<P> The Amazing World of Gumball is a British - American animated comedy television series created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network . Since its debut on May 3, 2011, 207 episodes of the series have been broadcast; its sixth season premiered on January 5, 2018 . The Amazing World of Gumball revolves around the life of a 12 - year - old cat named Gumball Watterson (Logan Grove, seasons 1 to 3; Jacob Hopkins, season 3 to 5; Nicolas Cantu, rest of season 5 onwards) and his frequent shenanigans in the fictional American world of Elmore . Throughout the series, he interacts with characters such as his former pet, brother and best friend Darwin (Kwesi Boakye, seasons 1 to 3; Terrell Ransom Jr., season 3 to 5; Donielle T. Hansley Jr, rest of season 5; Christian J. Simon, season 6 onwards), sister Anais (Kyla Rae Kowaleski), and parents Nicole and Richard (Teresa Gallagher and Dan Russell). </P> <P> Bocquelet conceived The Amazing World of Gumball in 2007 while working as a development artist for Cartoon Network Studios Europe . Having been asked by the network to pitch an idea for a new series for Adult Swim, he took sketches of several unused characters he had created for commercials and started developing a concept for a new series based on them . When Adult Swim saw the pilot, they didn't accept it because they thought it was "too cute". As Cartoon Network was heavily interested in "family and school shows" at the time, Bocquelet decided to make the series a kid series called The Amazing World of Gumball which was a combination of both . He pitched the series to Daniel Lennard, vice president of Original Series and Development at Turner Broadcasting, who was impressed by the series' premise and ultimately greenlit its production . The first series to be greenlit by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, The Amazing World of Gumball premiered on May 3, 2011 with the episode "The DVD", which was watched by 2.120 million viewers in the United States . </P>

When did the amazing world of gumball first air