When HBO Max launched back in mid-2020, it promised an acclaimed and unique catalog that could compete with the rise of other streaming platforms. And while classic films and sitcoms do make for a stand out catalog, no other channel on HBO Max has made the streaming service as unique as Adult Swim.
A programming block designed around gritty experimentation, Adult Swim has produced some of the most unforgettable and entertaining series out there, including Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Boondocks, and Rick and Morty. However, as defined of a fanbase as the block may have, HBO Max released with a noticeably narrow catalog. Having spanned more than 20 years, there's plenty from Adult Swim that fans still want on the streaming service.
China, IL
There are few people with the same imagination as Brad Neely which helps given that society needs to function in some way. A creative standout that found a community with some odd vignettes online, Brad Neely was eventually offered an actual network deal by Adult Swim and got to produce a series that was surreal, loud, and audacious even when compared to the rest of the block's infamous catalog.
Focusing on the "Worst College in America," this series looks at the University of China, Illinois, and its group of professors who couldn't care less about education and its reluctant students who really need one.
12 Oz. Mouse
Adult Swim is famous for its crude, underground aesthetic, a tone attributed to its constant support to new properties and creators. There's no better example of this freshness and crudeness all-in-one than 12 oz. Mouse.
Looking as if it was drawn and animated on a bar napkin, 12 oz. Mouse looks at the everyday, hazy life of Mouse Fitzgerald, a drunken mouse detective whose main mysteries consist of him just trying to figure out what he did the previous night. Complete with an entire cast of other crudely drawn, crudely bespoken characters, 12 oz. Mouse was a beloved experience that managed to see a revival in 2020 which hopefully means the series will also be seeing a new home on HBO Max.
Xavier: Renegade Angel
While science has yet to perfect a means of delivering drugs visually, the next closest thing has to be Xavier: Renegade Angel. The perfect depiction of a video game coming to life but still glitching out, this series looked at the strange, barely philosophical journey of its titular character as he slowly rampages through a desert landscape in the guise of helping people.
Known for its blocky, visual aesthetic and fast writing, Xavier: Renegade Angel is a cult hit that still haunts people today. Given that one of its co-creators, Alyson Levy, recently had a new series greenlit, Xavier: Renegade Angel could pop up on HBO Max to celebrate and gauge a still thriving creative voice.
Mike Tyson Mysteries
Adult Swim's new generation of animated hits still manages to keep the company's strange and witty legacy alive. One of the block's biggest hits within recent memory has to be Mike Tyson Mysteries. Memorable in more ways than one, Mike Tyson Mysteries focuses on the titular and gilded Mike Tyson as he adopts a Scooby-Doo-esque, mystery-solving aesthetic to explore the world in various misadventures.
Traveling with him are his adoptive daughter, the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry, and a talking, drunken pigeon played by Norm MacDonald. While the series is currently available on Hulu, it may soon transition to HBO Max to join the rest of its Adult Swim family.
The Venture Bros.
The Venture Bros. is a familiar face among Adult Swim's original lineup whose expansive writing and detailed characters helped keep the series alive for seven seasons (and will hopefully be enough to bring the series back for an eighth).
Originally adopted as a parody of Hanna-Barbera action/adventure series (because it was reusing plenty of their animation assets), The Venture Bros. quickly evolved into both an action-packed thriller and a humorous yet affecting examination of growing up and identity. With a strong, fan campaign for the series' revival and HBO Max already in talks for fulfilling that, it may not be too long until The Venture Bros. comes to the purple streaming service.
Frisky Dingo
From the same co-creators as Sealab 2021 and the future creators of Archer, Frisky Dingo is a perfect example of Adam Reed and Matt Thompson's quick, intelligent writing being put into high-concept, animated worlds.
While they've famously explored the inner-working of deep sea, lab work, and the intricate, office culture of spies, Frisky Dingo was by far the creators' most directly surreal work as it focused on the ongoings and failings between superheroes and villains. Its main character, Killface, struggles to organize himself and his underlings to destroy the world whereas his arch-nemesis, Awesome X, also struggles with his own team to stop him.
Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital has already seen surprising success given its transition from cult hit web series to another installment of Adult Swim's late-night fever dreams. With a star-studded cast of comedy favorites, including Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, and Megan Mullally, Children's Hospital had the exact type of performing power necessary for showing how dramatic and hilarious a children's hospital could really be.
Parodying the various tropes surrounding medical dramas and adding plenty of surreal quirks of their own, this loveable group of doctors, patients, and clowns helped prove that laughter may not be the best medicine, but it is easier to give.
Mary Shelley's Frankenhole
From Dino Stamatopoulos, the creator of Moral Orel and one of Community's best recurring characters, Mary Shelley's Frankenhole was another stop motion offering that shocked with both its ostentatious characters and its smart writing. Taking place in the cosmic time pit stop of Eastern Europe, Frankenhole looks at the various squabbles and experiments of one Victor Frankenstein as he tries to use his science to help various figures from across history.
While the premise itself is already funny, the series still packed a few of the same, sincere punches that Moral Orel did and left some fans wanting more after it ended. Hopefully getting better treatment than Moral Orel's rushed final season, Frankenhole could find a revival on HBO Max.
The Shivering Truth
Much like many other Adult Swim series', The Shivering Truth was another offering of the deepest parts of the web that Adult Swim reached deep down to pull for the whole world to see. Utilizing some genuinely stellar stop-motion animation, The Shivering Truth tells a variety of "shivering" tales that range between strong visual jokes, surreal stories, and some genuinely horrifying tales that shock and surprise in a way that few other horror movies can.
As one of the strongest offerings of Adult Swim's modern lineup, The Shivering Truth may likely be moving to HBO Max. It's only horrifying to know that it didn't make it on day one.
The Eric Andre Show
Second only perhaps to Rick and Morty, The Eric Andre Show is one of Adult Swim's most popular and influential series of the modern era. Turning up Adult Swim's already unique brand of surreal humor to eleven, Eric Andre and Hannibal Buress do everything within their power to weird out its viewers, guests, and anyone that unfortunately has to be nearby during some of their sketches.
Having been memed and quoted more times than most traditional comedies, this talk show has become the very voice of an entire generation that's looking for darker, more primal content. Despite the series already being on Hulu, one would think that HBO Max would've fought a little harder to bring its audience over.