A year ago this week, I wrote a fancy little article predicting what 2012 had in store for [adult swim]. History seems to have a way of repeating itself… as such, I plan to predict what 2013 has for Swim right now…
2012 was definitely the year of surprises, especially in the Returns Dept. Toonami rose from the ashes like the great phoenix of legend (or if you read Harry Potter, dat bird,) with great success thanks to some serious Twitter power spearheaded by Toonami frontrunner Jason DeMarco, as well as our friends over at ToonamiFaithful.com. In a short seven months, we saw a 4 hour block on Saturday night’s transform into a night of Samurais, Deadmen, Narutos, Thundercats, and even the return of Tenchi (even if it isn’t Muyo proper.)
So what’s next for Toonami? Hopefully it expands even further. But let’s do some predicting (and get some of the obvious out of the way…)
First off, don’t expect any of the old Toonami shows that air on another network. Clearly Nickelodeon is in charge of the DragonBall/Z/GT franchise so don’t expect Turner Net to pony up the dough to snatch the rights away. We’ve heard rumblings that it’s possible (now that they’ve acquired Naruto) that One Piece may not be soon behind.
Personally, I would love to see them acquire some of the older titles they once had on Toonami, particularly Voltron, Old School Thundercats, etc. Obviously with The HUB now being a powerful network competitor with all of the quality retro titles (Transformers, GI Joe, etc.) those shows will difficult and/or pointless in obtaining rights to air.
Going back to returns, 2012 also saw the return of Cartoon Planet (sans Space Ghost.) I can understand where they were coming from with bringing the show back, but unfortunately I don’t think it was executed properly… that is to say it doesn’t seem to have the same quality as the original. The appeal for me personally with the original was the whole Space Ghost factor. If I had to guess, this reboot was parallel to the Toonami reboot in which Turner only set aside a certain amount of dollarage. Plus, anyone who’s ever encountered one Mr. George Lowe, Daddy’s all about the $$$’s. That being said, I’m not sure how the numbers for CP are (I do DVR it most Fridays… except that I cancel it if I need to watch something else,) but hopefully they drive home enough cash to bring in the Ghost, or else new eps of Space Ghost C2C.
As far as Swim proper is concerned, the year starts off on the 17th with the brand new (2nd) spinoff from Childrens Hospital and Exec Producer Jonathan Stern, Newsreaders. Will Newsreaders live up to the live-action awesome as its twin sister, NTSF:SD:SUV? Only time will tell… and who knows, maybe we’ll have an exclusive interview with Louis LaFonda himself, Mr. Mather Zickel? Only time will tell.
After Newsreaders, there’s no telling what is up next. But here’s what we DO know…
- Season Two of China, IL with new characters (one of which is voiced by Eric Andre Show’s Hannibal Burress.) and a new 22 minute format sometime this spring or summer.
- Dan Harmon’s triumphant return to the boob tube (after being unceremoniously removed by NBC as frontrunner for Community,) this fall in the [adult swim] version of his Channel 101 cartoon, Rick and Morty.
- Definitely another season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. More than likely with another new title. My money’s on “That Aqua Food Show on Cable TV.”
- The well-awaited return of the ridiculously awesome Venture Bros TV Programme.
- All of your other classic favs such as Squidbillies, Superjail, Metalocalypse, and more
- Not-so-classic, but still pretty great/good shows like Black Dynamite, Loiter Squad, and more.
- Of course don’t forget all the pilots, new shows, and specials announced at this year’s Upfront Presentation (something we hope to go to in 2013 to both cover and soak in after 7 years of being passed.) From the second season of The Heart, She Holler to AT LEAST one or two more specials from Adam Scott (hopefully in the same vain as The Greatest Event in Television History.) Beforel Orel’s special had a subtitle too… that means there’s definitely a possibility of another or three. Also, is it worth mentioning Tight Bros. at this point? Probably not. x_x
- The one thing we’ve not heard about… a 4th season of Delocated (although there IS a live show in Chicago this coming January, so there’s definitely hope.)
- Of course, Dexter’s Rude Removal is in the works… and we’ll thank you to please stop bugging us about it. For the kajillionth time [as]central is not [adult swim]. KTHX!
- What’s on for April Fools in 2013? We’ve already had the be all, end all of pranks in Toonami. Will we see The Room one more time? Space Ghost? New Pilots? Your guess is as good as ours.
