Four for four: Fox’s Animation Domination inks historic renewal pact

Quartet renewed through 2029, but there’s a catch

Fox’s Sunday night Animation Domination block will be dominating for some time to come

In an unprecedented deal with Disney, Fox has renewed veteran animated shows The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, and American Dad for four more years, through the 2028-29 season. It is the largest and longest renewal agreement for any primetime program in television history, surpassing the previous record set in 2001 when ABC renewed The Drew Carey Show for three seasons. 

The deal also brings American Dad back to Fox, where it spent its first nine seasons. Its move back from TBS marks only the third time a show returned to its original home after time on another network (the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune and the LL Cool J sitcom In The House were the other two). 

“This new deal celebrates the eternal popularity of these iconic comedies, as well as the enduring, prolific relationship we continue to enjoy with our friends at 20th Television Animation and the brilliant creators – that goes double for Seth this time around — and incredible voices behind these contemporary classics,” said Fox network president Michael Thorn.

There have been rumblings about each show’s future for years, from Seth MacFarlane’s grievances with Fox to the recent absence of Bob’s Burgers from Fox’s Sunday night lineup to the concern over the age of the Simpsons‘ voice cast. But those concerns were cast aside. 

“The longevity of this agreement reaffirms our commitment to the successful partnership we’ve built with the incredible team at Disney,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade. “This collaboration has and will continue to generate meaningful long-term value and strategically build audiences from Fox to Hulu to fans worldwide.”

Indeed, the popularity of the four shows on the Disney-owned Hulu streaming service led to their renewals in partnership with Fox, whose parent company sold most of its assets to Disney in 2019, including the rights to all four shows (The Simpsons are the exception, as only in-season episodes are available on Hulu while the rest of the episode library is on Disney Plus.)  The multi-year hybrid deal is also a vote of confidence for broadcast network television, as it continues to lose audiences to streaming. Fox’s Animation Domination has held up opposite NBC’s Sunday Night Football and CBS’ dramas, especially among young demos. 

“This historic four-season order from our longtime partners at Fox is truly monumental for these iconic animated series,” said 20th Television Animation head Marci Proietto. “We are so proud that these legendary shows will continue for hundreds of more episodes, allowing new and longstanding fans to watch, rewatch and experience more of The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and Bob’s Burgers for years to come.”

There is a catch – each show will have only fifteen episodes per season, totaling sixty throughout the four-year deal. The traditional TV model has changed significantly, and fewer episodes make sense given the hundreds of shows available through streaming. The shorter episode orders also give Fox more flexibility, as they have in-house animated series Universal Basic Guys, Grimsburg,  and Krapopolis renewed for next season and may add more animated projects.

Last year, Disney pulled off-network episodes of Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy from broadcast syndication because the demos for each show were no longer a good fit for local stations, evidenced by the shift to less desirable late-night and overnight time periods. Disney instead has tripled down on its nightly cable TV marathon binges, with Family Guy being sold to Comedy Central and returning to Adult Swim.

Contemporaries American Dad, South Park, King of the Hill, and Futurama also once had broadcast syndication runs.

For The Simpsons, the renewal ensures the show reaches its 40th season as the longest-running scripted show in history. To put this in perspective, when the show debuted in 1989, Richard M. Daley was Chicago’s Mayor, James Thompson was still the Governor of Illinois, the southwest side community of West Eldson was still predominantly Polish, and three NFL and 11 NHL teams hadn’t existed yet.

The Simpsons recently launched a 24/7 channel on Disney Plus featuring all 35 seasons, as a limited number of episodes remain in broadcast syndication.