Can a non-comedy primetime adult cartoon ever again?

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While it's good to see more adult-oriented animation nowadays, it's discouraging that the majority are always comedies. Will there ever be risks and attempts at more variety?

I know Invasion America was an attempt that didn't do very well. I heard even Batman: The Animated Series before it aired once in primetime to abysmal ratings.

Thoughts?

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Wow, I'm disappointed that there's been almost no responses whatsoever. I guess the question has been brought up constantly here that there isn't much to say or contribute it anymore... :(

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When was the last time--if ever--have there been an animated primetime drama that wasn't superhero focused? There was a thread not too long ago about live action primetime shows that you could see animated that touched up on this a bit. So IMO, can it happen? Yes...but if done correctly in a time where american animation is taken in a more serious direction. Maybe if there were more animated theatrical dramas we could see this transition better.
 
What sort of live action do you mean? It seems to me something like Gokusen or Salaryman Kintaro wouldn't be done in animation for the US market because there's little to nothing that can't be done at least as well in live action.
 
I'm thinking there should be an animated Sandman, preferably on HBO, since that is a sort of drama that's not a superhero thing but CAN'T be done in live-action nearly as well.
 
I think it may be time for a serious non comedy primetime adult cartoons to come to the tv, but dont hold your breath on the studios approving it. Before the live-action films, I heard that there were talks about an animated episodic series on both Scott Pilgrim and Watchmen. Although it looks like those were put to a close(despite that an animated short of Scott Pilgrim was made to promote the movie).


Non superhero wise, we need to get some serious adult animation for the tv over the same repeated stuff. Adult animation isn't just throwing out unmentionable body parts, lots of plasma, and even neverending cursing. The story and characters is what counts.
 
I really enjoyed the MTV Spiderman cartoon. And i'm not even a Spiderman fan. But it had great animation, a great vocal cast, and good stories. So I'd certainly be up for more non-comedy adult cartoons.
 
I think FOX made a big mistake when they bought Detective Conan, and, after realizing it was inappropriate for Saturday mornings, didn't put it somewhere on their primetime line-up. It's not exactly "adult", but it's a family show that could have been an interesting experiment to see how animated dramas could do. Death Note I'd also say was wasted on late nights; it's just at the level of braininess that's easily accessible to a wide audience but not so much when said audience is barely awake. TNT could have tried airing it, perhaps at the same time as Adult Swim as a back-up plan in case it didn't do as well in primetime.
 
I've often wondered why SOAPnet (or whatever it was called back in mid-decade) didn't try acquiring some anime titles that were slice of life type stories. Though most don't have as much angst and drama as American soaps, a few might have been able fit the bill, whether in prime time or not. I guess they didn't want to experiment, even with the popularity anime had back then.
 
I think SOAPnet would want stuff that could run forever, and usually the dramatic "real world" animes (I'm thinking something like Gravitation, maybe) tend to be on the self-contained side. The stuff that does run forever is usually either episodic or kids' action stuff that I doubt would appeal to a soap channel's audience.
 
Detective Conan would have been pretty fun to watch on Fox Kids. Considering Yu Yu Hakusho could air with a TV-Y7 on Toonami with strong references to death, I don't think there'd be much a problem with that, and the blood could easily have been cleaned up.

I didn't even know Fox acquired Detective Conan, though.
 
Considering that American soaps tend to be the only ones that last forever (most other countries' similar fare have a finite ending at some point), that desire is a little unrealistic.
They could always have acquired a number of anime titles (particular shojo ones that would appeal to women) to fill their schedule. I'm not sure what their planning to do now that almost all of the American soaps are being cancelled and replaced with talk shows and the like.
 
What i dont get is why more companies dont try (serious) animation. In some ways its cheaper than live-action. For example, lets say you want the characters in your show to go to Africa. For the live-action show they have to first get permission from the leader of the area of Africa theyre shooting in, and negotiate to make sure the plot doesnt make them "look bad", not to mention the travel costs and other expenses. If an animated show wants to go to Africa, the only problem is finding a reason for the characters to go there.
 
It could, but too many adults still view animation as a comedy format mostly and wouldn't take it seriously. My dad used to watch BTAS, STAS and the like religiously and my mom could never get why.
 
Yes, but not right now. These things take time, but the time is not here yet for non-comedies. However, we may see something this decade. It took years for adult animated comedies to make it to mainstream. It will take just as long for drama and action cartoons.
 
Simple, because even if it were cheaper it does not matter if they don't make enough profits. Its all about profit and net gain. They may spend more money on a live action series, but they know they have faith that the profits they will make on the series will more than make up for it... the same is not believed about serious animated series. With the current status of serious animation, companies do not think their is a large enough audience to make a strong profit off of it; they might save some money, but they will not make enough a profit; in otherwords even if they spend more money on a live action series they make more money in the end.

As far as companies are concerned, a serious live action series may appeal to a very wide audience. An animated comedy series would also appeal to a wide audience. But serious animation, in the west, has not really proven itself to have a strong enough audience to make it a worthwhile risk for companies to make such a series.

Hell i might imagine that one thing companies might look at when thinking about the prospect of series animation is Adult Swim's saturdays. One of the only sources of serious animation on a western network...They look at those ratings and imagine that their own series may get similar ratings; ofcrouse localizing animation is bound to be cheaper and that producing a series yourself. So even if adult swim can make a profit with those ratings it does not mean an original series can see a decent profit.


I think getting more serious adult animation starts with getting more serious teen animation. lots of kids watch cartoons, but too many stop when they become teens. Gotta get more teens to except that animation is not just for kids and that their are serious series that should appeal to them aswell. Only then will they grow up into adults that can take animation seriously in large enough numbers to convince companies that it would be profitable to make a serious animation series for adults
 
I thought FX's Archer filled the bill for an adult dramatic cartoon in prime time. If you're thinking of something on a broadcast network, well, fuhgeddaboutit. As noted, Invasion America was a miniseries on WB that didn't live up to the hype in terms of ratings.

When Batman aired on Fox on a Sunday night, it was just a sneak preview, IIRC. Fox also did the same thing with Spider-Man a couple of years later, airing it on a Sunday to call attention to the SatAM block.

Now, if someone were to revive, say, Jonny Quest, as it was originally constituted, then maybe you get somewhere.
 
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