Monday, December 18th, 2017

Adult Animated Television Series

Jonathan Blum

Age shouldn’t stop you from watching your favorite programs, even if they’re animated.
For 28 years, a family just like any other in America has entertained several generations with their daily lives, which itself is becoming a running gag. That’s because adult animation became relevant thanks to The Simpsons.

In 2017, television series have been a recurring theme in this space, and it’s nothing to sneeze at–the range available has increased considerably across all formats and audience types. Today I will analyze animated series for adults.

Aside fromThe Simpsons, there are other programs such as Family Guy, South Park, and a long list of shows in that vein. This year particularly, conversations focused on Rick and Morty and Big Mouth. The former is broadcasted through cable and the latter is a Netflix Original. What do they have in common? Their style and themes. The stories differ from one another. However, they have managed to capture audiences’ attention because through their comical and often crude style, they deal with profound issues such as the meaning of life. And not only that, they also appeal to our nostalgic side. They have an emotional element that adult audiences appreciate.

Through the adventures of a granddad and his grandson, who mirror the Doc Brown and Marty McFly architype (Back to the Future), Rick and Morty shows the viewer the possibility of alternate realities and infinite universes. On the other hand, Big Mouth talks about how hard it is to be a teenager and all of feelings that come with this age group.

The success of both stories lies in the emotions they convey. And this is an area waiting to be exploited by producers. Awakening emotions is currently bringing in better results for programs whose formulas, while previously adept at this, had worn out.

I recommend exploring new niches of opportunity and daring to create different products, stories people can identify with, sincere characters who invite people to explore their limits of understanding and cause them to think, “Why not? Why not give this new program a try?” without it mattering if its format is animated or conventional.