Williams Street facts for kids

Williams Street Productions, LLC, once known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American studio that makes animated and live-action TV shows. It is owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group, which is part of Warner Bros.. This studio is the main production team for Adult Swim, which is Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block. Mike Lazzo and Keith Crofford were in charge of the studio for many years.

History of Williams Street

In 1976, a businessman named Ted Turner bought the building that Williams Street is in today. He used it for his own TV station, WTCG. This channel was one of the first to send its signal by satellite to cable systems. This was a big step that changed how cable TV worked across the country.

The local channel grew very popular and was renamed WTBS in 1979. Later, it became TBS Superstation. During this time, Ted Turner also started CNN, a 24-hour news network. Both channels became very important for cable TV by the late 1980s. Because of this success, the original studio building became too small. A new, bigger campus was built across the street for Turner's growing company. After the new campus was finished, Turner launched Cartoon Network. This new channel showed off the many cartoons he had bought from companies like MGM and Hanna-Barbera.

When Turner's main offices moved out of the Williams Street building, they still owned it. They used it for storage, and even today, Williams Street keeps all the show tapes for Turner's TV channels. Keith Crofford, Andy Merrill, and Mike Lazzo were put in charge of the building. Even though Cartoon Network was run from another studio at first, the team at Williams Street eventually took on some important tasks. One of their first jobs was making short segments for The Moxy Pirate Show.

From 1990 to 1993, TBS started making its own original shows like Captain Planet. The team at Williams Street wanted to create their own series too. In late 1993, they bravely shared their ideas for new Cartoon Network shows with Ted Turner. However, Turner told them to focus on using the cartoons he had already bought. As Mike Lazzo remembered, Turner said, "I bought you a library, now use it!" From this collection of cartoons, the Cartoon Network team created their first truly original series, Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

The team decided to make a pilot episode for their own show. With a very small budget, they realized they could use old cartoon footage from Turner's library. They chose Space Ghost and Dino Boy. They combined this with Mike Lazzo's idea for a funny talk show where a confused host asked silly questions. The pilot used animation mixed with real-life interview footage from CNN.

They showed the pilot to Turner, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast was approved for ten episodes. Work began, and the small storage building became its own studio. It was named Ghost Planet Industries, just like the fictional studio in the Coast to Coast show. Soon, the series started getting its first celebrity guests, a small team of animators and writers, and voice actors. The show premiered on April 14, 1994. This was Cartoon Network's first original series and the first animated talk show ever.

Because of its unique and often strange humor, the show gained a loyal fan base. Its success led to a special episode shown on TBS and even a short film for a VHS release of the movie The Mask. More famous guests started appearing on the show. At the peak of its popularity, it even got a spin-off show. Turner asked Ghost Planet Industries to make a lighter version for TBS, as they needed more kids' programming. Cartoon Planet started on TBS in 1995 and later moved to Cartoon Network in 1996. This show featured Space Ghost hosting segments and cartoons for younger viewers. After two seasons, TBS decided to stop all kids' programming.

Studio Name and Logo

Outside of the Williams Street studio building.

The studio's current name, Williams Street, comes from its location at 1065 Williams Street NW in Atlanta, Georgia. This building is also where Cartoon Network and Adult Swim have their main offices. The building used to be a carpet factory before Ted Turner bought it. It was used for things like building sets and for CNN's engineering team.

The company's first name, Ghost Planet Industries, came from Space Ghost's made-up planet. This was supposedly where the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast was filmed.

The studio's production logo shows a blurry, wavy gray picture of Space Ghost's fictional studio. The words "Williams Street" are written below it. The logo often plays a sound effect of a drum roll and two hammer clicks, which comes from an old production company called Mark VII Limited.

Shows and Movies

Williams Street has produced many animated and live-action shows, as well as movies and specials. Here are some of their notable works:

Animated TV Series

• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994–2008): This was the first show made by the studio. It was a talk show featuring the old cartoon character Space Ghost.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000–2015, 2023–present): A very popular and long-running animated series known for its unique humor. It was the first show from the studio to have a movie in theaters.
• Robot Chicken (2005–present): A stop-motion sketch comedy show that uses action figures and toys. It's one of the longest-running shows on Adult Swim.
• Rick and Morty (2013–present): A very popular animated science fiction comedy series about a mad scientist and his grandson.
• Samurai Jack (2017): Williams Street produced the final season of this critically acclaimed animated series.
• Primal (2019–present): An animated series about a caveman and a dinosaur trying to survive.
• Smiling Friends (2020–present): A comedy series about two friends who run a company that helps people smile.

Live-Action TV Series

• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007–2010, 2017): A sketch comedy show known for its strange and unique style.
• Childrens Hospital (2010–2016): A comedy series that makes fun of medical dramas.
• The Eric Andre Show (2012–2023): A very wild and unpredictable talk show with a lot of pranks and strange interviews.
• Joe Pera Talks with You (2018–2021): A gentle comedy series where Joe Pera talks about everyday topics.

Internet Series

Williams Street has also produced several series that were released online:

• Carl's Stone Cold Lock of the Century of the Week (2007–2016): A web series based on a character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
• Aquadonk Side Pieces (2022): A spin-off web series from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
• Vindicators 2 (2022): A spin-off web series from Rick and Morty.

Movies

Williams Street has produced feature films for theaters and direct-to-video:

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007): The first movie based on an Adult Swim show.
• The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (2023): A movie that continued the story of The Venture Bros. animated series.
• Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (2023): A movie based on the Metalocalypse animated series.

Failed Pilots

Sometimes, Williams Street creates pilot episodes for shows that don't get picked up for a full series. Some notable ones include:

• Korgoth of Barbaria (2006): This animated pilot was rejected because it would have been too expensive to make.
• Neon Knome (2008): This pilot was originally for Adult Swim but was moved to Cartoon Network and became The Problem Solverz.
• Scavengers (2016): This animated pilot was later picked up by Max (a streaming service) and became the series Scavengers Reign.

Specials

Williams Street also creates special episodes, sometimes related to their shows and sometimes stand-alone.

• Infomercials (2009–present): A series of short, fake infomercials, including the very popular Too Many Cooks.
• Adult Swim Yule Log (2022): A special holiday program that became a viral hit.

Programming Blocks

Williams Street has also been involved in creating and running programming blocks:

• Cartoon Planet (1995–1998, 2012–2014): A block that featured Space Ghost and other characters hosting cartoons.
• Toonami (1997–2008, 2012–present): A popular block known for showing action cartoons and anime.
• Checkered Past (2023–2025): A block that shows classic Cartoon Network shows.

Other Projects

Games

Williams Street has licensed some video games based on their shows:

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (2007)
• Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (2008)

Music

Williams Street has its own music label called Williams Street Records. This label was started after a successful music project in 2005. Williams Street Records now releases most of the music related to their shows.

Fun Fact

The street number for Williams Street is 1065. This number is also used as the hull number for the USS FishCenterprise in FishCenter Live. This is a funny reference to the famous starship USS Enterprise from Star Trek.

More to Explore

• List of programs broadcast by Adult Swim
• Adult animation
• Cartoon Network Studios
• List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Discovery

See also

In Spanish: Williams Street para niños