This was done to promote the addition of the FOX series, Futurama, to the block. Gone were the old people swimming, replaced by bumpers showing pages of an emergency handbook. Janusaw the last airing of the Action block for a year, which was followed a week later on January 12 by the block’s first rebrand.
This block was a showcase of anime, some of which came from Cartoon Network’s Toonami block, while the rest were new to the network. On February 23, 2002, Adult Swim Action premiered, replacing the Thursday repeat block. The initial block consisted of Home Movies, The Brak Show, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Sealab 2021, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Cowboy Bebop, with Aqua Teen Hunger Force joining soon after. The shows broadcast each night would all be repeated on Thursday nights. Initially, the block lasted from 10:00pm to 1:00am. The block launched on September 2, 2001, at 10:00pm, with an episode of Home Movies, a show that was pulled from airing on UPN despite not airing all of its episodes. This theme was reinforced by the bumpers, which featured old people swimming.
The children can't be trusted to swim by themselves, so they are kicked out, and only the adults can swim, hence adult swim. The name comes from a term for a lifeguard's break. Adult Swim started off as a spin-off block of Cartoon Network based on the success of an earlier show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast.