Laugh out loud: Fox’s animated comedies renewed for future seasons
Fox heard that everyone is looking for a laugh these days, so it has renewed its “Animation Domination” block of shows for a new season.
The network was uniquely primed to handle the hurdles of the COVID-19 pandemic’s production shutdowns with alreadycompleted reality and drama series on the slate for its upcoming fall 2020 schedule, and comedy fans can look forward to new episodes of “Bob’s Burgers,” “The Simpsons,” “Bless the Harts” and “Family Guy” in the near-ish future as well — they’ve all been renewed for the 2020-21 season.
Animation is a labor-intensive, remote process with long production periods, so the good news is that Fox’s “Animation Domination” shows were well on their way to completion before the pandemic shut down anything.
Those four shows make up the network’s Sunday night block, but a newcomer to Fox’s animated comedy lineup was also renewed, this one for a second season: “Duncanville” tells the story of Duncan Harris, an average teenage boy who lives an elaborate imaginary life where he ascends beyond his awkward, embarrassing 15-year-old existence to a place where he lives out his idealized adulthood. Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”) voices Duncan and his mother, Annie, and executive produces the series.
“Bob’s Burgers” might be the veteran series among the bunch, but it also has the most on its horizon. Not only was it renewed for its 11th season in May of this year, but a feature-length film is expected to be ready for release in April of next year. Disney, Fox’s parent company, announced in April which of its theatrical release dates were being shuffled, and the “Bob’s Burgers” movie was on the list, so fans of the show can look forward to what may very well be their first in-theatre experience of the year watching Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene and Louise Belcher get into some trouble in the family restaurant.
Speaking of Fox animation veterans, the network naturally renewed the longest-running American sitcom ever, “The Simpsons,” through its 32nd season back in 2019. This upcoming season will include the comedy’s 700th episode.