A Glimmer Of Hope

The article by Croteau and Hoynes very good and spot on, in my opinion. Their discussion of Viacom was particularly interesting to me, however, because of my love for a "channel" called Adult Swim.

Adult Swim comes on after Cartoon Network from 10 pm to 6 am Eastern time. It only airs at these times due to the safe harbor laws, but mainly because it is a very new station (started in 2001 [same year this article was written]) and is trying to work its way up to get its own channel. Most people know of Adult Swim primarily for showing Family Guy, which is its highest rated show. Adult Swim factors into this article in two very big ways. Croteau and Hoynes focus mostly on Viacom in the piece and Viacom is a sort of rival of Adult Swim (a Time Warner based company). A perfect example is found in the show Futurama. Adult Swim had the rights to Futurama and managed to inspire a "comeback" in popularity of the show. Unfortunately, the newfound popularity of the show also caught the attention of Viacom and in 2009, the rights to Futurama went up for sale. Viacom outbid Adult Swim on their second highest rated show and now Futurama can be found on Comedy Central. This loss greatly hurt Adult Swim.

The other key connection between AS and the article has to do with the creative loss found in these major companies. Although Adult Swim is a part of Turner (TBS, TNT, etc.), it is one of the only television networks that puts out completely original, fresh shows. I feel that if Croteau and Hoynes had written this article yesterday, they would have mentioned AS as a glimmer of hope that creativity is not dead within television. As an example, I included this clip from the end of an episode of Moral Orel. The show only lasted three seasons, but the third season (which this clip is from) was one of the most thought-provoking, psychological pieces of work I have ever found on TV. I highly, highly recommend that everyone in the class check out the Adult Swim original shows. There is something for everybody.