Off the deep end over ‘Adult Swim’
It’s a free country, so if you don’t like what you’re watching, change the damn channel.
That’s a message for the Parents Television Council, the watchdog group that has unleashed its latest barrage of hysterical attacks. Usually these are reserved for what is deemed mind-polluting material; their past foes have ranged from “The Simpsons” to “Gilmore Girls” and “Friends.” This time the target is Cartoon Network’s uber-successful, and yes, occasionally filthy nighttime programming block, “Adult Swim.”
The lineup, a mix of silly, adult-themed animated and live-action shows, will in March add an hour in prime time filled with irreverent shows aimed at grownups. “Adult Swim” is aptly titled and among the most successful bit of TV in late night, drawing far more viewers — in the 18-49 group loved by advertisers — than “The Tonight Show,” David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel.
The expansion this spring means “Swim” will start at 8 p.m., rather than 9. That has raised the hackles of the PTC, a pro-censorship group founded in 1995 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III.
“Parents beware: not all cartoons are created equal. And what’s particularly dangerous about Cartoon Network and ‘Adult Swim’ is that the content changes from being kid-friendly to adult-oriented not with the click of a remote, but with the tick of the clock,” said the council’s president, Tim Winter, in a statement last week.
“Cartoon Network’s ‘Adult Swim’ has a long history of marketing explicit animation to children,” Winter argues. “The network’s announcement that it is moving this programming block to an even earlier hour, when children are more likely to be in the audience, is disturbing on a number of levels. The network claims that they’re targeting adult males by moving ‘Adult Swim’ to an earlier hour, but in the process children are being thrown under the bus.” This is utter nonsense. First off, “Adult Swim” programming planned for that hour includes shows that have already aired elsewhere at 8 p.m. That’s the case with Fox’s defunct “King of the Hill” — now airing in “Adult Swim.” It’s a show the PTC hates.
Either way, the only people who should be controlling what children watch on TV are parents — not watchdog groups and especially not big government, an entity the council loves to petition.
The Cartoon Network labels the shows under an “Adult Swim” label for a reason. So it’s ridiculous whining from the PTC, which routinely bombards the FCC with complaints about television content.
Even more galling is how the group, founded and staffed by prominent conservatives, is constantly asking the government to step in and control what people watch. That’s asking for bigger government, something that — last time I checked — tends to be higher up on the agenda for left-leaning folks.
Those who program “Adult Swim” say the reason they’re adding the earlier hour is to accommodate ad demand. That’s understandable, given that the network is in, well, a business.
Sounds like capitalism at its best — made even better with the addition of fart jokes.