Well you certainly spent some time on this post, so I want to reply to it so that you don't feel like it will go unread.
lehmansterms wrote:
For what it's worth - and it's only one man's opinion - so long as there is so little new animation/anime that's available and/or able to be acquired for AS, The Heart She Holler is tied, in my mind, with Childrens Hospital as the best of the live-action work that's been aired in the last several years on AS.
I'm with you here. I'm a big fan of TH, SH and Childrens. I'm also a Tim & Eric fan--I'd rate these three live action shows as AS's best. I was really surprised by how much I like Childrens.
It's too bad, also, that AS has seen fit to clog the flow of the evening's programming with endless reruns of Family Guy, American Dad and King of the Hill. King of the Hill was forced and sappy when it was brand new in the mid 90's - it's going on 20 years old now - now it's just painful to watch. American Dad seemed to have some potential, but seems to be cheaping-out by copying Family Guy copying Simpsons, copying every other Father is a Dope sitcom back to Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners (who was the first, last and only one who ever actually got it right). I realize there are many folks who find Family Guy amusing - and it's true that if one throws enough baloney at a wall, eventually a slice or two is going to stick - but the endless re-running of the same episodes every couple of weeks (it seems) and the hour-long blocks are just too, too much. Maybe 4 shows each PER WEEK, total, of Family Guy, American Dad and King of the Hill - so there's something for everyone, OK?
You're preaching to the choir without a doubt. But the problem is that even though we faithful viewers are thoroughly sick of the Fox programming, those are still the breadwinners on the block. Family Guy occupies like the top 10 ratings slots every week, followed by American Dad. It's a sad state of affairs but it pays for the programs you and I like. So I tolerate them.
As for what to replace all those blocks of hours with - there's so much anime that's never been touched, that need not ever grow stale. Hell, I'd watch Space Ghost and Brak Show reruns more willingly than all the Fox retread sitcoms re-run over and over and over. Also, there actually are some new and interesting takes on weekly sitcoms out there - Bob's Burgers, for instance, is brilliant. Archer - so obviously the son of Frisky Dingo - would be terriffic if you could get it. The live-action stuff is "iffy" - where The Heart She Holler succeeds so soaringly, and Childrens Hospital more successfully sends up the entire hospital drama genre than any other attempt I've ever seen, Chris Monsanto and NTSF SD SUV are just trying too hard and spinning their wheels while wasting some amazing talent behind weak writing. Most of the other live-action was so bad that I've managed to forget it altogether along with its names - except for that British import (2 guys first in a zoo, then in a junk shop? can't remember the name, though) which had some original thought in the writing and situations. At least Monsanto and SUV are trying to do something, whether it really hits the spot or not. The airings of the original British The Office were truly worthwhile, too. That whole series was just so far above and beyond the level of excellence of writing and acting than virtually anything on US TV that it was nearly painful to watch.
The reason Brak and SG reruns don't get played is that they're so old that nobody watches them anymore. It's sad but true. I'd love to see Bob's Burgers on Adult Swim. I'd imagine that AS would love to have it, too, given its connections to Loren Bouchard over the years.
I'm a fan of Eagleheart, and to a lesser extent NTSF SD SUV. I think that AS found a live action formula that works for them with these shows, and Delocated, after a bumpy start. I think they're unique enough to have a presence on the block, yet generic enough to get viewers. And I think the genericness is sort of what you're getting at, whereas TH, SH is totally in its own universe.
I realize this is an old, old thread and probably no one's ever even going to see my opinionated expatiations on what's good and what's weak on AS - Boondocks, I hadn't mentioned, is yet another story - and that's also a cut above in writing and talent, but when you don't have any new shows, you're killing it by running it over and over and over again - I wind up saying - "Yes this was hilarious the first 5 times I sat through it, but now, after 10 viewings, I have the episode memorized" - and I change the channel. I could definitely watch more reruns of Venture Brothers, however - another fantastic conflation of brilliant concept, solid writing and major voice talent (even if few of them are family names).
VB actually gets rerun quite a bit, especially on Sundays, but it's out of rotation right now. I'm sure it will return.
Keep exploring new fields rather than going for the safe, comfy, "trite and true" - that's what AS has really been good at over the years - bringing us stuff we've never, ever seen before - Xavier is a great case in point here - I'm sure it went over the heads of 75% of the short-attention-spanners - but keep trying. It would be nice to see some of the old bumps, occasionally - the miniatures - the weird stuff popping out from behind trees and bushes, maybe a "bumps archive" evening per week - just don't, whatever you do, keep doing the same thing over and over every single night - switch it up a bit - and you'll keep the attention of this old insomniac for years more to come.
AS will never stop putting out stuff that's off the beaten path, both anime and comedy. Mike Lazzo, head of Adult Swim, has said that he's willing to get low ratings to have some color and variety on his network. I think that's the right attitude to have for Adult Swim, lest it turn into TBS 2. Many of these shows reward viewers for their attention, and TH, SH is one of them, as is Xavier. I don't think there's any danger of AS giving up on this part of its programming, at least not anytime soon.
D
AdultSwim.com is part of Turner Entertainment Digital which is part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network.
