Adult-starring cartoons?

S

*~*September Goddess*~*

New member
Believe I've asked this some time ago, but was wondering if there's been any change since then:

What cartoons on these days feature actual adults (not children or teens) as the star characters?

The only ones I can think of are:
- The Simpsons
- Family Guy
- King of the Hill
- American Dad
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- The various action and superhero shows on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim

Seems that most cartoons on now that aren't for adults in primetime, feature superheroes, or are on Adult Swim mainly star children. Any reason why this trend? Unimaginative TV producers? Demographics?

As a kid, I liked seeing adult characters in cartoons (Looney Tunes, most of the pre-Scooby Doo Hanna-Barbera stable, etc.). Don't see why kids wouldn't like the same today. If anything, at least it'd give more plot opportunities than "kid goes to school"/"being a kid is tough" type scenarios if the characters don't have to worry about some 8 PM curfew/who they'll take to the school dance or something... :-p

Would think the success of "SpongeBob" (the one cartoon that's a throwback to older-style cartoons) would encourage more of a trend of adult-characters, but apparently not...

-B.
 
But the thing with Spongebob is that while Spongebob and Patrick are adults they certainly don't act like adults. And sometimes they blur that line and treat Mrs. Puff's Boating School like it's a real elementary classroom with recess and lockers and good noodle stickers.

It's weird but there ya go.
 
I don't think Looney Tunes really mattered if they were adults or not.. I never tried applying human age to them. Spongebob as well considering he acts like a kid, and still goes to school in certain episodes (boating school). Ninja Turtles never seemed to rely on being kids either, despite being "teenagers"
 
Except that:
1. Many school centered shows obsessing over popularity and the character having a crush on a classmate. Spongebob on the other hand hasn't really pursued the opposite sex and isn't caught up on trying to be popular so it is still fairly different than how school centered show opperate. Plus he doesn't really have to deal with a bully as often as many kid characters

2. From what I understand, most of the more recent episodes are set at the Krusty Krab or somewhere outside the schoolyard.



True enough. The problem lies not really with the age groups, but the lack of willingness to go outside the easy ratings shows. Even Adult Swim is bordering on being one note. A show on that block is either an:

A. American Comedy with high content.
B. Action and occasionally comedy anime.

Rather than waiting for the kid focused/school centered show to wear out, they should experiment with more settings while they're on top. Yeah, I understand they give the target viewers what they want, but even that will back fire. And that goes for the excessive airings of their current programming.

Using my food analogy again:

1. If your kid's favorite food item is a candy bar (Fairly Oddparents) and a grilled cheese sandwich (Spongebob Squarepants), should you give him those particular items (shows) 5 times a day?

2. Let's say your kid's favorite food (show) group (genre/setting) is meat (school centered/kid focused). Do you give him/her nothing but meat (school centered/kid focused).

While we can debate on what shows are good, we can all agree that too much of a good thing is bad.
 
Would "The Batman" count? I mean, you do have robin and batgirl, but those are simply sidekicks, not main characters. True, bruce wayne is supposed to be younger than on the previous batman cartoons, but its not like he's still in school either.
 
Rocko's Modern Life is (ostensibly) a show about adults. Rocko is presumably 20 years old; he lives on his own, has a job and doesn't go to school. His pals Heffer and Filburt are supposedly around the same age; Hef seems to be stuck in a 'Failure to Launch' situation, still living at home with his family, and Filburt celebrates his 21st birthday in "Born to Spawn", not to mention he marries Dr. Paula Hutchison in "The Big Question/The Big Answer" and by the end of the series has 4 kids: Gilbert, Norbert, Shellbert and Missy.

The title character on Kappa Mikey, Mikey Simon, is said to be 19 years old (as are his co-stars Lily, Mitsuki and Gonard-jury's still out on exactly how old Guano is) yet he and the other LilyMu stars live on their own, except for Gonard, who lives with his mother.
 
Yes, SpongeBob acts childish, but he's a childish *adult*---he lives on his own, has a job, etc. Yes, he goes to a driving school, but that doesn't seem to be the center of the majority of the shows...

"The Batman" counts as "adult-starring shows", even if kid sidekicks play a big role. Also fulfilling my example of how adults can only be the stars nowadays if they're superheroes/action characters...

-B.
 
could the 1990s X-Men fit the category despite then Jubilee was very young?

In Spider-man, both the 1967, 1980s and 1990s version, Peter Parker was at the transition of a teenager and a young adult. (And let's not forget J. Johan Jameson)
 
Yeah, it is pretty hard finding cartoons that aren't for adults that don't star kids. Pretty much every show features people 14 or younger. Having older characters does allow the writers to make more risque jokes, like with Johnny Bravo, which I miss. Now every show is about a group of kids or one loser kid that has a wacky sidekick getting into madcap adventures in a world of adults that are morons.
 
Futurama was one that had pretty much the entire main cast being adults. Sure, Cubert and Dwight appeared later, but they've rarely featured in the show.
 
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