Cartoons Are Adult Animated Sitcoms/Series inherently flawed?

[Ikagura]

I often find that animated shows aimed at an older audience (ie: not the kids nor the teens) often overuse swear words and bleeding (if not straight up gore) for the sake of being mature (while failing at doing emotional moment right).

I'm not saying that there aren't shows that can be profound and well done but I feel like there's a sort of immaturity emanating from them as they think that doing provocative and gross humour makes them better than "kid cartoons" (which ironically can tackle serious and deep subjects in a better way as they're trying to not be too explicit about them since it's aimed at every audiences).

PS: And usually they try shoehorning pop cultural references that will instantly age the moment the episode is a month old as well as having a quirky non-human character who's either a comic relief of a fourth wall breaking writer's self insert (because there must be someone commentating about how some situations "wouldn't make sense in real life" as if the audience couldn't have a suspension of disbelief).

 

[FlyingToaster]

The Simpsons was perfect in this regard. Sure it's technically an adult cartoon sitcom but it's also family friendly enough for kids to watch it.

This "we're a cartoon for adults and therefore we have to show blood and gore and swear incessantly" thing is mostly a result of Family Guy

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

I agree. Many of these shows seem to think "mature" just means sex and violence, to an extent that is ironically almost childish. Those types of shows are watched by kids anyway, so I guess that tracks. How many kids under the age of 15 have seen Invincible? I would wager a great many.

I also agree that animations that are meant for everyone are capable of exploring and communicating difficult, mature themes quite profoundly, because they have to address the issue in a universal way. I think what type of themes they choose to tackle can sometimes shape the culture as much as reflect it.

Tbh though, it's hard to categorize what can be considered a mature theme. I'd say equally as important is the lens through which the topic is addressed. In my view, a piece of media has handled a subject maturely when it can clearly present how that subject affects different people differently, based on their age, background, worldview etc., and especially if it can maintain a sense of objectivity, OR hold a clear stance on the subject and justify it through an honest narrative.

 

[Heidegger of Shinra]

King of the Hill, at least in the earlier seasons, was a top-notch sitcom... I tell you what.

 

[gastd]

Yes, I've noticed that many times. I guess the creators probably have a distorted view of what it means to be an adult.

 

[Pearly]

I agree. Many of these shows seem to think "mature" just means sex and violence, to an extent that is ironically almost childish. Those types of shows are watched by kids anyway, so I guess that tracks. How many kids under the age of 15 have seen Invincible? I would wager a great many.

I also agree that animations that are meant for everyone are capable of exploring and communicating difficult, mature themes quite profoundly, because they have to address the issue in a universal way. I think what type of themes they choose to tackle can sometimes shape the culture as much as reflect it.

Tbh though, it's hard to categorize what can be considered a mature theme. I'd say equally as important is the lens through which the topic is addressed. In my view, a piece of media has handled a subject maturely when it can clearly present how that subject affects different people differently, based on their age, background, worldview etc., and especially if it can maintain a sense of objectivity, OR hold a clear stance on the subject and justify it through an honest narrative.

Hit the nail on the head.

What determines "maturity" is an issue and we now have what is coined "millennial writing" to cover much of this modern mature veneer largely being exceptionally cringe efforts at regurgitating what was once called the edge lord pivot many games/shows/movies made in the 2000's to appeal to the then young millennials, I was part of the core group this was aimed at. It is now hilariously called "older brother core" by some zoomers

The new devil may cry series, season 2, with Papa roach doing a new song for it, is literally, on paper, "made for me", and yet at the same time it isn't, I was one of the 12 year olds that thought Papa roach was the sh*t in 2001, and if I am being honest, I consider the first devil may cry game to be almost high brow art compared the "nu-metal" era of music from back then and most other things aimed at the youth of the time, it's from 2001 but it absolutely is not a time capsule of that period. I will play the first devil may cry still nearly 26 years later but I would absolutely not listen to papa roach as I am now, outside of love hate tragedy which still has some pretty good songs that stood the test of time and don't me want to disappear from cringing so hard.

I should love much of this stuff aimed at me due to my age range, yet I do not, I dislike it, with quite some intensity. The marketing team at netflix has failed, one again, to make me feel "nostalgic"

My own take on maturity is showing restraint, which much of what is considered "mature" and "deep" within media is absolutely devoid of any effort at restraint , a writer having written tourettes with a penchant for swear words is not a shortcut to mature themes

 

[ZombieFish]

The Simpsons was perfect in this regard. Sure it's technically an adult cartoon sitcom but it's also family friendly enough for kids to watch it.

This "we're a cartoon for adults and therefore we have to show blood and gore and swear incessantly" thing is mostly a result of Family Guy

Family Guy less so than South Park. South Park pioneered the edgelord stuff, Family Guy really leaned into the pop culture references, which The Simpsons also did, but didn’t lean on for most of the gags.

When it comes to sitcoms, I kinda prefer animated stuff. I still think seasons 2-8 of The Simpsons are the peak of the format. It always comes down to what you choose to watch though. Remember Sturgeon’s law; 90% of everything is crap.

 

[Narisucks]

Depends on which country its from and the era it was made. There was a time when The Simpsons was the Forbidden Show You Cant Let the Kids See and was very mature, but the culture shifted and then South Park became the Forbidden Show. And before both of them, there was Wait Til Your Father Gets Home - which is both tame and controversial in its topics.

If you want more biting maturity in your shows or movies aimed at adults, try Franco-Belgium. Maybe its the respect for the animated art or just a cultural shift, but its different tonally. It could also be that the effort to make people laugh vs the effort to tell a story are balanced differently. Or just the culture.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Well, you see, that all depends can you get those green mittens on a fish eye lens?

Some (Duckman PI, South Park, Beavis and Butt-Head, FUTURAMA, Daria) are so well done, they have become industry standards.

Others are just random crap that only seems to exist to shock and are - justifiably - regarded as wastes of talent... I didn't wanna give names or examples, but after sitting through sewage like Super Jail and the Ren & Stimpy revival (which is so bad, Billy West refused to be involved), I think we can clearly see both sides of the coin.

And just to provide some middle ground, then there's Family Guy — occasionally brilliant, but deeply flawed.

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

...What determines "maturity" is an issue and we now have what is coined "millennial writing" to cover much of this modern mature veneer largely being exceptionally cringe efforts at regurgitating what was once called the edge lord pivot many games/shows/movies made in the 2000's to appeal to the then young millennials, I was part of the core group this was aimed at. It is now hilariously called "older brother core" by some zoomers

One thing I would say about nu-metal, and angst-y media aimed at teens during the late 90's/early 2000's in general, is that it felt sincere. It was a creative outlet by people who believed in the value of the music and media they produced. People talk about how Millennials were the first to "grow up" with the internet, but we were also the last to grow up before everyone started carrying HQ video recorders around in their pockets. Expression was more immediate, raw, and less post-modern. Music and games from that era and before felt authentic, and that made them cool.

The new devil may cry series, season 2, with Papa roach doing a new song for it, is literally, on paper, "made for me", and yet at the same time it isn't, I was one of the 12 year olds that thought Papa roach was the sh*t in 2001, and if I am being honest, I consider the first devil may cry game to be almost high brow art compared the "nu-metal" era of music from back then and most other things aimed at the youth of the time, it's from 2001 but it absolutely is not a time capsule of that period. I will play the first devil may cry still nearly 26 years later but I would absolutely not listen to papa roach as I am now, outside of love hate tragedy which still has some pretty good songs that stood the test of time and don't me want to disappear from cringing so hard.

I watched the first season of the newer Devil May Cry anime, and I enjoyed it. But I acknowledge that the appeal is derived from pandering. It is "doing the thing": Virgil is being introduced, quick, do the thing, play "I am the storm that is approaching" - It's fan service, and that's fine when taken as such. But it lacks authenticity. That being said, I do believe it was a genuine attempt to appeal to the original fan base (in a winking sorting of way) whilst making it accessible to newcomers. I think it largely succeeded.

I should love much of this stuff aimed at me due to my age range, yet I do not, I dislike it, with quite some intensity. The marketing team at netflix has failed, one again, to make me feel "nostalgic"

As long as nostalgia sells, it will dominate the market. Hell, we're still getting 1930's throw-backs with new Looney Tunes products. The culture continually eats and regurgitates itself. And honestly, it's fine by me. The problem is that oftentimes the potency of the original idea is diminished. That's what we must aim to avoid. If we can do that whilst taking a few more creative leaps of faith to create something new and exciting, I think we would reach the perfect balance.

(And yes I know of Campbell's "Hero of a 1000 faces" and his concept of a limited number of stories that can be told, but even within those confines there's still near-infinite potential).

 

[contrail_]

I believe they're flawed for a different reason.
Animation's main point is to depict fantastical scenes and concepts that would be difficult to film with actors. (yes, cg is now ubiquitous but that's a recent thing)
Sitcoms were conceived with the idea of the audience flipping through the channels, seeing some dudes they feel like they 'know' and just 'chilling' with them. (that niche has since been invaded by podcasts, streamers, etc, since almost no one channel surfs anymore; you really need to go out of your way to watch a sitcom that you have no nostalgia for)
This puts 'animated sitcoms' in a weird place right now, so it's no surprise they feel off somehow.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

I often find that animated shows aimed at an older audience (ie: not the kids nor the teens) often overuse swear words and bleeding (if not straight up gore) for the sake of being mature (while failing at doing emotional moment right).

I'm not saying that there aren't shows that can be profound and well done but I feel like there's a sort of immaturity emanating from them as they think that doing provocative and gross humour makes them better than "kid cartoons" (which ironically can tackle serious and deep subjects in a better way as they're trying to not be too explicit about them since it's aimed at every audiences).

PS: And usually they try shoehorning pop cultural references that will instantly age the moment the episode is a month old as well as having a quirky non-human character who's either a comic relief of a fourth wall breaking writer's self insert (because there must be someone commentating about how some situations "wouldn't make sense in real life" as if the audience couldn't have a suspension of disbelief).

It’s probably because of the fact that Adult Swim is surgically attached to Cartoon Network. They don’t want to confuse kids who may have stayed up past their bedtime so they adapt these weird and unconventional art styles and storytelling. Can’t give an adult show an actual story or character development because kids literally have Adventure Time, Gumball, and Regular Show in the daytime and they’d confuse the two. Can’t have your adult show look good or unique, it’ll get mistaken for a kids show, hence why everything is either Family Guy style or psychedelic with little in between. The latter has been Adult Swim’s identity forever.

 

[Tengu Plant]

Animation is still just seen as something for kids so a lot of people want to react to that by just making something really vulgar. Also Family Guy sold well so it's assumed that people want more of that.
Like someone else said, King of the Hill is probably the best example of an animated sitcom done right.
While it's not quite a sitcom, MTV's Downtown avoided this by being based on real stories from people living in NYC in the 90s.

 

[Qquil716]

This is something I've thought about constantly as I've grown older. I am almost 30 and so much of what these shows do as a lot of people in this thread have pointed out; copy Family Guy's homework in terms of art style and overuse curse words.

Some diamonds in rough show up every now and again. Smiling Friends and the new Panty & Stocking stick out to me in my recent memories because at the very least they honest and up front about what they are and don't hide behind this thin veil of being 'more mature'.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I value an animated adult show for being more sincere in what it is instead of this almost smug unironic return to being overly edgy and acting like it's a 'real adult show for real adults'.

 

[Adrastia]

I often find that animated shows aimed at an older audience (ie: not the kids nor the teens) often overuse swear words and bleeding (if not straight up gore) for the sake of being mature (while failing at doing emotional moment right).

This is the whole problem right here. If I would only find it funny at 13 then it's not adult enough for me right now.

 

[Moreno909]

I don't care for the core but constant pop culture references get on my nerve for some reason

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

Idk, I guess first we should understand what is meant by the expression "aimed at kids/teens", cus I think it's quite different from "aimed at all audiences", to get to understand the "aimed at adults" later... I remember growing up on Roberto Gómez Bolanõs' sitcoms (Chespirito, Chavo, Chapulin) and at some point past y2ks those sitcoms were turned animated shows. Those are super chill to watch to this day and either the original or the animated series got a massive adult fanbase (intended), you'd find some fans cosplaying the characters at huge latam events aimed to us dorks and nerds lol

Same goes to super heroes sort of shows, why is it like that the original sitcoms and the comics are usually aimed at mature audiences, but the animated series at all audiences? I also think this is mostly some sort of western mindset on animations in general.

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

The most mature animated TV series I've seen in a long time is Netflix's Devilman Crybaby. I found it extremely disturbing and very compelling in an adult sort of way.

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

I also don't think that animated depictions of brutality are meaning necessarily a "flawed" perspective on adulthood. Even better when a behavior that's supposedly not to be reinforced in society is exaggerated than normalized, unlike in most of those shows that became "industry standards" as some of you said earlier. Personally, I do enjoy the most absurdist takes on adulthood of some shows.

 

[Luxfin]

It's more so that a lot of show-runners and executives taking the wrong lessons from something that work without really putting in the effort to how that original was able to execute itself well. Along with so insincre with it that it is just terrible.

That show has a lot of curse words for most of its dialogue and is a success then our show must do the same. The pop culture references that many shows and movies do despite how dated they is because they influenced by Aladdin's success with Robin Williams' Genie being the unintentional root of the cause. There is also the fact that a lot of sitcoms can be really dated as they follow the same formula that has been around since that 1940s.

Honestly, American Sitcoms and Adult Animated Sitcoms has been far too stagnate on the same formula for so long that quite literally you can peg one from a mile away just by looking at the art. I think honestly that really the culture around Adult Amiated Series and Sitcoms really needs a major shakeup both in cluture and effort.

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

Honestly, American Sitcoms and Adult Animated Sitcoms has been far too stagnate on the same formula for so long that quite literally you can peg one from a mile away just by looking at the art.

This, tbh. When I talk, I've none of those in mind cus it's not my experience (for the good and for the bad).

 

[ShadowsofCreationAga]

The Simpsons was perfect in this regard. Sure it's technically an adult cartoon sitcom but it's also family friendly enough for kids to watch it.

This "we're a cartoon for adults and therefore we have to show blood and gore and swear incessantly" thing is mostly a result of Family Guy

*South Park

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

*South Park

I'd rather watch it over Simpsons, for instance.

Post automatically merged: May 23, 2026

Idk, I guess first we should understand what is meant by the expression "aimed at kids/teens", cus I think it's quite different from "aimed at all audiences", to get to understand the "aimed at adults" later... I remember growing up on Roberto Gómez Bolanõs' sitcoms (Chespirito, Chavo, Chapulin) and at some point past y2ks those sitcoms were turned animated shows. Those are super chill to watch to this day and either the original or the animated series got a massive adult fanbase (intended), you'd find some fans cosplaying the characters at huge latam events aimed to us dorks and nerds lol

Same goes to super heroes sort of shows, why is it like that the original sitcoms and the comics are usually aimed at mature audiences, but the animated series at all audiences? I also think this is mostly some sort of western mindset on animations in general.

And just to contextualize what I said previously, I guess the thread is more about a genre of animated series than the audience intended. It gets easier to go through these sort of shows when we realize it's still fiction. Not an actual depiction of adulthood (more like on the "adult perspective" over things and ordinary life), the family life (especially the american one) or else.

 

[ShadowsofCreationAga]

I'd rather watch it over Simpsons, for instance.

Post automatically merged: May 23, 2026

I meant South Park was far more the origin of the 'Cussing and Blood' to make an adult cartoon.

Also: The counter argument to all of this is Bojack Horseman. If any of you haven't watched it, you really should.

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

I meant South Park was far more the origin of the 'Cussing and Blood' to make an adult cartoon.

Mhm, the more grotesque the better :p
That's still all fiction

South Park, Simpsons, Family Guy, etc are not my experience at all, but I also grew up on much worse stuff on the genre (plus "aimed at adults") like this:

For the bad and for the good.