There have been a lot of changes at Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, and it looks like one of those changes has seemingly led to the cancellation of a major Cartoon Network classics block, Checkered Past. As one of its major changes a couple of years ago under Warner Bros. Discovery, Adult Swim’s block had been extended an extra hour to allow for more programming. This led to the start of a cool new block for fans of Cartoon Network in the 2000s as Adult Swim started to air a lot of Cartoon Network classic shows that had not been seen on the network in years.
This new block was dubbed “Checkered Past” and aired shows like The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Dexter’s Laboratory, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed, Edd n Eddy and even more through the past couple of years. But according to a new listing on Adult Swim’s schedule spotted by @swimpedia on X, it seems like the final broadcast of the Checkered Past block will be on Friday, June 27th as the block prepares to come to its end. Instead replaced with more of King of the Hill the following Monday.
What Was Checkered Past?
Checkered Past was a weekly afternoon block filling in the extra time with Adult Swim. It was a fun way to go from Cartoon Network to Adult Swim through a transitional phase that aired older shows like Courage the Cowardly Dog. This block then even resulted in more experimental programming making its way back to Cartoon Network after many years with shows like Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel joining the line up in future iterations. But then things got taken even further as rarer cartoons made their way back to television thanks to this cool block as well like the Cartoon Cartoon pilots that never got their chance to be a full series.
The biggest addition to Checkered Past over its just a little over two year tenure, which also made the entire experiment worth it, was the return of the What a Cartoon! show. This was also one of the earliest pilot programs where franchises like The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory got their start, and this block had aired many of the pilots that had originally premiered with Cartoon Network decades ago (and hadn’t been seen since). But for a brief time, fans got to see them on TV again (and likely for what was the final time at this point).
What Happens to Adult Swim Next?
As for what this means for Adult Swim on a whole, it just means that the weekly schedule for the block is going to change. If Checkered Past truly is going to end before the month is over, then fans still have some time to tune into the block and enjoy its offerings. It had already been pared back from its original two hour block of time to only a single hour with episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog being one of the final shows to air with it (which makes sense given that it’s also the final Cartoon Network show from this era to stream with HBO Max as well).
So King of the Hill just expanding its offerings makes a lot of sense, and even more so when looking at the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella overall. As it prepares to separate its various industries in unexpected ways, channels like Cartoon Network and its Adult Swim half are likely going to need to tighten up their respective schedules to make sure they survive all of the changes and shifts to come in the following months and years.
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