Fox Announces September Premiere Dates for ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Family Guy’ and More

Fox announced its fall premiere date schedule on Wednesday, and it is full of animation. The network is relying on heavy-hitters like The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers to keep people engaged through the pandemic. It also has some new series coming along just in time.

The fall TV season is coming up fast, but the coronavirus is not going anywhere. At this point, networks likely would not be able to get live-action shows up and running in time anyway, leaving, leaving the field wide open for animated TV shows to shine. It looks like that will be the case at Fox, with an all-animated Sunday night line-up premiering on Sept. 27, according to a report by Entertainment Weekly.

Fox has many other renewals of more conventional shows that are trapped in limbo right now. The network has committed to a ninth season of Last Man Standing, a fourth season of The Resident, and new seasons of both 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lonestar. However, all of these shows are scheduled to stay on hiatus until at least the spring, or whenever sets are allowed to reopen.

In the meantime, competition shows are more likely to start back up, though probably with some significant changes. Fox is still going forward with a new season of The Masked Singer, for example, though it is not exactly clear how and when the show will be returning.

While fans of other types of shows may be disappointed, it looks like the fall of 2020 will be an excellent time for cartoon fans. Here is a look at Fox’s new animation-heavy line-up coming in September.

The Simpsons – 8 p.m. ET

Starting on Sunday, Sept. 27, The Simpsons will kick off Fox’s new all-animated block starting at 8 p.m. ET every Sunday night. The series is going into Season 33 this fall, and with a resurgence in viewers thanks to the back catalogue being available on Disney+.

Bless the Harts – 8:30 p.m. ET

The second time slot of the night goes to the much younger Bless the Harts at 8:30 p.m. ET. The show was created by former SNL writer Emily Spivey and features an all-star voice cast including Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, Ike Barinholtz and Kumail Nanjiani. It is going into its second season, and fans can hardly wait for a full order of 22 episodes this time around.

The series is about a working-class family living in North Carolina, centering particularly around Jenny Hart, a waitress struggling to make ends meet while supporting her daughter and her mother. In an interview with Decider, Spivey said that she imagines the show taking place in the same fictional universe as King of the Hill, and there are several Easter eggs to connect the two series.

Bob’s Burgers – 9 p.m. ET

Fox has moved Bob’s Burgers to 9 p.m. ET this fall, taking over Family Guy‘s long-held time slot. This will be Season 11 of the Belcher family’s adventures, and at the time of this writing it sounds like Fox still intends to go ahead with the Bob’s Burgers feature film in the spring as well.

Family Guy 9:30 p.m. ET

Family Guy Season 19 premieres on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox, and will hold that new time slot for the rest of the season. The series has been through a lot of changes over the years, but this season will be the first where voice actor Mike Henry does not portray Cleveland Brown. Henry stepped down from the role last month over criticism of racial insensitivity for having a White actor voice a Black character for so long. Many fans are on the edges of their seats waiting to see who will be cast instead.

Duncanville – Midseason

That wraps up Fox’s plans for the fall animation schedule, though some of the most exciting additions are coming after the midseason break. Season 2 of Duncanville is set to premiere in 2021, with stars Amy Poehler and Ty Burrell returning. According to a report by Deadline, the show is also promoting Rashida Jones, Wiz Khalifa and Joy Osmanski to series regulars in the new installment. No concrete premiere date has been set yet.

The Great North – Midseason

Finally, after the midseason break fans will finally see the premiere of The Great North, a brand new animated series at Fox. The show has another stellar cast, including Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, Will Forte, Dulce Sloan, Aparna Nancherla and Paul Rust.

The Great North is set in Alaska and centers around a single father named Beef Tobin (Offerman.) He tries to juggle work, life and family — particularly ensuring that his kids are close and cared for in their unforgiving home. There is no firm premiere date for The Great North yet, nor is it clear where it and Duncanville will fit into the existing Sunday night schedule established above.

Virtual Comic-Con

Finally, for those that want to know more about Fox’s upcoming slate and these animated shows, the network is hosting virtual Comic-Con panels for each series later this week. These are meant not only to take the place of physical conventions — where networks often make some of their biggest announcements to fans — but upfront presentation, which networks typically give to advertisers and journalists in private. These segments will be streaming on the San Diego Comic-Con YouTube channel.

The first panel will be on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, featuring writers and cast members from Duncanville. The next will be Bob’s Burgers on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, then The Simpsons on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, and then Bless the Harts immediately after that at 3 p.m. Et. Finally, Fox’s virtual convention panels finish off with Family Guy on Saturday, July 25 at 5 p.m. ET on the official Comic-Con @ Home YouTube Channel.