Television has a mountain of content that has entertained an endless number of people. Specifically, animation has always been a staple for the best forms of entertainment for young audiences for its zany and wily characters and set-ups. Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, and Disney Cartoons were the mainframe for animation that made cartoons what they are today and set the standard for brilliance in animation.
However, animation has evolved and become geared more towards adults over the years, utilizing different mature themes for diversity in its viewership. Combining cartoons with adult humor and sometimes raunchy, provocative content has proven to be a huge, continuing success. Here are the best animated shows for adults that have set a new standard for the genre of animation.

11 Paradise PD

This wacky animated comedy follows Officer Randall Crawford as he and his inept police department try to take down cases in the dumbest ways possible while cracking on celebrities in scatological fashion.
Related: Paradise PD Trailer Showers Netflix in Blood, Vomit, Drugs & Raunchy Jokes
Paradise PD is vulgar and not the best comedy for every single audience, and it often reuses too many gross-out gags that are more gratuitous than comical in its nature, but it still works on a small-scale for people who are into that sort of barbaric humor. It’ll still provoke chuckles from its audience.

10 Hit-Monkey

This Marvel Hulu series follows an assassin named Bryce who discovers a Japanese macaque in the sauna. He is fatally shot by hunters who also shoot the monkeys that gave him refuge. One monkey, however, is able to kill the hunters and becomes the Hit Monkey with the help of his sidekick, the ghost of Bryce.
It was weird and new for Marvel’s taste, but this animated show has the makings of a cult classic in its near future. The violence and surprisingly dramatic elements of Hit-Monkey are enough to satisfy any Marvel fan. Its unique and odd sensitivities are what make this television series stand out from the rest of Marvel’s pantheon.

9 F is for Family

Frank Murphy (Bill Burr) is an ex-Korean War veteran working as a baggage handler for an airport. He tries his hardest to keep his family together in the 1970s. His anger may get the better of him at times, but he still works hard to get his life in order.
Like most other entries on this list, F is for Family is a raucous and uproariously hilarious animated comedy with quick wit and thought-provoking content that proves to be an endearing, animated romp on Netflix, which recently finished its fifth and final season.

8 Bojack Horseman

Here is another animated Netflix series that gets its laughs from its deadpan humor. This series sees the once-famous Bojack Horseman try to make a comeback to his former glory on his sitcom Horsin’ Around. However, his blatant alcoholism and depression cause him to spiral out of control and sabotage his career.
Filled with anthropomorphic characters and a sense of realistic humor that still entertains, with enough pop-cultural influence to have a fan base giving it longevity, Bojack Horseman was a beloved and startlingly devastating show, filled with not only obscene humor but emotionally honest pain and suffering.

7 Rick & Morty

It’s probably the closest thing to Back to the Future IV that fans will get. Rick and Morty sees Rick Sanchez, a drunk, egotistical genius, go on several wacky adventures ranging from shooting at aliens to breaking timelines into other dimensions, all with his pubescent grandson.
The series is vibrant, entertaining and bloodily bold. Rick and Morty has its moments of disgust and awkwardness but, for the most part, it has a sense of sci-fi magnificence and adventurous antics that provoke wonder and awe along with its humor and philosophical musings. Its twists and turns are what keep the fans invested in this show with such down-to-earth and existential comedy.

6 The Boondocks

If there was ever a show that was both hilarious and socially conscious, it would be The Boondocks. Robert Freeman and his grandkids Riley and Huey move into a more affluent neighborhood. From there they come across some of the most stereotypical characters like the self-hating Uncle Ruckus (no relation) and the whitest Black man Tom the lawyer.
Related: Top 10 Animated TV Shows of the 2000s
At the heart of each episode lies some sort of moral that elevates the comedy into a more potent and dramatic television series. It easily balances hilarious, racist jokes with social commentary on racial division. Whether the show mocks R. Kelly or BET, it will always be a treasure to watch this cartoon, especially with its fascinating, anime-inspired visuals.

5 Robot Chicken

This stop-motion show is basically a sketch series like Saturday Night Live in claymation form and with more raunchy humor. Robot Chicken revolves around a series of different sketches that are usually related to someone or something in pop-culture (especially popular superheroes or celebrities).
While the sketches are short and may sometimes miss their mark, they are still well-crafted and appeal to a lot of people that love guilty pleasures. Its fast pace and clever dialogue is what keeps this show still on the air.

4 The Simpsons

There would be a lot of heat if this show wasn’t on the list. The series revolves around The Simpsons family going through a wide myriad of misadventures. Their supporting cast is as hilarious as the antics that they get into.
Admittedly, many of the jokes and setups are slightly offensive, for today’s standards, but it has a sense of nostalgia and charm that has spanned over thirty years and has become a staple of adult animation, even if its quality hasn’t kept up with its age. It’s honestly hard to imagine what the world would be like without the series still on the air.

3 Futurama

From the same people who made The Simpsons, this series sees slacker Phillip J. Frye get cryogenically frozen and wake up a thousand years later to become an employee of an interplanetary delivery company. Much like The Simpsons, Futurama uses its zany misadventure-style animated sitcom genre to garner its laughs.
What’s more important to note is the fun vocal performances, especially John DiMaggio’s sleazy yet entertaining turn as Bender the robot. While much of the other cast is great or just fine, DiMaggio’s Bender proves to be such an entertaining vocal performance for this animated comedy, that a massive outrage (‘Bendergate’) was sparked when he was initially not appearing in the reboot.

2 American Dad

American Dad the chaser after watching Family Guy. Stan Smith is a proud, gun-carrying Republican who takes care of his family while harboring a wise-cracking, cross-dressing alien named Roger from another world.
Like the others on the list, its scatological jokes and cutaway gags are often what make this comedy hilarious, particularly from Seth Macfarlane’s turn as Roger the Alien, with his juvenile yet witty voice that provokes a laugh every time he utters a word. The show’s brash crudeness is its foundation for fostering laughs and multiple seasons.

1 Family Guy

Finally, the ultimate animated comedy for adults has arrived. This series has Peter Griffin and his obnoxious and dysfunctional family go through a series of adventures with a litany of racist, sexist, and homophobic jokes sprinkled all over the show for shock value, and yet simultaneously criticizes all of these things as well.
Family Guy has become such a provocative and controversial show that, along with battles with censors and different groups, the show was pulled off of Fox twice. It has since gotten more durability, with each season being just as raunchy as the last while maintaining a certain level of political awareness and heart.

Read Next

About The Author