Article written by Dylan Bell.
On this blog I have written numerous articles praising and critiquing TV shows that I adore, two of which happen to be shows aimed at children, Steven Universe and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. I have gone on for long enough about why I feel these shows are amazing, and I could go on even more, however that is not the focus of this article.
Whilst watching these shows, it occurred to me that I am enjoying a show aimed at children. Yes, they may have adult themes and stories, but they are meant for a younger demographic, and yet I am not the only adult by a longshot that sees the appeal of these shows. It raises an interesting question: why?
Before we talk about why these shows are popular, it is important to identify what kind of shows are popular. Aside from the two I mention above, there is also Gravity Falls, Avatar: The Last Airbender, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Adventure Time, all of which have deep, fascinating worlds and stories, along with interesting humour. Other shows, such as Regular Show and The Amazing World of Gumball, are often praised for having different comedic styles and unique character moments not often seen. It should be noted that I do not like all of these shows, but they all have an adult fan base.
One reason I believe these shows have dedicated adult followers is because these shows break the stereotypical mould for what kids shows are meant to be. As said previously, some of these shows have deep and complicated worlds with intense and developed characters, or they break the usual “random” style of comedy that plagues many kids shows, such as fart jokes and obnoxiously high pitched voices trying to imitate the yellow devils known as Minions, with new and interesting ways of being funny. Simply put, one reason these shows are popular is because they are different, and they gain notable and deserved attention for that.
When I say adult themes, many of you may be confused as to what I mean. Many of the adult themes discussed on these shows revolve around grief, love, inclusion, sexuality and acceptance, amongst many other aspects of life even adults struggle with. Disclaimer: since these shows are aimed primarily at children, these themes rarely go extremely deep or graphic due to them needing to be safe to show to children. However, they still expose children and adults to these complicated themes, which do a far better job than a lot of adult programs.
Another reason I believe these shows gain a lot of attention is because these shows all have something in common that many adult shows do not; they are animated. When you look at the demographics of which adults are attracted to these shows, you will see that they tend to be adults who grew up on watching animation and, like me, grew to love it, while also like me, when they reached adulthood, were disappointed by the lack of good quality animated shows. Yes, adult animated shows do exist, but the large majority of these shows are focused around crude and immature humour with no deep or interesting characters in sight. The only adult show I have seen of late that is mildly different is Rick and Morty and, although I do like this show, it doesn’t focus on mature themes and only has them in the background which, yes, is done really well, but in my opinion, it is handled better in these kids shows.
There are other adult shows that attempt to do more adult themes, such as Family Guy, but they more often than not fall flat. This happens for two reasons. The first reason is that the characters we are watching are most of the time unlikable and unpleasant, we don’t want to see them succeed, or when they do, they are unbearably obnoxious or idiotic, which always pulls me out of caring for them. The second reason is these adult shows are mostly non-linier, meaning most episodes do not connect together and, therefore, when a theme is introduced in one episode, it is often resolved or dropped by the next. I don’t think I need to explain that this is far too short of a time span to even attempt to talk about adult themes with any real levity.
If you haven’t seen any of these kids shows, then I recommend you try them. Whether you enjoy deep and fascinating worlds or different styles of comedy, you are sure to find something you enjoy. Do not be put off by the label of “kids show”, as it may just surprise you how adult it can be.
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