Your Guide to Adult Animation on Sling TV
With the return of ‘Archer’, ‘Rick and Morty’ and more, here’s your look at how to watch the best in adult animation on Sling.
When The Simpsons premiered on FOX more than 30 years ago, the show’s format – an animated show with a decidedly grown-up sense of humor – felt novel and subversive. Fast-forward to 2022 and adult animation is one of the most popular formats on television…and The Simpsons is still here.
As illustrated (pun intended) by the collective 79 seasons of The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy, adult animation is a surprisingly enduring genre. That’s obviously helped by the fact that these show’s characters are, by definition, ageless and that voice actors can perform their parts without ever physically stepping on set. But beyond these practical details, adult animation continues to thrive because there’s something inherently amusing about the juxtaposition of whimsical cartoons and crude comedy.
This fall will see the return of many of the most popular shows in this genre – including Rick and Morty, Archer, and, yes, The Simpsons – along with several new premieres. Here’s a brief guide to all the adult animation coming to Sling TV this fall; to get the most animated comedies (plus news, sports, movies, and more), use the link at the bottom of this page to subscribe to Sling Orange + Blue.
Archer
Season 13 premieres Wed. Aug. 24 on FXX
Archer has long been one of the most visually striking animated shows, but in season 13, changes are afoot. This will be the first season without the great Jessica Walters, who died in 2019 at the age of 80, and the Agency has been acquired by Fabian Kingsworth and the “spy conglomerate” IIA. They’re looking for leadership…which means they might need to look past Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) to one of his teammates.
How to watch on Sling: FXX is available in the Hollywood Extra pack with Sling Blue or Orange + Blue.
Little Demon
Premieres Thur. Aug. 25 on FXX
If you’ve watched Always Sunny enough, you might have suspected that Danny DeVito is the devil. In the new FXX series Little Demon, he literally is. Co-starring Aubrey Plaza and Danny’s daughter Lucy DeVito, the show is about a Delaware middle-schooler who learns that she’s the spawn of Satan. As you may have suspected by its premise and cast, Little Demon is particularly foul, so if you prefer your animation to land on the “do-not-ever-show-this-to-children” side of the spectrum, you’re in for a raunchy reward.
How to watch on Sling: FXX is available in the Hollywood Extra pack with Sling Blue or Orange + Blue.
Pantheon
Premieres Thur. Sept. 1 on AMC+
Based on short stories by award-winning author Ken Liu, Pantheon is a heady new sci-fi series that promises to explore “the outer limits of what we and our technology are capable of creating and destroying.” The story centers on a bullied daughter (Katie Chang) and her deceased father (Daniel Dae Kim) who, after having his consciousness uploaded to the Cloud, becomes “the first of a new kind of being – an ‘Uploaded Intelligence’ or ‘UI’” while “a global conspiracy unfolds that threatens to trigger a new kind of world war.” Paul Dano, Rosemarie DeWitt, Aaron Eckhart, Taylor Schilling, Ron Livingston, and more co-star.
How to watch on Sling: AMC+ is available to add to your Sling subscription for $8.99 per month.
American Dad!
Mon. Sept. 5 on TBS
American Dad! may have started as something like a Family Guy spin-off (Seth MacFarlane created and stars in both), but it has slowly developed its own distinct identity. The TBS favorite returns for new episodes on Sept. 5 and a number of guest stars have been announced, including Terry Crews, Jason Issacs, Laurie Metcalf, and Jared Harris, who will play Merlin.
How to watch on Sling: TBS is available on Sling Orange, Blue, and Orange + Blue.
Rick and Morty
Season 6 premieres Sun. Sept. 4 on Adult Swim
Adult Swim’s sci-fi comedy has quickly become one of the most popular shows on TV, and it’s easy to see why: The sci-fi elements are exceptionally clever (see last season’s episode “Mortyplicity”) and the seemingly tossed-off jokes make it highly rewatchable. Still, the show’s secret sauce might be its drama and mythology, as plot points take multiple seasons to pay off and Rick’s sociological callousness is played for pathos, not just laughs.
How to watch on Sling: Adult Swim is available on Sling Orange, Blue, and Orange + Blue.
Tuca & Birdie
Season 3 finale: Mon. Sept. 5 on Adult Swim
Depending on who you ask, Netflix’s Bojack Horseman was the best animated comedy of the 2010s, and the show’s sort-of spin-off Tuca & Birdie (it is to BoJack what American Dad! is to Family Guy) is quickly building a similarly devoted cult audience. Starring Tiffany Haddish and Allie Wong as the titular duo, the show’s third season wraps up on Sept. 5, but you can watch select episodes anytime on demand.
How to watch on Sling: Adult Swim is available on Sling Orange, Blue, and Orange + Blue.
The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Great North, and Bob’s Burgers
Sun. Sept. 25
If we exclude The Flintstones, FOX pretty much invented this whole “cartoons but for grown-ups” thing, and its 2-hour “Animation Domination” block on Sundays returns on Sept. 25. With new episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, and The Great North, you can get your adult animation fix weekly.
How to watch on Sling: FOX is available with Sling Blue in select markets.
Krapopolis Preview
Sun. Nov. 27 on FOX
And finally, we’ll be getting a sneak preview of FOX’s new animated comedy Krapopolis this fall. Created by Dan Harmon of Rick and Morty and Community fame, the show is centered around “a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each other.” The show – which claims to be the first-ever animated comedy curated on Blockchain – will make its proper debut in 2023.
How to watch on Sling: FOX is available with Sling Blue in select markets.