Adult Swim

One usually thinks of animation as something just for children, but there is an entire set of shows and sometimes movies that are specifically designed for adults, often in the form of animated sitcoms. Most of these air on adult swim, but can air elsewhere. These can be altered for adults in many ways; most notably in their content. They will include sexual content, not just innuendos, excessive violence/gore, and black comedy; all of which are inappropriate for children but that adults tend to like.

The most famous of these shows are South Park, Futurama, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, Robot Chicken, Rick and Morty, and The Simpsons. While these are of varying degrees of inappropriateness, there is no denying that they have become very popular and influential. They have helped to broaden the animation industry and have had a huge effect on popular culture as well, with shows like The Simpsons being one of the longest-running shows and instantly recognizable.

In my opinion, these shows are often stupid- not taking themselves seriously or having jokes, that while I may consider them stupid, are found funny in society. They also often have sub-par animation, with the focus being on the content and not the way it is presented. There can be shows like these that are funny and well-written (most of the shows listed are decent), like Rick and Morty, but even then the good elements take a backseat to the adult content.

Another bad thing is that sometimes kids will watch them way too early. They air on Cartoon Network and are pretty easy to access, so many kids will watch them and have their minds corrupted of content that their parents would find undesirable. Elementary school kids should not be watching Family Guy. 

In terms of broadening the audience, while adult swim cartoons are appealing to adults, they are not of as good quality as some currently airing shows or movies designed for younger audiences, such as Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, and Adventure Time. If adults were to watch some of those shows and keep an open mind, they might find that the characters, animation, writing, and plots are well-done and far more superior, but since they are quote on quote "just for kids" they often take a backseat to adult swim.