Coming Attractions: My Adventures With Superman spins off a series with Green Lantern

 After 2 seasons, My Adventures With Superman is giving [adult swim], HBO Max, & Cartoon Network a spin-off series, to debut, likely, early in 2026, if not sooner.

My Adventures With Green Lantern will de-age one of the more recent GL's, Jessica Cruz, into a teenager, which has been done before (Super Best Friends Forever, IIRC). WB is doing casting not only for Jessica, but for a de-aged Kyle Rayner, a GL introduced in the 90's. In the canon of My Adventures, the Green Lanterns are peacekeeping.........monks.

Somehow, I'm starting to get a picture of the Guardians as alien Shaolin monks (think Kung Fu). Just kidding.

While it is unclear if Hal Jordan will appear, his mentor, Kiliwog, will be a part of this show. No start date has been announced, as they're in the casting stage at present, with production to begin later this year.

Stay tooned.

On The Air: My Adventures With Superman (2023)

 20 years ago, WB & Cartoon Network decided to experiment.

Teen Titans didn't have the standard look of DC's animated fare of the period. Instead, the character designs were made with Japanese chibi anime in mind. The series was a huge enough success, such that fans are still waiting for the series to be revived as an alternative to the current cash cow, Teen Titans Go!, which CN continues to spam into the ground on a daily basis.

My Adventures With Superman, which premiered this morning on [adult swim], and is streaming on Max, with replays on [as]' Toonami block starting Sunday morning, also uses anime influences in its designs. Based on what we've seen so far, you could make a case for WB acquiring the rights to do an American version of Dragon Ball Z, as some of the designs are similar.

Second generation actor Jack Quaid (The Boys), son of Dennis Quaid & Meg Ryan, has the title role as the Man of Steel and his alter-ego, Clark Kent. Clark, along with Lois Lane (Alice Lee) and Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Salhid), is an intern at the Daily Planet, which places the three on equal ground, a refreshing change from traditional canon. Flashbacks to Clark's youth show Clark (voiced by Kari Wahlgren in these segments) already sporting glasses, which he didn't get until years later in traditional canon.

Plans call for Superman to encounter an iteration of Task Force X, aka the Suicide Squad, as well as Monsieur Mallah (Brotherhood of Evil), Deathstroke (Chris Parnell, ex-Saturday Night Live), and Brainiac (Michael Emerson, ex-Arrow, Person of Interest). Livewire figures into the first two episodes, but, as with Jimmy and Perry White, has a new look. Subsequent episodes will premiere at Midnight every Thursday night/Friday morning, and will continue into the end of August.

Long time fans will love the almost immediate meet cute between Clark & Lois, so they're not wasting any time there, plus the fact that this Lois, as a 20-something, is cute as a button.

Rating: A.

Animated World of DC Comics: Trailer for My Adventures With Superman (2023)

Well, My Adventures With Superman has a premiere date on [adult swim], Thursday, July 6. That's the good news.

The bad? You might need to DVR it.

Proving once again that they have all the capability of programming a network like a blind grasshopper, [as] is airing the show at 12 midnight (ET).

Are these people that stupid? You have had a lead-in to your comedy lineup giftwrapped, and you decide to put it on at midnight? Thank God it'll be available On Demand, which may be the best way most of us can watch it at a reasonable hour! Since [as] is soon to lose the Fox comedies (i.e. Family Guy, Bob's Burgers) as the contracts expire, you'd think putting My Adventures With Superman in primetime would be a slam dunk, especially considering that the CW's live-action Superman & Lois will be wrapping up its 3rd season in a couple of weeks, and they could've picked up that audience.

Check the trailer:

Like, they could checkerboard part of their primetime grid so that the new show can get a wider audience, but what do we know, right?

Coming Attractions: My Adventures With Superman finds a home, as [adult swim] expands

 On May 1, [adult swim] will expand its block further into primetime, as it will now start at 7 pm (ET), where it currently runs from 8 pm-6 am 7 days a week.

As part of the announcement, two series are being added to the [as] library, likely ticketed for the 7-8 pm (ET) hour.

The previously announced My Adventures With Superman, starring 2nd generation actor Jack Quaid, is one. 

Now, it might seem weird that My Adventures With Superman would be an unlikely candidate for [as], but considering that Warner Bros. Discovery frontman David Zaslav doesn't want it on HBO Max for some reason (proving again that Zaslav is an idiot), but the more [as] expands, the wider audience becomes more available with an established brand. 

The other new entry is the latest from Genndy Tartatovsky (Primal, Dexter's Laboratory). Unicorns: Warriors Eternal appears set to launch on May 1 as well, and we can assume Superman will, too. Given Tartatovsky's track record at [adult swim] and Cartoon Network, they are banking on Unicorns being another big hit.

Ideally, you'd want Unicorns to go on first at 7 pm, followed by Superman, especially on Tuesdays, so that My Adventures With Superman would lead right into CW's Superman & Lois. We will see just how this will play out, though.

Stay tooned.

On The Air: Birdgirl (2021)

 14 years after Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law ended its run, [adult swim] returns to the continuity of that satirical look at courtroom drama with Birdgirl. The series launched Easter weekend after having been in development dating back to Christina Miller's run in charge of Cartoon Network (Miller has since been replaced).

Judy Ken Sebben (Paget Brewster, ex-Dan Vs., reprising her role from Harvey Birdman) is having issues getting over the death of her father, Phil (apparently Stephen Colbert wasn't interested in returning due to his talk show and the animated spinoffs of same), but having an impersonator show up at the offices of Sebben & Sebben was a little too over the top.

Keeping in mind that originally, Birdgirl was a 1-shot on the original Birdman, being rebooted in Harvey Birdman as Phil's daughter renewed interest in the character. [adult swim] has its own YouTube channel, and is streaming the opener:

Grade: Incomplete.

Toons After Dark: Primal (2019)

 Genndy Tartatovsky has experimented with silent cartoons in the past, like with Samurai Jack, for example.

Tartatovsky's latest, Primal, was a 10 part series that premiered on [adult swim] in October 2019, with the first 5 chapters shown nightly for a week. Then, Chumptoon Network made viewers wait a year before the final 5 aired. When a moron like Rob Sorcher is among the executive producers, that spells trouble.

Tartatovsky takes us back to caveman times, though his protagonist, for lack of better description, looks like he was descended from Vincent Hamlin's comic strip hero, Alley Oop----if Alley were drawn by Sal Buscema.

The protagonist, Spear, so named for the weapon he carries, loses his family in the first chapter, his wife & children eaten by dinosaurs. That scene, however, is not included in this sample clip:

I believe this is out on DVD, and if it is, I'll venture to get it, and post a more comprehensive review another day. No rating for now.

Looney TV: The Bob Clampett Show (2000)

 As the 21st century began, Cartoon Network was experimenting with anthology shows showcasing the works of legendary creators. 

Bob Clampett was one of those legends, along with Chuck Jones and Tex Avery. It's too bad the experiment ended before they got around to Friz Freleng. Joking aside, The Bob Clampett Show ran for about a year on CN before being shifted over to the nascent [adult swim] side of the channel. While season 1 was exclusively Warner Bros. material, some of Clampett's early Beany & Cecil work was added for season 2, which marked the only time that series aired on CN.

During its CN run, the series aired on Sunday nights. Shifting to [as] allowed a little more schedule flexibility. Too bad CN can't be bothered to bring the show back along with the rest of the line (i.e. Toon Heads) to fill space on Boomerang.

From a sample episode, here's a Blue Ribbon reissue of "Farm Frolics":

This series deserved a better fate.

Rating: A.

"Farm Frolics" also gets an A.

Toons After Dark: The Shivering Truth (2018)

Give the folks at [adult swim] credit for always looking for something new.

Cartoon Network's nuttier half is so high on a new puppet-driven anthology series, The Shivering Truth, that they're previewing it online before it debuts at midnight (ET) on December 9. Shivering Truth comes from the mind of comic Vernon Chatman (ex-Louie), who has done some voice work for [adult swim] in the past. The anthology format allows plenty of room for guest stars, including Janeane Garafolo, Jonah Hill, and South Park co-creator Trey Parker.

Following is a short excerpt.



To me, it seems like Chatman drew some inspiration from horror anthologies of the past, such as Rod Serling's legendary Twilight Zone, as the bizarre imagery above recalls some of Serling's wilder entries in that series.

Rating: B.

Toons After Dark: Fred Flintstone as The Dabba Don (Harvey Birdman, Attorney-At-Law, 2002)

The Sopranos was one of the hottest cable shows at the time it was being parodied on Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law during the latter's 1st season.

Fred Flintstone (voiced here by Maurice LaMarche) envisions himself as a Tony Soprano type, and tries to work out a business deal with Harvey (Gary Cole), while Peanut, the former Birdboy, is trying to insinuate himself with "Freddie". Archived footage from The Flintstones is used with new dialogue dubbed over.

Edit, 4/22/2020: The video was deleted. All we have now is this intro to the episode.



Why bring this up? Because [adult swim] is bringing Harvey back from the dead in an all-new special airing later this year. Cole and Stephen Colbert will return. With Colbert a little extra busy these days with the Late Show on CBS, one wonders if he'll promote the special.

One of the better episodes of the series, which from this desk isn't saying much.

Rating: B-.

Toons After Dark: Welcome to Eltingville (2002)

Evan Dorkin's Welcome to Eltingville didn't get beyond the pilot episode commissioned by [adult swim] in 2002, but, by all rights, it should've.

Spun off from a feature he created for Dark Horse Comics' Instant Piano anthology comic, Dorkin presented the four members of the Eltingville Club behaving like normal kids. Arguing, fighting over petty things. The language and other mature themes landed Eltingville on [adult swim] rather than Cartoon Network proper. Dorkin took on a supporting voice role in the show, as you'll hear.

Director Chuck Sheetz would also work on What's New Scooby-Doo, and other projects for WB. The music was composed and performed by the Aquabats, who'd later land their own series-----but not on CN/[as]. And, yes, the intro sequence is a homage to the 1966 Batman series, as envisioned by Dorkin.

I think Dorkin was hoping this would work, because his more familiar creations, Milk & Cheese, would've been [as] material. 

Rating: B.

Bad TV: A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith (1999)

Even though John Kricfalusi's A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith is respectfully (?) dedicated to William Hanna & Joseph Barbera, the Spumco-produced short, which bowed on Cartoon Network in 1999, paints park ranger John Smith (Corey Burton, doing his best Don Messick impersonation) in a negative light. I'm not fond of the exaggerated facial features on Smith, but that's a Spumco trademark we have to deal with.




Draw your own conclusions, peeps. Kricfalusi ended his association with CN/[adult swim] after his 2001 series, The Ripping Friends, bombed on [as] after a short daytime run on Fox.

Rating: D-.

Sunday Funnies: Incredible Hulk, a la Family Guy (2011)

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is a comics geek.

There, I've said it. We've previously seen Family Guy channel MacFarlane's inner geek/child with a replication of the opening to The All-New Super Friends Hour. From 2011, here's a satire on another popular series from the late 70's, The Incredible Hulk:



Honestly, Peter has never looked more appropriate in a parody skit.

Rating: A.

Tooniversary: Baby Blues (2000)

While the comic strip, Baby Blues, continues on in newspapers across the country, some folks might've forgotten a short-lived summer replacement series that aired on the WB in 2000.

The network ordered the standard 13 episodes of Baby Blues, but pulled the plug after 2 months due to dismal ratings, as the show aired on Sundays, opposite The Simpsons on Fox. Comedian and former Nickelodeon personality Mike O'Malley (ex-Nickelodeon GUTS) had turned to acting, and was part of the ensemble cast that also included Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show), Nicole Sullivan & Phil LaMarr (MadTV), and Julia Sweeney (ex-Saturday Night Live). The theme song, heard in the following video, is the Barenaked Ladies' "It's All Been Done".



After WB dropped Blues, the network kept it in the vaults until sister network Cartoon Network's [adult swim] division acquired the show and burned off the remaining episodes. It's since gone back in the vaults. Why [as] and not CN proper? For some idiotic reason, the WB decided to make the cartoon a little more adult than its print counterpart, and for all intents & purposes, that killed the show.

No rating.

Toons After Dark: Three sidekicks walk into an elevator, and......! (Robot Chicken, 2011)

Props to the Star twins over at Twin Factor for tipping me to this next Robot Chicken entry.

Perhaps inspired by the now-legendary "Sidekicks" house ad Cartoon Network produced some 15 or so years earlier, we find Orko (He-Man & the Masters of the Universe) sharing an elevator with Snarf (Thundercats), and soon joined by Gleek, for once traveling on his own, away from the Wonder Twins. Co-creator/co-executive producer Seth Green (Family Guy) voices Orko & Gleek.



Rating: B-.

Bad TV: God, the Devil, & Bob (2000)

In the late 70's, George Burns was cast as the Almighty in "Oh, God", which was a smash hit, co-starring singer John Denver. There'd be a sequel, and that was it.

Producers Marcy Carsey & Tom Werner (Roseanne, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Cosby Show, etc.) decided to have a little fun with the concept in 2000. They were tasked to produce an animated sitcom for NBC which had God and Lucifer, aka the Devil, actually socializing. In what amounts to a satire on the Old Testament book of Job, God, the Devil, & Bob purports God to have the physical appearance of the late Grateful Dead frontman, Jerry Garcia. You can figure out that joke, I'm sure.

God (James Garner, ex-The Rockford Files) and Lucifer (Alan Cumming) make a bet. An ordinary schlub, one Bob Allman (French Stewart, 3rd Rock From the Sun), is chosen as God's new messenger. Unfortunately, he makes John Denver's character in the "Oh, God" movies look even more like a Boy Scout, as Bob is into porn and booze.

A combination of low ratings and pressure from religious watchdog groups forced the show off the air after a month. [adult swim] picked up the series and ran the remaining 9 episodes. Oh, unsurprisingly, it's popular overseas, but not here.

As the opening episode, "In the Beginning", begins, we find God and the Devil meeting at a place where most folks probably think the Devil has a vested interest----a used car lot.



Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) and Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons) co-star. Can't say for sure if either one wants to remember this even happened.

Rating: D.

Toons After Dark: The Great Cartoon Massacre (Robot Chicken, 2013?)

I ran across this next item when I scoped out Twin Factor the other week. Another instant classic from Robot Chicken.

Inspired by Steven Spielberg's 2005 film, "Munich", Seth Green and friends imagine the 1972 Olympic massacre in Munich with characters from Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics. It's going to get graphic, gory, and ugly in a hurry. For what it's worth, Frank Welker was not called upon to reprise as Scooby-Doo or Dynomutt. In fact, Green takes his turn as Scooby, though Matt Lilliard reprises as Shaggy.

Here's "Laff-a-Munich":




The sketch title is also a play on the phrase, "laugh a minute".

Rating: A-.

On The Air: American Dad (2005)

On Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane introduced us to a father figure who's about as sharp as a broken thumbtack. 10 years ago, aided by co-creators Mike Barker & Matt Weitzman, MacFarlane gave us another dad who's dumber than a bag of hammers. The difference is, he works for the CIA.

American Dad landed the plum post-Super Bowl slot when the big game aired on Fox in 2005. The 1st season resumed in the spring, and it's been off and running ever since. Another big difference is that MacFarlane, aside from voicing Stan Smith (the Dad in the title) and his alien boarder, Roger, isn't as creatively involved. In other words, this is as different from Family Guy in as many ways as you could imagine. The humor isn't quite so in your face and insulting. Stan's exaggerated jaw is enough.

After 10 seasons, the series has changed addresses, from Fox to TBS, whose sister network, [adult swim], already had repurposing rights. Fox aired the first 3 episodes of the new season, but the rest are on TBS/[as]. Fox decided to do away with their all-animated Sunday lineup, and are again trying out live-action comedies mixed with Family Guy, The Simpsons, & Bob's Burgers.

I think the success of this show may have inspired Sprint's recent promotion involving a bizarre nuclear family, for lack of better description. That's just my opinion, though.

Following is a remixed collection of intros featuring Stan & Roger from seasons 4-8:




I've tried watching this show. It makes my brain hurt.

Rating: C-.

Toons After Dark: The Cleveland Show (2009).

At the end of the last decade, Fox spun The Cleveland Show off from Family Guy. Unfortunately, the misadventures of Cleveland Brown (Mike Henry) and his family lasted just 4 seasons, just enough to get the show into syndication and [adult swim].

As shown in the following trailer, Cleveland reconnects with his high school sweetheart, Donna, when he registers his son at the same high school he attended growing up in Virginia. Silliness ensues.




All it really is, frankly, is more of the same dumber-than-a-doorknob comedy from co-executive producer Seth MacFarlane, who now has only Family Guy on Fox, while American Dad shifted over to TBS this season, just so Fox could try out a new live-action comedy, Mullaney, which apparently bombed. I tried watching this show a few times, and all I could get was Cleveland being no smarter than his friends from Family Guy, and that ain't saying much.

Rating: C.

On The Air: Robot Chicken (2005)

There are very few shows on [adult swim]'s roster that can actually say they've been around for 10 years. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Robot Chicken.

The series began life online under another title for Sony (which co-produces the series) 4 years earlier, but then [adult swim] got their hands on it, and, quite frankly, it's perhaps one of the best things they have going for it right now.

Take the use of action figures and other inanimate objects used on Nickelodeon's Action League Now! in the 90's, mix in coarse language and the snarky attitude of [as], and that pretty much describes Robot Chicken in a nutshell. Created by Matthew Seinrich and actor Seth Green (Family Guy), Robot Chicken will skewer just about anything. Amazingly, it has avoided the backlash from certain media corners that has dogged South Park, which has been around longer.

Edit, 9/2/2020: The sample previously used has been privatized. In its place is an intro:

Showing once again they're not afraid to bite the hands that feed them, Robot Chicken has satirized DC and Marvel comics characters, as well as Scooby-Doo and other pop culture favorites. Realizing that they had the resources to appeal to a wider audience, Cartoon Network adapted the long-running humor mag, Mad, into a series a few years back, but that bit the dust about a year or so ago, due largely to [as] continuing to poach quality air space from the core network. Green has had his Family Guy castmates contribute to Robot Chicken as well.

The earlier seasons, I believe, are available on DVD, but wait until after dark to play them. It's meant to be that way.

Rating: B.

Daytime Heroes: Dragon Ball Z (1989)

Yes, the date at the top is correct. Japan's Dragon Ball Z, the follow-up to the original Dragon Ball anime, made its debut in 1989, but it was several years before it was imported to the US, where it has maintained a steady presence in recent years. Cartoon Network recently reacquired the series for its [adult swim] lineup, according to reports.

During its first run on Cartoon Network, Dragon Ball Z aired as part of the daytime Toonami block. It's since aired on CW & Nicktoons before returning to CN. I didn't follow the show all that much, so there won't be a rating.

Here's the intro that aired on CN: