Why(and when) did Adventure Time drop off in popularity?

[PixelatedBookake]

I remember in the first few years of Adventure Time's run on Cartoon Network, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing about the show. The lore, the characters, the humor were praised almost universally. But now the show is its final episodes and no one is talking about it. Even I, who was a pretty big fan of the show, don't care that it's ending.

It'd be easy to say that all cartoons go through seasonal rot and that's why, but I've seen some recent episodes of Adventure Time and its still good! For a show that was so widely praised to almost not being brought up at all, I want to know why did Adventure Time have such a drop off in popularity?

 

[Bronx-Man]

I wanna say sometime around 2013 or 2014? Really it felt like the show was getting a little too much up its own rear-end with all the lore and the need to be artsy for the sake of it.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

For me it was because there was a bit too much filler and they were dragging out the secrets of the universe they created for a bit too long.

I wasn't getting answers to questions I wanted and instead was getting episodes that either made no sense or had nothing to do with the overarching plot.

I'll eventually go back and marathon what I've missed.

 

[Kase]

The constant breaks in between a slew of episodes really hurts the series for me overall, so it's really hard for me to keep watching it regularly. I usually go back to it once they have a bunch of episodes all done and I can watch it all in one go. Usually better since there are overall arc stories interwoven in there which I can spot, which otherwise would be difficult had I needed to stop for several weeks at times.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

It promised a lot of lore that the creators clearly had no intention of following up on, plus some really bad scheduling.

 

[hydruxo]

I feel like shows like Steven Universe, Rick & Morty, and Gravity Falls kind of stole its thunder

 

[teruterubozu]

It appealed to people who hated the mainstream, then it became mainstream.

 

[commish]

I feel like shows like Steven Universe, Rick & Morty, and Gravity Falls kind of stole its thunder

Yeah, I came in to say this. Other shows just seemed to do "it" better.

 

[The Driver]

I stopped watching seriously right after that 2 parter with the Lich, S5 I think?

I watched a few after that but idk the weird quirk seemed to be dying and it wasn't as funny to me. Just felt like it went up it's own butt instead of being fun like it used to be. I think the only other episode after that that stuck with me was the one where Finn daydreams about a life with a pillow lady or some shit.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I ran an Adventure Time Tumblr during its third and fourth seasons. I liked the show a lot and created a lot of original content in the form of captioned GIFs and theorycrafting. It was a really tremendous show to be in to. Back then, people would joke that it was impossible not to encounter Dr. Who, One Direction, or Adventure Time on your dashboard. It didn't matter who you followed, or what your interests were, you always saw content from these shows.

It started to fall off because it stopped feeling edgy. At its peak, Adventure Time felt like it was constantly about to cross the line over what was acceptable or discussed in children's television. From nuclear Armageddon to domestic abuse to existentialism to LGBT relationships, Adventure Time constantly toed that line and I think a lot of older people watched religiously to see if and when they would really do it.

And I don't know. Eventually, toeing the line wasn't enough because it became status quo.

My favorite personal episode is All the Little People which I think is Emmy worthy. That is Adventure Time as its peak artistic embodiment. But ultimately it was a show for children and these episodes weren't always worth the wait.

 

[okno]

I think a lot of people just grew up and grew out of it. I did. I remember seeing the very first pilot episode (with good old Honest Abe) on Nickelodeon back in 2007. I was a massive fan when the show first began airing, but then I began to advance a lot in my career and didn't have the time for it. I watch it every chance I can, though, and still love the show just as much as before. The quality they have maintained from start to finish is staggering.

 

[Corpekata]

Yeah the scheduling was a big thing.

And really, some of it's audience has likely aged out of it a bit. I also feel like we've seen a pretty decent growth in similar cartoons (or maybe ones that are aimed older like Rick and Morty) that satisfy a decent chunk of the audience so it's lost sort of it's event status.

 

[RedStep]

Got too far up its own ass. We fell behind for a bit and then it was like... what's the point? I am still buying the blu-rays to catch up one day but a cartoon doesn't need to try to be so "deep" with its storytelling.

The initial few years of pretty standalone stories with little bits of background scattered around were ideal, imo.

 

[7Th]

Other cartoons (Steven Universe in general and Rick & Morty for older fans) started giving people what they were hoping for but weren't getting from Adventure Time.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Other shows came along for people to get invested in the lore/humour mix like Gravity Falls, Steven Universe. Pure comedies like Gumball started to pick up their own pace. Honestly it's just kind of natural for any show that goes on as long as it did. I didn't really watch towards the end but from what I can tell it started to prioritize the lore/story stuff over the pure comedy and that kind of thing always splits the fanbase since not everyone winds up watching for the same reasons.

In general I think Adventure Time really benefitted from the fact that it came during a time when a lot of people were worried about the future of 2D animation on TV. It was really innovative and fresh in its own right, but of course it paved the way for more things to come along and take their own spin on things. So 7 years down the line the situation is a bit different. It's like Unfunny Seinfeld syndrome, kind of. Still appreciate how it started things, but it's not the only show out there like it anymore.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

EDIT: Weird double post.

 

[droggg]

I wanna say sometime around 2013 or 2014? Really it felt like the show was getting a little too much up its own rear-end with all the lore and the need to be artsy for the sake of it.

This sums up my thoughts on the downfall of Adventure Time exactly. The first bunch of seasons are fantastic though.

 

[ahoyhoy]

The first 4-5 were amazing to me. Each episode was packed with bizarre encounters, strange twists, and a fast moving plot. My friends and I were amazed after watching an episode that they managed to cram so much excellence into 11 minutes.

The last few seasons have lost some of that magic. Whether it's slower pacing, treading on old ground, or devotion to storylines I don't care for, somewhere along the line something was lost.

Last episodes I watched were the Stakes series, which while beautiful were also kind of lacking in humor and originality.

 

[Anung]

A combination or growing out of it and it's peers eating its lunch.

 

[Kor of Memory]

I don't think it's the shows fault entirely.

Cartoon network has changed the way it drops episodes now. They've moved away from the weekly format and now do "Episode Bombs".

It's like they're trying to imitate Netflix by releasing a bunch of episodes in a rapid fashion, but it's usually 5-8 15 minute epsidoes, and then another 2+months before any word about continuation.

This really screws with fans interest in the series, IMO.

Adventure Time season 9 has aired 9 episodes so far debuting as such:

S9E01 21APR17
S9E02 24APR17
S9E03 24APR17
S9E04 25APR17
S9E05 25APR17
S9E06 26APR17
S9E07 26APR17
S9E08 27APR17
S9E09 27APR17

Then nothing for months. In fact, I didn't even know the episodes were starting back up until I happened to glance at the wiki to see. only to find out they're doing the exact same shit again next week.

Steven Universe is doing the exact same thing, and my interest in it is waning for the exact same reason. Season 5 started off with a Bomb so we got

S5E01 29MAY17
S5E02 29MAY17
S5E03 29MAY17
S5E04 29MAY17

And we have literally no information about the next episode to come.

It's incredibly annoying spacing shit out like this, and it makes any episode not critical to plot advancement feel even worse because you feel like it's taking up a slot in a limited episode bomb.

 

[The Hermit]

It promised a lot of lore that the creators clearly had no intention of following up on, plus some really bad scheduling.

The scheduling killed any interest I had. It was awful

 

[SigmasonicX]

For me, I never really liked it as a "once a week" or even a "once a weekday" show, so I end up drifting away for a bit then binging. And I generally don't like posting my responses to a binge watch, so I end up not actually posting in the OT.

The newest season has been interesting, but I feel like both Islands and Elementals had weak resolutions, which has been a consistent problem with the show.

In general, the idea that people drifted away because other shows did the appealing parts better rings true to me. Why wait for PB and Marceline hinting when you can get space rock lesbians? Why settle for PG mind bending when you can get it at MA?

 

[MugiwaraCole]

CN scheduling is so fucking horrible.

I gave up trying to keep up on it and Steven Universe because of it. I just check for the new episodes on some completely legitimate website every couple months now.

Last CN show I followed, even with horrible scheduling, was Young Justice. Said never again when they canceled that anyways.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Even though we're living in an age of critically acclaimed cartoons with large fandoms pouring over every detail, Cartoon Network's scheduling, in particular, is atrocious.

 

[Ogodei]

To me it feels like scheduling. There were definitely missteps in Season 5 and 6, but they weren't as bad as people made them out to be and the show's found great footing currently with the various miniseries finally starting some major lore payoffs while not being as "heavy" as some of the more infamous episodes of the series.

Cartoon Network simply stopped caring, but not enough to actually cancel it. Late 2015 was when CN got into its current "fuck it, lets just fill the *entire* schedule with Teen Titans Go and Gumball" phase and that was when they stopped promoting just about anything that wasn't either a brand-new series (We Bare Bears, PPG, Mighty Magiswords, Ben 10), Gumball, or TTG.

It's more amazing that CN's apathy hasn't really hurt Steven Universe yet, and CN does seem to treat Steven better when new episodes roll around, while Adventure Time slips out like a thief in the night.

They've been leaning pretty good on OK KO promotions lately, though, so here's hoping. The channel just desperately needs a new hit that isn't TTG (especially since Gumball's on its way out), because apparently they can't be asked to even bother airing reruns of anything that isn't their top-rated show.

 

[Shauni]

A lot of people love slightly weird, quirky stuff. A lot less people love super weird, quirky stuff. And that's really what it came down to, I think. It just got too fucking out there for a lot of people, especially in the fifth and sixth season when it seemed like almost every episode was some kind experimental one, and then you had a lot of new shows that riffing off the tone the show had set in those years, too, like Steven Universe and Rick and Morty, so a lot of people migrated over there.

But, honestly, I'm cool with it. I'm actually glad that AT went into that phase. Even if I'm not a huge fan of that time period, I look at it a lot like Season 3 of Twin Peaks. It's still Adventure Time, but it's got the dial to one aspect of the show dialed to 11. I loved that the creators were able to do that, even if they risked the 'hotness' of the show to do so. I think in later years those episodes are going to be looked at more fondly

It promised a lot of lore that the creators clearly had no intention of following up on

Huh? Like what? Basically every mystery that the show has opened has been addressed (except Jake's true heritage being an exception, but this season seems to be going there in some form), and every avenue they've opened has been re-explored at least once.

 

[Killer Queen]

A lot of people love slightly weird, quirky stuff. A lot less people love super weird, quirky stuff. And that's really what it came down to, I think. It just got too fucking out there for a lot of people, especially in the fifth and sixth season when it seemed like almost every episode was some kind experimental one, and then you had a lot of new shows that riffing off the tone the show had set in those years, too, like Steven Universe and Rick and Morty, so a lot of people migrated over there.

But, honestly, I'm cool with it. I'm actually glad that AT went into that phase. Even if I'm not a huge fan of that time period, I look at it a lot like Season 3 of Twin Peaks. It's still Adventure Time, but it's got the dial to one aspect of the show dialed to 11. I loved that the creators were able to do that, even if they risked the 'hotness' of the show to do so. I think in later years those episodes are going to be looked at more fondly



Huh? Like what? Basically every mystery that the show has opened has been addressed (except Jake's true heritage being an exception, but this season seems to be going there in some form), and every avenue they've opened has been re-explored at least once.

Already been addressed and there's another episode next week about it.

 

[LeadProtagonist]

It's scheduling for me.

I still watch the show and enjoy it a lot, but it's less of a "time to sit down and watch Adventure Time this week" and more of a "Oh shit, 10 episodes came out?" every few months kind of thing.

Really sucks that Cartoon Network seems to do that with all of its shows. Same with Steven Universe. I watch it the same way.

 

[ForkNetwork]

scheduling and the fact that season 6 dropped hard in quality

 

[MikeOfAllTrades]

I loved the first 4 season but life got in the way. Every now and then I check the wikipedia page to see if the show is over yet so I can buy a giant box set.

 

[Chmpocalypse]

I feel like shows like Steven Universe, Rick & Morty, and Gravity Falls kind of stole its thunder

So, I'm not going to lie - I read your post and immediately forgot what show the OP asked about. I'm completely serious. I had to scroll up.

It was like those shows entered my brain and BAM, Adventure Time was shoved out.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

I ran an Adventure Time Tumblr during its third and fourth seasons. I liked the show a lot and created a lot of original content in the form of captioned GIFs and theorycrafting. It was a really tremendous show to be into. Back then, people would joke that it was impossible not to encounter Dr. Who, One Direction, or Adventure Time on your dashboard. It didn't matter who you followed, or what your interests were, you always saw content from these shows.

It started to fall off because it stopped feeling edgy. At its peak, Adventure Time felt like it was constantly about to cross the line over what was acceptable or discussed in children's television. From nuclear Armageddon to domestic abuse to existentialism to LGBT relationships, Adventure Time constantly toed that line and I think a lot of older people watched religiously to see if and when they would really do it.

And I don't know. Eventually, toeing the line wasn't enough because it became status quo.

My favorite personal episode is All the Little People which I think is Emmy worthy. That is Adventure Time as its peak artistic embodiment. But ultimately it was a show for children and these episodes weren't always worth the wait.

I think this is a pretty fair observation. A lot of the people who were into it were in middle school/high school.

Along with it, I felt that it didn't commit to anything it was really setting up. The Lich really seemed like the end game, or part of it, but it's still a cartoon with 11 minute episodes and tons of episodes in a season, it never had the pacing to be a really good story.

 

[NimbusD]

I don't think it's the shows fault entirely.

Cartoon network has changed the way it drops episodes now. They've moved away from the weekly format and now do "Episode Bombs".

It's like they're trying to imitate Netflix by releasing a bunch of episodes in a rapid fashion, but it's usually 5-8 15 minute epsidoes, and then another 2+months before any word about continuation.

This really screws with fans interest in the series, IMO.

Adventure Time season 9 has aired 9 episodes so far debuting as such:

S9E01 21APR17
S9E02 24APR17
S9E03 24APR17
S9E04 25APR17
S9E05 25APR17
S9E06 26APR17
S9E07 26APR17
S9E08 27APR17
S9E09 27APR17

Then nothing for months. In fact, I didn't even know the episodes were starting back up until I happened to glance at the wiki to see. only to find out they're doing the exact same shit again next week.

Steven Universe is doing the exact same thing, and my interest in it is waning for the exact same reason. Season 5 started off with a Bomb so we got

S5E01 29MAY17
S5E02 29MAY17
S5E03 29MAY17
S5E04 29MAY17

And we have literally no information about the next episode to come.

It's incredibly annoying spacing shit out like this, and it makes any episode not critical to plot advancement feel even worse because you feel like it's taking up a slot in a limited episode bomb.

Wow, that's fucking stupid. They're not netlfix' medium, so don't mimic them.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Wow, that's fucking stupid. They're not netlfix' medium, so don't mimic them.

Cartoon Network has been doing these massive episode dumps for a while now.

Usually when they do this, the episodes are long arcs or a theme or something.

 

[Slayven]

Good question, shit was everywhere for a minute

It promised a lot of lore that the creators clearly had no intention of following up on, plus some really bad scheduling.

That is how i felt when watching it.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

It promised a lot of lore that the creators clearly had no intention of following up on, plus some really bad scheduling.

Yea, it was really setting up to move from random episodes of the week to a story with long arcs and a continuous story. The issue is we get both and nobody is really pleased when Finn loses an arm and gets one back two episodes later.

 

[Sadsic]

adventure time season 6's lackluster finale right into Steven Universe's amazing season 1 finale in 2015 basically created a mass exodus of adventure time fans into steven universe

conversely the big lull in season 4 of steven universe seemed to transfer a lot of fans over to star vs the forces of evil which had an amazing second half of its season 2 at the same time earlier this year

 

[NervousXtian]

The show was fun when it was about small little contained adventures and a little lore.

When it tried to do more it lost me, and it lost it's fun. You don't need to explain things. I didn't care where Jake came from, or Finn.. or Ice King.. or any of them... when they tried to explain it all (admittedly poorly) it lost what made the show so fun to start with.

 

[Ahasverus]

It got weird, really weird.

Everytime I catch an episode it's like an LSD trip, and not in the good sense, it's literally incomprehensible.

I'm glad it exists, but I don't feel like watching the fever dream of a hollywood neohippie.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

The show was fun when it was about small little contained adventures and a little lore.

When it tried to do more it lost me, and it lost it's fun. You don't need to explain things. I didn't care where Jake came from, or Finn.. or Ice King.. or any of them... when they tried to explain it all (admittedly poorly) it lost what made the show so fun to start with.

This is funny because I think most people felt the opposite. For me, the show was 100% "about" the lore and the "fun random adventure" was unpalatable filler.

The fact we feel the opposite is probably symptomatic of why the show has dropped off.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

It got weird, really weird.

Everytime I catch an episode it's like an LSD trip, and not in the good sense, it's literally incomprensible.

I'm glad it exists, but I don't feel like watching the fever dream of a hollywood neohippie.

Agree totally. It's only shtick is that it's like a bad LSD trip constantly. I don't know how it lasted as long as it did

 

[Sadsic]

to be fair, i think seasons 7 and 8 of adventure time have been some of the best seasons of adventure time ever

to me its something like this:

4 > 5 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1

 

[The Driver]

I think I just wanted more episodes like the Halloween one where the gang goes to that haunted mansion for some party or Finn gets kidnapped by lawn gnomes instead of the kinda boring lore ones they did. I think the only episode I ever liked in that mold was the one where Marceline flashes back to the Ice Ling raising her and I think that's 90% because of Rebecca Sugar's supremely melancholic song.

 

[EvilMario]

to be fair, i think seasons 7 and 8 of adventure time have been some of the best seasons of adventure time ever

to me its something like this:

4 > 5 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1

It's weird to me.. I felt the show started very strong and greatly trailed off in season 4, or 5.

 

[paragonpro]

I still enjoy it, but i definitely prefered when the lore took a back seat and all you got were hints of back story if you were paying close attention, i prefer that style of exposition

 

[zashga]

It promised a lot of lore that the creators clearly had no intention of following up on, plus some really bad scheduling.

So what you're saying is Adventure Time is the Dark Souls of cartoon shows.

Spoiler

I'm sorry.

 

[LordKasual]

It got stupid.

the mysterious and whimsical nature of the show is why it was so good. Just 2 dudes living in a real-life fantasy world, complete with magic, dungeons and loot. There was no need to explain anything, it was beyond explaining, but it didn't matter, because everyone was happy.

then it tried to get overly emotional and explain away past relationships that were irrelevant to the original tone of the series, and it just went downhill from there


I fell in love with the show because of how it used nostalgia, but it slowly drifted waaaaaaaaaaay too far into melodrama

 

[Pein]

I think this is a giant problem with alot of modern cartoon shows, too much fucking lore. God fucking damn, not every cartoon has to be up its own ass for years building out some deep story.

Kids grow up and the adults who are into these deeper lines of story are gonna move on to adult shows that just do these things better and because they aren't targeting children can actually realize the mature plot points they wanna see.

I know people wanna rag on teen titans go, but I'm glad kids have a show that isn't tied to details from previous episodes.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

I think this is a giant problem with alot of modern cartoon shows, too much fucking lore. God fucking damn, not every cartoon has to be up its own ass for years building out some deep story.

Kids grow up and the adults who are into these deeper lines of story are gonna move on to adult shows that just do these things better and because they aren't targeting children can actually realize the mature plot points they wanna see.

I'm pretty sure cartoons back to the 80s had lore. It's called world building

 

[Agent Gibbs]

For me it was down to scheduling in the UK and inability to get decent streaming services of it, It seemed to have an entirely random schedule sometimes and i gave in