Is Adult swim underground

[meatwad945]

I think it is

[JDuncan]

I would probably say no, it's promoted too much and easily available. It would have to be either straight to video, web, or public access to be considered underground. It's about as underground as Toonami and Cartoon Cartoons.

[Supreme]

Originally posted by meatwad945
I think it is
On Cartoon Network?! You have GOT to be kidding :D

My question is, where are the other 944 meatwads?

[Shnay]

I don't think so. Anything that gets advertised on the sides of buses, featured on Entertainment Tonight, or used to advertise 1-800 Call ATT, probably doesn't count as underground.

However, lots of people still don't know about it, and there is a large enough loyal fan following (people like us) to make it something...different from most mainstream TV, but I wouldn't say "underground."

[livingfruitvirus]

ASC = mainstream
ASA = underground

[JetMaster5]

Originally posted by livingfruitvirus
ASC = mainstream
ASA = underground

Good point. While ASC is advertised, ASA didn't get any recognition. :(

[JDuncan]

While it isn't "underground", it is, undeniably cult. That means it has a small, but loyal following.

[livingfruitvirus]

Originally posted by jdoggg
While it isn't "underground", it is, undeniably cult.

Ugh. I hate that word. "Cult." Yecch.

[Brak]

I'd probably say underground. Because not alot of people know about it around me. Only for a select few that actually like anime other then DBZ and like ASC. So to me it's underground because no one really knows about its existence around me because most of those people are already asleep.

[meatwad945]

Originally posted by Supreme

On Cartoon Network?! You have GOT to be kidding :D

My question is, where are the other 944 meatwads?


i made up that number like 5 years ago and ever since ive been using it :D

[bassist]

There's no way it could be considered underground. I wouldn't call it mainstream, but maybe "frindge" is the right word.

-Big Ben

[Shadow Samurai]

I don't think its Underground, I mean we really can't say how many people watch it, and even stats are not the whole truth

[Calhoun07]

Underground animation is found at independed web sites all across the net. It's racy, it's raw, it's uncensored, it's bold and daring, it's sometimes offenseive, it's pushing boundaries that Cartoon Network haven't even come close to crossing yet. Adult Swim is so not underground.

[VashTheStampede]

Underground animation is found at independed web sites all across the net. It's racy, it's raw, it's uncensored, it's bold and daring, it's sometimes offenseive, it's pushing boundaries that Cartoon Network haven't even come close to crossing yet.
You forgot to add that it sucks.

[Supreme]

Who's padding the poll? No way it could be that close, especially with the general opinion expressed so far.

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by Supreme
Who's padding the poll? No way it could be that close, especially with the general opinion expressed so far.

It's impossible for one person to pad a poll, since once you vote you cannot vote again with the same user name. Unless somebody has multiple names, but I think that would have been caught by now!

So, who are the silent ones voting "yes?" Post your opinions!

[bassist]

Why? So they can get bashed by we, the non-underground believers? I say stay in closet! Nay! Come out and show yourselves! In fact, Speak your deviled words and satanic verses... or maybe the few opinions posted have changed their minds?

-Big Ben

[i miss katy]

This is kind of a pointless question, because it hinges entirely on semantics. The only way Adult Swim could be objectively considered underground would be if it took place beneath the earth's surface. But "underground", when referring to things like popular culture, is vaguely defined.

Personally, I would consider something underground if its primary way of garnering attention was word of mouth or similar grass-roots methods like indie mags, etc. No nationally televised show could ever be considered underground. And something that's part of AOL/TW? You can't get less underground than that, can you?

"Underground" should not, though it ends up doing so, refer to an aesthetic style. Similarity in style between underground media is tangential to its underground status.


i hope this point gets me my geek points.

[Mynd Hed]

I tend to agree with Miss Katy on this one. It's all relative anyway- Adult Swim is less mainstream than, say, Friends, but more mainstream than, say, Newgrounds, Broken Saints, or Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation Festival. Would I consider Adult Swim "underground"? Well, no, because it has the backing of some large corporations, a big budget, and awareness of it is primarily spread through advertising, not word of mouth. But it's all relative.

[bassist]

If a TV show can't be underground, how do you explain Burly TV and the Tom Green Show? Shows which don't garner attention and which isn't broadcasted on a non-cable or satellite station have the chance to be underground. Sure, TV is the most mainstream form entertainment, but that doesn't mean every show on a national network is maintream.

I don't think AS in underground, but that doesn't mean there can't be undreground TV.

-Big Ben

[JDuncan]

Umm, the Tom Green Show, on the most mainstream and "cool' network with the kids, is underground?

[bassist]

Originally posted by jdoggg
Umm, the Tom Green Show, on the most mainstream and "cool' network with the kids, is underground?
Not is, but was. It was originally a local access Canadian show, and even when MTV bought the rights, it wasn't advertised and picked up an underground following before becoming more mainstream than SNL.

-Big Ben

[JDuncan]

Oh, I thought you meant the show in its current entity.

[Czar Gato]

I wouldn't call it "underground." Obscure, maybe...

[Xevo]

I'd say it actually is. Unless you watch Cartoon Network or other Turner affiliates past 11 pm most weeknights, you'll never see an ad that actually SHOWS the blocks time slots and days aired. I mean, you see cameos from ASC characters in other ads, but they don't say ADULT SWIM or list when the shows are shown. And the reason that ASA characters aren't used in advertisings as much is that they're not the property of Williams Street like Sealab, ATHF or the Space Ghost Gang.

[Howard]

I think that the term "underground" really lacks any context in this case. In the 60's and 70's there was an underground scene, such as the now famous underground comics, but I think it is an outdated concept nowadays with big companies now catering to a fragmented audience that before had to "go underground" to get the works of Robert Crumb and Vaughn Bode to name a few "underground" icons. There really isn't that sort of a scene now.

[drippynmeatwad]

I seriously doubt it.

[bassist]

Originally posted by Howard
I think that the term "underground" really lacks any context in this case. In the 60's and 70's there was an underground scene, such as the now famous underground comics, but I think it is an outdated concept nowadays with big companies now catering to a fragmented audience that before had to "go underground" to get the works of Robert Crumb and Vaughn Bode to name a few "underground" icons. There really isn't that sort of a scene now.
I agree to some extent since underground isn't what it used to be, but as a part of underground radio, I know that underground scenes still exist. Occasionally one pops into the mainstream, like Deee-Lite for example, but usually it's only a brief moment in the limelight. People believe rap isn't underground anymore, but just like with rock, there are many underground scenes. They aren't trying to be underground, but it's true.

The question of whether or not underground television is possible on a national network is far more intruiging than discussing whether or not there is a underground show actually on.

When you talk about music, books, comics, or even politics, there's a lot of small-market and underground scenes even today. And because the mainstream will always object to that which isn't popular already, there will always be underground scenes.

-Big Ben

[Xevo]

Originally posted by bassist
I agree to some extent since underground isn't what it used to be, but as a part of underground radio, I know that underground scenes still exist. Occasionally one pops into the mainstream, like Deee-Lite for example, but usually it's only a brief moment in the limelight. People believe rap isn't underground anymore, but just like with rock, there are many underground scenes. They aren't trying to be underground, but it's true.

The question of whether or not underground television is possible on a national network is far more intruiging than discussing whether or not there is a underground show actually on.

When you talk about music, books, comics, or even politics, there's a lot of small-market and underground scenes even today. And because the mainstream will always object to that which isn't popular already, there will always be underground scenes.

-Big Ben

I think the mistaken impression is that any entertainment venture with a big budget cannot be underground. I think that is just plain elitist. To me, underground connotates images of people doing things that the "unwashed masses" just wouldn't get... things that, by their very nature, are going to alienate the majority of people and which most people just aren't going to accept without giving it a chance.

By that definition, I think Adult Swim is the most underground programming block ANYWHERE on television. Most people just wouldn't get the humor of ASC or the look (anime) of ASA. They would be alienated by the AS blocks because they assume animation (read: CARTOONS) are for children, and they aren't going to accept it if they hear about it because they've likely never realized what animation truly can be.

Realize that Williams Streeet gave birth to Adult Swim. If not for their HARD work on SG:C2C and the old Brak Show, AS would never have come to light. And if you didn't call either of those shows underground, then you're either far too elitist or you never saw them, or you just don't understand the discussion we're having =P