PBS Adults

Taiwan

Latin America (Mid 2022)

Western Europe (2023)

Central Europe (2023)

Japan and Korea (2024)

Middle East (TBA)

PBS (Taiwan)

PBS UK

PBS CEE

PBSJ

PBSK

Azteca Uno (Mexico)

Nickelodeon (Brazil, replacing Nick@Nite Brasil)

8:00 PM - 6:00 AM (Taiwan)

French (Canada)

NewsCorp (Before 2021)

## Description

PBS Adults first launched in the United States on January 8, 2016 on select PBS markets. After the success of PBS, PBS Kids, Create, World, and Learn, PBS decided to expand their brand by introducing a new block known as PBS Adults. The block was used on the main PBS channel and doesn't have its own channel due to the block not having any originals and comprising of only syndicated programs produced by FOX, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, TBS, and MTV. The block was extremely successful, even though it was infamous due to the nature of the content.

## Shows Lineup and the Rise and Fall

On launch day, the first five shows introduced were The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show. Later in the year during summer of 2016, Bob's Burgers and Dan Vs were acquired and added to the block. In Spring 2017, Futurama King of the Hill, The Venture Bros, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Mr. Pickles and Aqua Teen Hunger forces was added. In Late Summer 2017, the last two shows Home Movies and The Oblongs were added, completing the block.

As time went on, licenses began to expire and weren't renewed due to budget concerns and certain shows lost the rights due to being bought out, and the money PBS earned from that transaction was used to donate to universities in each PBS market. This lead to PBS Adults dark age from 2018-2021, gradually getting worse. Thankfully, the block survived everything.

In Early 2018, The Simpsons, one of the first shows on the block was removed for good due to Disney purchasing FOX and gaining all 29 seasons at the time. On the same day, they lost the rights to Family Guy seasons 15 and 16 for the same reason, but they got to keep the older episodes for a while. The same thing happened with Bob's Burgers post-2015 episodes. Shortly after, Mr. Pickles left the block not because of losing the rights to it, but due to the extreme nature of the content of the show. Critics, viewers, and Karens alike dislike and panned the show and PBS agreed to get rid of it, which was for the better. American Dad departed in Spring of 2018 since WarnerMedia thought the show was mistreated as it usually only has one or two timeslots per week. In Summer 2018, The Cleveland Show and King of the Hill left the block after Viacom bought the rights to it temporarily from FOX, moving it to Comedy Central. Futurama's 2008-2013 episodes disappeared during the same time since Syfy gained the rights to Futurama, which was a huge loss as it was the 3rd most popular show on the block, right behind South Park and Family Guy during that time.

The 1st wave of the "Disappearance Apocalypse" ended after that and was stable through Fall 2018 until Fall 2021, when the 2nd wave would start. Also during this grace period, Rick and Morty was finally added to the block on November 10, 2019 just in time for the season premiere due to popular demand through 2020. Beavis and Butthead was added in Mid 2019 because it left Pluto TV and needed a new home before the reboot aired years later. Also despite not really being an "adult" show, Cartoon Network's "Regular Show" was added in September 2020 for its 10th anniversary and had a huge marathon, free of censorships and edits. Even deleted scenes never before seen for being too adult were shown as well, even the infamous scene where Mordecai and Rigby get caught smoking marijuana and a scene of Benson nearly saying the F-bomb. Also scenes showing blood and scars were retained. Close Enough also was brought to the channel in the same month.

The 2nd Wave began in Fall of 2021, which saw the departure of the remaining past seasons of Family Guy, Futurama's older seasons, and Bob's Burgers due to Disney gaining the rights and moving the series to FXX, FX, and Freeform. Thankfully it was only one show, and to top it off, the first four seasons (1999-2006) were later brought back after the FXX Christmas Marathon due to many complaints and a significant drop in viewership. At first, PBS resisted the fans and made a press statement saying, "Family Guy may be gone on PBS Adults, TBS, and Adult Swim, but it will remain in our memories forever. The series is still watchable however, just tune into FXX, FX, or Freeform on your cable provider to see it nearly anytime. For viewers without cable or satellite, it can be watched every Sunday on FOX for new episodes, on The CW, and MyNetworkTV affiliates. Not to mention Hulu is always a cheap alternate. Thank you for your continued viewership". The viewers understood and tuned into different networks to see the past shows that have been going away since 2018, which caused the channel's ratings to plummet and nearly go bankrupt. The letter also didn't realized that even though it aired on other antenna channels, The CW often aired Family Guy unannounced and at inconvenient times like 1 AM and 2 AM. However there was light at the end of the tunnel.

## The Renaissance (2022-Present)

On New Year's Day 2022, viewers to shock to see the surprising comeback of the classic first four seasons of Family Guy after the FXX Holiday Marathon ended. It was the highest ratings peek since Rick and Morty Season 5 premiere years prior. Not only did this save PBS Adults, but South Park had a marathon during Christmas 2021 to compete with FXX. PBS wanted to support their viewers, so they got permission from ViacomCBS to air The Pandemic Special during Thanksgiving as well as Return of Covid not too long after. South Park saved the channel from falling into bankruptcy. Not only that, from time to time they air the Direct-To-Video Futurama movies before the block begins, but with some censorship.

As for the future of the network, Adult Swim's Smiling Friends is arriving to PBS Adults as soon as season 2 premieres and its surprising success. Bob's Burgers The Movie is going to premiere on the block in late summer 2022 as well. Also the block (and even the main PBS channel) is being expanded to a few countries across the globe, mainly due to adult animated cartoons not being available in some countries and PBS wants to give those audiences an opportunity. PBS Adults is also already available in Canada and Taiwan. The Taiwan version of PBS Adults is the best version since it had no shows ever removed and having an advantage, primarily due to being very few censorship laws and no other networks to compete with as Adult Swim and FXX don't exist in Asia. FOX in Asia exists, however they rarely air adult animated shows.

The block is rumored to become defunct sometime between 2026-2030 in the United States due to the discontinuation of ATSC 1.0 digital TV standards that have been used since 2009, unless PBS plans to switch all their stations to ATSC 3.0. However the rumors are mostly false and exaggerated. Another rumor is that due to a new antenna TV proposition in the mid-2020's PBS Adults may become its own subchannel, along with many cable network and the revival of Pay OTA.

## The Controversy

Ever since the block was announced in 2015, Karens and soccer moms were outraged from PBS Adults, despite the block planned to air hours after PBS Kids has ended for the day (Which usually ends at 5:00 PM to show PBS original programming until 10:00 PM). The block was originally going to begin its hours at 9:00 PM, but was pushed to 10:00 PM due to backlash and the FCC guidelines for primetime television. It was announced on PBS's website and YouTube channel on December 1, 2015 showing clips of the shows and promoting the block. The shows were also censored, ranging from mild to heavy edits, hindering the quality of the humor in the shows. TV-MA shows were downgraded to TV-14, and TV-14 programs were downgraded to at least a TV-PG-DLSV. Many of the classic Simpsons, Futurama,, and Bob's Burgers episodes even managed to get a TV-G rating surprisingly. A handful of South Park, Family Guy, and Adult Swim episodes managed to pass with a TV-PG rating. The only show that was safe from censorship was Regular Show, and even had some episodes upgraded to TV-14-DLV ironically enough, possibly due to it being known for being tame in its humor mostly. The drama died down in 2020 due to the focus of attention being redirected towards the pandemic and social issues that still happen to this day.

## Current Lineup:

- Family Guy (Seasons 1-4)

- South Park

- Futurama (TV movies only)

- American Dad!

- Beavis and Butthead

- Regular Show

- Mike Tyson Mysteries

- Venture Bros

- The Oblongs

- Home Movies

- Aqua Teen Hunger Force

- Dan Vs

- Rick and Morty

- Bob's Burgers (Film only)