milk Chan Show and Perfect Hair Forever.

Adult Swim, in terms of ratings, is an unqualified success. During the month I was writing this column, the block was running six nights per week while posting the highest total day delivery of adults 18-34, adults 18-24, and males age 18-24 in ad-supported cable TV history. This is no fluke; the program has achieved this standing for 33 consecutive weeks. The Boondocks scored the highest rating ever for an Adult Swim premiere, and it is hard to dispute that sort of success.

As we have noted, America still has an inconsistent record of producing animation for mature audiences, and Adult Swim, now in its fifth year, is still in the process of smoothing out an uneven path. However, kudos are due. We have never been closer to having exclusively adult animated programming in this country. In what have been historically choppy waters, things are going swimmingly indeed at Cartoon Network.

Next month: Handicapping the Oscars! Dr. Toon’s annual advice on where to place your bets for Best Animated Feature Film.

Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.