Teletoon had carried programming targeting teen and adult audiences during the prime time and late night hours since its inception. The channel eventually established formal brands for such programming—The Detour on Teletoon and Teletoon Unleashed—in 2001 and 2002; by 2004, the "Unleashed" block was dropped.
Teletoon at Night was similar in format to the Adult Swim block of Cartoon Network, from which the block acquired most of its programming. A Canadian version of Adult Swim was launched as the late night block of the newly-launched Canadian Cartoon Network channel in 2012. The two blocks operated in parallel, with most Adult Swim original series eventually moving to the new channel, and Teletoon at Night focusing on other original and acquired adult animation series, as well as films.
On April 1, 2019, the block was discontinued; it was succeeded by the newly-launched Adult Swim channel. The block's French counterpart, Télétoon la nuit, continues to air on Télétoon.[1]
History
Final Teletoon Detour logo, 2008 to September 1, 2009.
Since its launch, Teletoon had aired a lineup of adult-targeted programming (which were mixed alongside animated series aimed at teenagers) during the nighttime hours. Teletoon at Night's roots lie in two former programming blocks. The teenage-oriented block known as "The Detour" launched in 2002, with programs such as The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Ripping Friends, Spy Groove, Time Squad, Grim & Evil, Cybersix, and later Family Guy, Futurama, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. This was in addition to the previously-launched adult-oriented block, "Teletoon Unleashed".[2] Programming featured on Teletoon Unleashed included Undergrads, John Callahan's Quads, Mission Hill, The Oblongs, Spicy City, Todd MacFarlane's Spawn, and later Baby Blues, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, MTV's Downtown, and Home Movies. When these programs aired on Teletoon Unleashed they were all classified with an 18+ rating so as to attract an adult audience, regardless of the fact that only some of them were explicit enough to require that. The Detour block did this very same thing with the 14+ classification. The Unleashed block was eventually dropped in March 2004, due to lack of new content, since most of the series that aired on the block only ran for a single season of around 13 episodes, leading to frequent reruns.
In September 2004, the two blocks were amalgamated, with all-new branding created by Guru Studio.[3] For the start of the 2006–2007 season, a new Friday night companion block, F-Night, debuted, featuring a slightly different lineup, mainly comedy series from Adult Swim (such as Tom Goes to the Mayor and Squidbillies).[4] In 2009, the block was rebranded as Teletoon at Night.
With the launch of the Canadian version of Adult Swim (via the Canadian version of Cartoon Network) on July 4, 2012, most of the original programming from the American service eventually migrated to its Canadian counterpart.[5]
In the Summer of 2014, Saturday film telecasts were branded as the "Saturday Night Funhouse Double Feature".[6] Meanwhile, Teletoon acquired broadcast rights to The Awesomes, a Hulu original series.[7] In October 2014, Bento Box Entertainment, the studio that produces The Awesomes, announced they would be producing a new slate of shows for Teletoon at Night.[8] In the same month, Blue Ant Media, Mondo Media, and Corus announced that Teletoon at Night would air a new series featuring shorts from Bite on Mondo, a program in which content creators pitched ideas for several new TV series.[9] It was later revealed on Adult Swim's Facebook page that the new series, dubbed Night Sweats, would air on Adult Swim instead.
During the week of September 1, 2015, it was announced on air that, on that date, several of the block's shows would move to Adult Swim.[10][11][12] In a press release posted on September 3, 2015, it was announced that the block would now air Mondays through Thursdays starting at 10:00 p.m, with a film at 11:00p.m. Teletoon's Superfan Friday block expanded in Teletoon at Night's place.[10][13] It was later announced in December 2015 that, starting on January 4, 2016, Teletoon at Night would be adding more films to their schedule and their remaining shows moved over to Adult Swim.[14]
In February 2016, several TV series that were airing on Adult Swim began airing on Teletoon at Night.[citation needed] On February 24, 2016, it was announced in a press release that the seventh season of Archer would air on both blocks.[15] In the same month, Teletoon at Night's website revealed that its Fred at Night segment would be discontinued after six years, with the final installment airing on February 25, 2016.[14] On March 23, 2016, it was revealed that Archer's seventh season would instead air on Teletoon at Night, although the season premiere did air in simulcast on Adult Swim.[16]
On March 4, 2019, along with the announcement that Action would relaunch as a full-time Adult Swim channel on April 1, 2019, it was also announced that Teletoon at Night would be discontinued.[17] The block signed off for the final time on April 1, 2019, at 3:00a.m..
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