Why Adult Animation Might Be Saving TV

It’s no secret that the linear TV industry has been in a state of contraction. But during a time when shows often have a lifespan of one to four seasons, there’s been one behemoth quietly holding down the fort: adult animation.

“The Simpsons” and “South Park” have always been giants. But in recent years, the subgenre of animated half-hour programs aimed at adults (or teens, let’s be honest) has truly exploded. Demand for titles like “Rick and Morty” increased 152% between January 2020 and October 2023, according to Parrot Analytics. This was partially due to the COVID pandemic, but that fandom has continued, not just in terms of viewership but merchandising revenue, convention panels and a vibrant online community around most titles.

And this isn’t just a niche fandom. Two of Fox’s “Animation Domination” darlings — “Family Guy” and “Bob’s Burgers” — ended 2024 as the No. 3 and No. 4 most-streamed TV shows, respectively. During that year, “Family Guy” secured 42.4 billion viewing minutes, while “Bob’s Burgers” saw 37 billion viewing minutes, according to Nielsen. 

These series can mean serious cash for their creators and parent companies. A prime example is “South Park,” a show that cost Warner Bros. Discovery $500 million for its exclusive streaming rights, a deal that is set to end this summer. Two years later, Comedy Central renewed the long-running comedy series through 2027 and struck a deal worth $900 million with series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to produce 14 specials exclusively for Paramount+.

“The creative potential of animation is clearly so powerful, and if you get it right, there can be a great studio business around it,” Michael Thorn, president of Fox Television Network, told TheWrap. Though some of Fox’s biggest titles are currently produced through the Disney-owned 20th Television Animation, the network is looking into producing more of its animated originals, giving Fox more control over the final product. 

This subgenre of television has also become a welcome training ground for some of the most creative voices in Hollywood. Much has been written about the many talents “The Simpsons” has produced, from “King of the Hill” and “The Office” creator Greg Daniels to Conan O’Brien. Before her breakout role on “The Bear,” Ayo Edebiri worked as a consulting producer on Netflix’s “Big Mouth.” And some of the creators in the Marvel Cinematic Universe  — Michael Waldron (“Loki” and “Doctor Strange 2”), Jeff Loveness (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”) and Jessica Gao (“She-Hulk”) — were first writers on “Rick and Morty.” Yet as crucial as these tentpoles have become, adult animation success stories are few and far between. It’s a subgenre that requires a substantial investment and patience, and at a particularly risk-averse time in Hollywood, fewer bets are being made. 

“I’d like to think that ‘Rick and Morty’ gives you a crash course in story breaking and sci-fi,” Dan Harmon, the co-creator of the Adult Swim show, told TheWrap. “It’s like a little training ground for guerrilla writers that can then go do whatever out in the savage marketplace.”

The TV industry’s sleeper success story

Though only the parent networks of these shows know exactly how profitable they are, there are signs that this subgenre is a massive revenue driver. Back in 2013, 21st Century Fox struck a $900 million deal with Fox and FXX for the cable and streaming rights to “The Simpsons,” the longest-running American sitcom in history. “Invincible” has contributed nearly $500 million in subscriber revenue to Amazon, according to Parrot Analytics. Last year, Fox and the Disney-owned streamer Hulu struck a deal worth an estimated $1.5 billion for the in-season streaming rights for Fox’s programming slate, which includes shows like “Family Guy” and “The Great North.” Speaking of Fox, in 2019, the network also acquired Bento Box Entertainment — the animation studio that makes “Bob’s Burgers” — in a deal worth an estimated $50 million. 

“We certainly see the business opportunity around animation based on series, which is why we acquired Bento Box in 2019 and why we’re looking to, as part of our next generation lineup, both creatively and financially own our next series,” Thorn said, noting that the network is still interested in third-party development.

Some of these shows have also seen success at the box office. Back in 1999, “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” made $83 million worldwide against a budget of $21 million. That was followed in 2007 by “The Simpsons Movie,” which made $536 million worldwide, and in 2022 by “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” which made $34 million in a still COVID-impacted environment. 

And unlike other forms of entertainment, these shows can also have long viewership windows. While certain Adult Swim shows like “Rick and Morty” and “Common Side Effects” are appointment viewing for fans, shows that have been off the air for years, like “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and “The Boondocks,” “still have really good streaming engagement,” Michael Ouweleen, president of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang, told TheWrap.

The creative potential of animation is clearly so powerful, and if you get it right, there can be a great studio business around it.”

– Michael Thorn, president of Fox Television Network

“It could be that people who grew up watching Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon are now adult human beings, and so animation doesn’t feel ‘other’ to them. It could be that because of streaming, animation is sitting side-by-side with other forms of entertainment. But something’s changed over the past couple of years where adult animation is not as separate from the rest of entertainment,” observed Ouweleen, who cut his teeth as a co-creator of “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.”

Hits can also translate into merchandising opportunities for networks, though that piece of the revenue pie may be less than people think. “[Merchandising partners] want to know they’re going into distribution with big retailers like Target and Walmart. And Target and Walmart, because the stakes are so high for them, want several seasons of success before they commit to shelf space,” Ouweleen said. “The main revenue generator is licensing the content to other partners, either after we’re done with it or after Max is done with it. Then ad revenue is another part, and consumer products is after that.”

An investment that’s high risk, high rewards

So if adult animation is such a juggernaut, why isn’t every network in this space? The answer comes down to investment. The development process for animation takes far longer than live-action, and, unlike other scripted series, these shows require more of a runway to find their audiences.

“It’s high risk, high yield. That also refers to the time you have to put into it. Your animated show isn’t going to pay off as quickly as live-action,” Scott Marder, the showrunner of “Rick and Morty,” told TheWrap. “If your big achievement is you greenlit the new ‘Simpsons,’ you might have done it two years ago. In that time, how many Nicole Kidman, eight-episode murder shows are rolling over you?”

“Part of the relationship with a new show in animation and comedy, honestly, is patience and support,” Thorn said. “If you think about the road to success of ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ neither of those shows were overnight successes. They were always brilliant … but it took a while for them to become these iconic series.”

Indeed, “Family Guy” was actually canceled after three seasons in 2002, but was later revived thanks to success from Adult Swim reruns and DVD sales. It’s now on Season 23.

It’s because these series take time that Fox now often grants multi-season orders to its newer shows like “Grimsburg” and “Universal Basic Guys.” “When you’re in business with someone like Dan Harmon, Jon Hamm or Adam and Craig Malamut, our commitment to these partners is that we believe in your shows, and we’re going to give you the time to find that audience,” Thorn explained.

The scrappier Adult Swim also takes that approach when it economically makes sense. “We’re trying to be, when we know something’s working, as consistent as we can at a time when it’s very hard for people to invest in series. The economics are hard,” Ouweleen said.

Crafting the next generation of talent

When shows used to run for more seasons and episodes, there was a built-in career ladder for writers and producers. Creatives could start as a low-level producer on a show and work their way up over the years. 

“In broadcast TV, you used to be able to cultivate freshmen into geniuses, specifically at your show,” Harmon said. “Andrew Guest comes to mind. He was absolutely fresh on ‘Community,’ and within two seasons the thing he was good at was writing ‘Community.’ It’s because we had 25 episodes and he had no reason to entertain other [career] options.”

Now with shows ending after a few seasons and 10-episode installments as the norm, that model has largely disappeared. It’s only through the long-running nature of these adult animated hits that pieces of this once-vital Hollywood advancement model remain. “The big problem is, what could you ever say to a writer of your show that does 10 episodes at a time to make them not go away?” Harmon asked. “It’s a great argument for unionizing your writers room because if they have health benefits, they may stay. But you also need to combine that with a 12-season pickup.” 

That’s exactly how many seasons “Rick and Morty” has under its belt. The Adult Swim hit was first renewed for a staggering 70 episodes in 2018, which was then followed by a renewal through Season 12 last year.

It’s not just the longevity of these shows but their very ethos that attracts newer creative voices. “It’s a very joke-dense comedic genre, so it makes sense that great comedic voices and writers come out of it,” Andrew Goldberg, one of the four creators of “Big Mouth,” told TheWrap. In addition to Edebiri, the now-ended Netflix animated hit included comedian Patti Harrison, “SNL” cast member Devon Walker and “The Bear” and “Human Resources” talent Kelly Galuska as part of its early comedic lineup.

“We tried to create a place where there were different versions of jobs. People could come in for three days a week and then still go off and be stand-ups and do other things,” Nick Kroll, another co-creator of “Big Mouth,” told TheWrap of how the show’s writers room ran. 

But finding the next wave of talent is never a simple process. Both Fox and Adult Swim noted they look to their writers rooms for their next round of creators, specifically the rooms of Adult Swim’s more writer-driven series like “Common Side Effects,” Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely’s series about a mushroom that has the power to cure all disease and the people hellbent on acquiring it. But the WBD-owned network takes its talent search a step further, looking at the storyboard artists for its more animation-focused shows, like “Smiling Friends,” and using its short-form series “Adult Swim’s Smalls” as a potential way to find new voices. That’s how the network found Joe Cappa, the creator of its upcoming series “Ha Ha You Clowns.”

“We’re making 50 of those a year, which is probably a little too many,” Ouweleen said. “In all cases what you’re doing is testing, do you have a tone of voice, and are you able to work with 20 unruly human beings to get your vision out there? It’s not just, do you have a good idea? It’s, can you fly a plane?”

“I will be honest, it’s a needle in a haystack process because they are among the most unique talents in all of entertainment,” Thorn said.

As for adult animation as a whole, after the boom the genre saw during COVID, it doesn’t look like this sub-industry is slowing down. “Rick and Morty” was renewed for its staggering 12 seasons. Fox renewed “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and “Bob’s Burgers” for four seasons each earlier this year. And though “Big Mouth” has ended, Netflix ordered “Mating Season” from its creators, and “Long Story Short” from “BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg is set to debut this summer.

“It seems like [adult animation] is succeeding still. I don’t know if I can speak to hearing about a million pickups, but the shows that seem to get renewed all seem to be the animated ones,” Marder said. “I think that streamers, for reasons both good and bad, will see the cost effectiveness, the long term payoff and the franchise-ability of animation.”

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