Family Guy back on the market, heading to Comedy Central NOT Adult Swim

[Toonamiguy321]

https://deadline.com/2024/08/family-guy-comedy-central-1236040299/

Can’t believe AS let this opportunity slip through their fingers. Family Guy was their sole source of powerful viewership and the effects of losing it were visible immediately. 
 

Seems CC is firing up a new adult animation block to accompany the pickup, however aside from adding FG to the lineup, it seems no different than their current diet of South Park and B&B.

 

Thoughts? It’s not an exclusive deal, so AS could still get in on this. Will they? 

[[classic swim]]

Just let Adult Swim pick it back up.

They both can be auto-pilot trash but Comedy Central’s the king of that and doesn’t need full dibsies.

Edited August 14 by [classic swim]

[Sketch]

We don’t need Family Guy airing on 4-5 linear channels a week. If they brought it back to AS the improvement to the ratings probably wouldn’t be substantial at this point. Even if they were, the cost would offset the gains significantly and the reality is AS is already airings 13 hours a day without it and it’s doing plenty well enough.

[Toonamiguy321]

5 minutes ago, Sketch said:

We don’t need Family Guy airing on 4-5 linear channels a week. If they brought it back to AS the improvement to the ratings probably wouldn’t be substantial at this point. Even if they were, the cost would offset the gains significantly and the reality is AS is already airings 13 hours a day without it and it’s doing plenty well enough.

The difference is, AS is the only place who has ever aired it properly, with the correct dialog track and the handful of episodes other networks won’t touch. CC will probably do what they do with South Park where they cut parts of each episode so they can squeeze an extra commercial break in. If AS got it back, it would be a boon. And they desperately need the content diversity for their Fox hours. FG can help AD, KotH and Bobs do better by not stretching them so thin every single day. 
 

What else are they gonna spend the money on? Toonami? Hah! And you never know, Toonami may have been so sparse this year because they were making a play for FG and need to consolidate as much money as possible. 

[OnTheAirOrtiz]

I would hazard a guess that CC did this just to spite [as]. From what I've noticed there seems to be a harsh rivalry between the two.

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, OnTheAirOrtiz said:

I would hazard a guess that CC did this just to spite [as]. From what I've noticed there seems to be a harsh rivalry between the two.

That’s pretty evident 

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

The difference is, AS is the only place who has ever aired it properly, with the correct dialog track and the handful of episodes other networks won’t touch. CC will probably do what they do with South Park where they cut parts of each episode so they can squeeze an extra commercial break in. If AS got it back, it would be a boon. And they desperately need the content diversity for their Fox hours. FG can help AD, KotH and Bobs do better by not stretching them so thin every single day. 
 

What else are they gonna spend the money on? Toonami? Hah! And you never know, Toonami may have been so sparse this year because they were making a play for FG and need to consolidate as much money as possible. 

I’d rather see them cut back on hours than spend a boat load on Family Guy just so they don’t have to run Bobs and Dad as much. It’s a shame they are allergic to airing Futurama at a decent time except occasionally on a Sunday instead of a movie.

I understand the argument that AS always played Family Guy the best but if people are so set on seeing it uncut it’s all on Hulu. Seems odd people would be that concerned about time cuts when some many of them had Family Guy on primarily as easy viewing or background noise.

[rpgamer]

I haven't seen an episode of Family Guy in years and I'd say my life is better off for it. It can stay away.

Re: Futurama, I can only assume there's something contractual keeping it from better hours. Honestly at this point I commonly forget [as] even has it.

[Toonamiguy321]

2 hours ago, OnTheAirOrtiz said:

I would hazard a guess that CC did this just to spite [as]. From what I've noticed there seems to be a harsh rivalry between the two.

You know what they say about Carl Central, they didn’t care about these shows till we started watching em. 
 

1 hour ago, Sketch said:

I’d rather see them cut back on hours than spend a boat load on Family Guy just so they don’t have to run Bobs and Dad as much. It’s a shame they are allergic to airing Futurama at a decent time except occasionally on a Sunday instead of a movie.

You know they aren’t gonna cut time. If anything, we should expect them to get MORE time. 
 

Idk how long their contract for Futurama is, but I’d guess they are gonna let that lapse since seemingly did not pan out for them the way they had hoped. 
 

I just don’t know what else you expect them to do with the money. At the very least, Family Guy helps the entire network. Maybe not as much as the old days, but it’s reliable content. 

[Jman]

The Futurama deal was guaranteed to go sideways once they announced all the new episodes would be exclusive to Hulu.

[OwlChemist81]

11 hours ago, rpgamer said:

I haven't seen an episode of Family Guy in years and I'd say my life is better off for it. It can stay away.

Re: Futurama, I can only assume there's something contractual keeping it from better hours. Honestly at this point I commonly forget [as] even has it.

I'll probably end up watching it after B&B...

[Sketch]

13 hours ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

You know what they say about Carl Central, they didn’t care about these shows till we started watching em. 
 

You know they aren’t gonna cut time. If anything, we should expect them to get MORE time. 
 

Idk how long their contract for Futurama is, but I’d guess they are gonna let that lapse since seemingly did not pan out for them the way they had hoped. 
 

I just don’t know what else you expect them to do with the money. At the very least, Family Guy helps the entire network. Maybe not as much as the old days, but it’s reliable content. 

I never said I thought they had the money to reacquire Family Guy. You’re the one who brought up the possibility that they have been saving up for it and that could be a reason for Toonami’s sparse acquisitions. AS does not need that excuse to under fund Toonami.

[Toonamiguy321]

47 minutes ago, Sketch said:

I never said I thought they had the money to reacquire Family Guy. You’re the one who brought up the possibility that they have been saving up for it and that could be a reason for Toonami’s sparse acquisitions. AS does not need that excuse to under fund Toonami.

You said you don’t want to see them spend the money on FG. I have no idea if they can afford it or not. Seeing as it’s airing on CC, I’m guessing not. My counterpoint is if they do NOT get FG, what do they spend the money on then? It’s obviously not going into Toonami. 

[Jman]

8 minutes ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

You said you don’t want to see them spend the money on FG. I have no idea if they can afford it or not. Seeing as it’s airing on CC, I’m guessing not. My counterpoint is if they do NOT get FG, what do they spend the money on then? It’s obviously not going into Toonami. 

Considering their notable slate, the answer is probably “more original content.”

[OnTheAirOrtiz]

44 minutes ago, Jman said:

Considering their notable slate, the answer is probably “more original content.”

If only they brought back the streams...that would fill their "original content" quota.

 

 

Yes I'm still salty about them killing the streams.

[Sketch]

2 hours ago, Toonamiguy321 said:

You said you don’t want to see them spend the money on FG. I have no idea if they can afford it or not. Seeing as it’s airing on CC, I’m guessing not. My counterpoint is if they do NOT get FG, what do they spend the money on then? It’s obviously not going into Toonami. 

Making sure they don’t lose American Dad and Bob’s Burgers for two. What good is it if they get Family Guy back but lose both of those. You want 6+ episodes of Family Guy before 12am? Since we’re specifically talking acquisition budget here I won’t factor originals because WBD seem plenty willing to spend money on a bunch of those that they can also stream on Max.

If they can afford to keep Dad, Bob and bring back Peter do you really think they’ll just air less of Dad and Bob? Obviously not because they know it works. Adding back Family Guy means they can move FOX reruns even earlier on weekdays and we can kiss Checkered Past and Toonami Rewind goodbye as 5pm-12am becomes an hour of KotH followed by 2 hours each of the other 3 or 2 hours of KotH up first and one hour of Family Guy at 11pm if they can only afford that.

But let’s say you are correct in thinking Toonami’s budget has been so bad because they’re trying to get Family Guy back. Wouldn’t we all rather they give even a fraction more of that money to Toonami so we don’t have constant dry spells? As I said, AS does well enough without Family Guy so I’d rather see them use their hours more creatively than fill even more of them with FOX reruns.

You can’t reproduce the success Family Guy had on to AS in previous years today so why bother footing such an expensive bill for diminishing returns? But hey if this desperation move from Comedy Central actually gets them to chart frequently then I’ll entertain the reasoning that Family Guy is something AS should invest in again.

[[classic swim]]

22 minutes ago, Sketch said:

Adding back Family Guy means they can move FOX reruns even earlier on weekdays and we can kiss Checkered Past and Toonami Rewind goodbye as 5pm-12am becomes an hour of KotH followed by 2 hours each of the other 3 or 2 hours of KotH up first and one hour of Family Guy at 11pm if they can only afford that.

Alright well what if the nostalgia blocks go away anyway and also no Family Guy? What then?

I don’t see why FG has to be this ultimatum when Checkered could eventually fail on its own. Your nightmare FOX scenario is something they’re guaranteed to have already thought about, with or without the most popular choice.

[Toonamiguy321]

2 hours ago, Sketch said:

Adding back Family Guy means they can move FOX reruns even earlier on weekdays and we can kiss Checkered Past and Toonami Rewind goodbye as 5pm-12am becomes an hour of KotH followed by 2 hours each of the other 3 or 2 hours of KotH up first and one hour of Family Guy at 11pm if they can only afford that.

Checkered Past and Rewind are in danger regardless. Rewind in particular I wouldn’t mind seeing hit the bricks because it’s clearly holding back Saturday. 
 

And we also have to consider the possibility of AS taking 4, or even 3pm. People will argue, “no way!” but they said the same thing for 7, 6 and 5pm too. In that scenario, Checkered Past and Rewind can continue on while also opening up more need for more Fox filler. 
 

Id love for them to spend more on Saturday Toonami. But they won’t. Even without FG, they will more likely just stick that extra money away over letting Toonami have any extra. 

[OwlChemist81]

I can get off early some Fridays to catch Rewind from 4-6 PM Central. That ain't happening for 2-4 PM.

Only saving grace is catching the West Coast feed from 5-7 PM if THAT happens!

[Sketch]

7 hours ago, [classic swim] said:

Alright well what if the nostalgia blocks go away anyway and also no Family Guy? What then?

I don’t see why FG has to be this ultimatum when Checkered could eventually fail on its own. Your nightmare FOX scenario is something they’re guaranteed to have already thought about, with or without the most popular choice.

Sure both blocks could be gone in due time regardless but that end is only sure to come sooner if they get Family Guy back. AS would love to do what FXX does and honestly if they got Family Guy back it might be enough to completely boot the CN side if not at least minimize it to 6am-3pm.

Which as Guy suggests would make even more space for Checkered Rewind but I also don’t want AS to expand any further. Maybe just maybe if they can’t afford Family Guy then the demise of PGish nostalgia blocks will get CN back a few hours. Unrealistic I know but I will dream dammit.

[Jman]

The whole thing feels like people on an abandoned island fighting over food scraps.  With cable networks becoming increasingly expensive albatrosses on media companies, on top of advertising focus switching towards streaming, it doesn't feel like it will help in the long run.  Animation Domination on Hulu ads are a big deal, and they're essentially cornered by Family Guy and Futurama (along with The Simpsons and Solar Opposites), an old school Adult Swim block that just needs to properly advertise Bleach to really hammer home the similarities.  You're not getting the new Futurama's either way, those are staying on streaming, while the new Family Guy's are Fox to streaming.

As for Rewind, I like the concept of it, but it feels 10 years too late to matter.  Even if the adventures of the biggest girlfailure to ever fight monsters is more charming than half of the current CN lineup put together, it's airing on 5pm on a Friday.  Not appointment television.  Meanwhile the redub is over on Hulu, and Netflix is airing the remake movies.