Much like how AMC no longer shows "movie classics" (no, "Predator 2" doesn't count) and MTV no longer shows "music," Cartoon Network is slowly moving away from animation with four new live-action reality shows.

I'm a big fan of the network's late-night Adult Swim lineup, with its twisted "Venture Brothers," "Robot Chicken," "Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" and the like. I've gotten a sneak peak at the new shows, which are aimed more for the teen crowd (OK, I can deal with that, I'm plenty immature), but they lack originality and, honestly, are pretty disappointing.

Two of the new series debut Wednesday. "The Othersiders" (8 p.m.) is pretty much a direct ripoff of "Ghost Hunters" from Sci-Fi Channel, only with teenagers. A team of kids goes to spooky places to try to either prove or debunk that they're haunted. It's so scene-for-scene similar to "Ghost Hunters" that it feels like a spoof. Lots of night-vision cameras and ooooooh-this-is-supposed-to-be-scary suspense, but nothing that hasn't been seen before.

"Survive This" also starts Wednesday (8:30 p.m.). A group of teens gets dropped in the woods and has to survive on their own. It's hosted by Les Stround of Discovery's very cool "Survivorman" series, and it adds "Survivor"-like bickering and drama. But it's nothing you haven't seen on either one of those shows, or a million others. I kept waiting for "Lord of the Flies" to break out, but alas. . . .

The other two series start Saturday. "BrainRush" (8 p.m.) is a game show that takes place on a roller coaster. Have you seen Discovery's "Cash Cab"? Then you've seen all this before. The questions on "BrainRush" seem ridiculously dumbed-down too.

Following that is "Destroy Build Destroy," which is probably the best of the bunch. Onetime shock-rocker Andrew W.K. hosts the competition between two groups of kids that's a rework of TLC's old "Junkyard Wars." Teams start with a thing (a car, a truck, a boat, whatever). Then they destroy it. The pieces are used to build something cool (like a tennis-ball rocket launcher mounted on a car), the two teams face off and the loser's creation gets destroyed again. It's not bad on its own, but after seeing the far superior "Junkyard Wars" or the build-crazy-cars segments of BBC America's "Top Gear," it really pales in comparison.

I get how Cartoon Network is trying to get kids to watch by making teen versions of everything. But that's the thing -- they're just teen versions of superior original shows that kids are probably already watching. I don't know if kids will bother to tune in when the grown-up versions are so much better (and more extreme, scarier, with more explosions) and still have a parent-friendly PG rating. A little originality could have gone a long way, and it seems like the network missed an opportunity.