If schedule services are to be believed, starting March 4th, Corus Entertainment’s Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network Canada will be no more. It’ll be replaced by additional reruns of the channel’s daytime programming, like Ben 10 (2016) and Regular Show. The block launched alongside the channel in 2012, operating between 9PM and 6AM daily. In 2016, it was slashed to just three hours a day from 9PM to 12AM. The rest of Cartoon Network Canada’s overnight schedule moved to reruns of older titles not seen during the day, like Johnny Bravo.

The block wasn’t much to miss. It rarely ventured beyond the Adult Swim library of shows that were already aired on Teletoon At Night. It was even less commonly refreshed with new content, as their current site makes clear. Adult Swim Canada was the kind of block that aired Samurai Jack years before season 5 started, yet still hasn’t aired season 5 well after it ended, despite you know, still airing Samurai Jack. In 2015, following Cartoon Network Canada taking over the license and channel space of the defunct Teletoon Retro (thus reaching a larger audience), Corus attempted to breathe new life into the block. They finally offered high I.Q. fans the content they were craving (or at least the first two seasons of it), and shifted first-run original as well as newly acquired programming initially intended for Teletoon At Night to Adult Swim, but that effort was short-lived. Adult Swim quickly relapsed into little more than ancient reruns and “unique” French Canadian cartoons. As for Toonami … Well, there’s a reason there won’t be an “I Miss Toonami Canada” blog any time soon.

Likely related to this is the complete removal of Rick & Morty from Canadian television. Since January, the show has not only been missing from Teletoon At Night’s English schedule, it has also vanished from Télétoon la nuit’s. That’s especially strange because Rick and Morty’s French Canadian dub, which Corus commissioned, only premiered last May.

As it stands, the sole surviving Adult Swim show on both Teletoon channels is Robot Chicken.

This news comes months after Turner officially threw in the towel on their Canada-specific Adult Swim streaming app. Canadians interested in legally supporting Adult Swim programming are now limited to home video/download-to-own …

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

What would usually indicate something’s death, might actually be a lead up to its rebirth. A billboard (left image) recently appeared on Queen St. and Augusta in Toronto, suggesting that something Adult Swim related will happen on April 1st.

You might think that someone else (whose new channel is also due in April) could have poached the rights to Adult Swim’s library. After all, before Corus signed that 2012 deal, a large percentage of Adult Swim’s content found its way onto G4 Canada. Or perhaps, Warner is holding onto the content in preparation for their new general SVOD service. Neither of those seem possible, because that billboard was placed by Corus …

A Corus rep, who just so happened to be named Ashley, pointed me to the billboard, teasing that answers are coming soon …

Is Corus planning a big relaunch of Adult Swim Canada? If so, is it really a good idea to pretend the block is gone for a month? When Cartoon Network Canada took over Teletoon Retro’s channel space, they didn’t pretend it didn’t exist. Plus, what’s up with Rick & Morty in French Canada? They’ve never had an Adult Swim block before.

UPDATE (2/26/19): A Cartoon Network Canada promo advertising child-friendly programming 24/7 has been spotted on-air.



It’s hard to believe Corus would promote something like this if it’s only planned to last a month. Is Adult Swim moving to another channel or platform?

UPDATE (2/28/19): An Adult Swim Canada bumper has aired, confirming that the block will be removed from Cartoon Network starting March 4. It adds that they’ve “got something cookin.”

Thanks Cameron and Onfy.