TELEVISION: Adult Swim's Upfronts, NYC

Photo courtesy Adult Swim/Turner

If you're of college age like I am, you have to remember the premere of Adult Swim. Back in the day, Ted Turner's extension of the children's network Cartoon Network seemed too radical to survive. Filled with cartoons that sometimes required some, er, herbal encouragement to understand, the network has become one of the most successful on cable, and celebrated its 10 year anniversary at the Roseland Ballroom here in New York City with none other than Jay-Z (who actually raps Asheru's verse from Boondocks!)

Notable Additions

Black Dynamite. Out of all the networks on television, it seems that only Adult Swim is the only one that provides quality and off-beat programming for African Americans. Of course there is the groundbreaking Boondocks cartoon series, but the channel also featured David Banner's "The Crook'd Sipp," and the star-studded Freaknik the musical. So It's no surprised that they greenlit a cartoon based on the best movie you still need to see, Black Dynamite. Stylistically, it will look similar to their breakout hit The Boondocks and handled by 'docks director Carl Jones and will feature the voices of film stars Michael Jai White and Tommy Davidson. Let's also hope that

Another new addition to the lineup is the live action NTSF:SD:SUV, short for "National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle. Yes, it's as goofy as it sounds and stars Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle and Paul Scheer. From the promo I'm on the fence. But it's currently 11 AM and I'm sober while I'm writing this peice. I can only hope the 15 minute series makes more sense after midnight when it airs.

Notable Returns

Praise the Lord. Two of my favorite shows are returning to Adult Swim this fall. Even though Aqua Teen Hunger Force has gotten rather long in the tooth, the 2011 reboot should make the long running series relevant again. Titled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 the new title, settings and locations should bring in some fresh air to the long-running series.

Seth Greens' Robot Chicken also makes a return for its 6th season. The stop-motion animation series continues its dominance in the ratings (it's the most watched show on the network) so no major changes are expected for the fall season.

Other returning shows: Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, and Rob Cordry's Children's Hospital.

Notable Projects In Development

Music lovers will be pleased to know that there are several interesting series of note in development for the channel. The network previously announced that a Major Lazer cartoon was in development. Stylistically it will include all of the characters introduced in the Hold The Line music video and most likely have the same look and feel.

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Other notable projects which got the greenlight include an "Untitled project" with Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All and The Dummiez, a Nick Cannon produced show.