The Mantis-Eye Experiment

By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/24/2005 2:19:00 PM

“Adult Swim,” Cartoon Network’s male-skewing late-night programming block, will debut five original series and four new pilots in 2005.

The block, which held its upfront at New York’s Altman Building on Thursday, March 24, will premiere 15 half-hour episodes of The Boondocks, a series based on Aaron McGruder’s well-known political comic strip, in October. Actors Regina King and John Witherspoon will lend their voices to star, with guest voices including Mos Def, Ed Asner and Charlie Murphy. Animated private-eye comedy Stroker & Hoop debuts with six episodes September 4, with six more to follow in November. American Dad joins the block in May; Squidbillies, 12oz Mouse and Perfect Hair Forever all enter the lineup in September.

Pilots for four shows in development will air in October—stop-motion series Moral Orel, live action Saul of the Mole People, CGI-animated Lucy: Daughter of the Devil and flash-animated Minori-Team. The block has also greenlighted 13 new episodes of The Venture Bros., along with a new season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

The block, which has posted a 42% jump season to date with viewers 18-34 (averaging 399,000 viewers in the demo between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.), will begin being tracked by Nielsen as an individual network starting March 28. Its newest performer, Robot Chicken, the Sunday-night stop-motion series from actor Seth Green, has averaged 602,000 adults 18-34 in its four episodes to date—a 91% increase in the demo over its 11:30 timeslot last year.

Hooray for The Toonzone forums! More news as it develops, if there is any more to be had.