Animation Domination Overhaul With 'Family Guy' Return Gets Premiere Date
February is mine! Family Guy returns after 10 months, while The Simpsons will have been on a three month break when it returns
During the Fox Winter Preview special at the end of last year, it was revealed that when Animation Domination returns in February, it would be looking quite different, most notably with Family Guy not only returning to Sundays after a six-week stay on Wednesdays in the back half of last season, but in the 8 PM slot The Simpsons had held for the last 30 years. With no explanation for the whereabouts, it was believed the show was going to be airing off of Sundays for the first time in all that time. Instead, it just turns out to be a three month break.
It’s officially been confirmed that Animation Domination returns the week immediately after Super Bowl LIX, February 16, and at 8:30 will finally see season 2 of Grimsburg starring Jon Hamm nine months after its first season finale in May. At 9 PM, The Great North will continue its fifth season, having just begun on December 22. Krapopolis, which last aired an episode December 15, will remain in the 9:30 PM slot it’s had all season.
This lineup is only going to last 6 weeks however, as on March 30, The Simpsons will return to 8 PM without having aired an episode. Family Guy will slide down to 8:30 PM, a timeslot it’s held about 20 times before out of 426 total episodes. The first six were the six episodes from its regular premiere in April 1999 until the season finished on May 16. The seventh episode was the third of the second season, “Da Boom” which aired on December 26 of the same year. In fact it never premiered an episode on Fox Sunday again for the rest of the original run. Season 9’s “Road to the North Pole” took over the 8:30 slot in order to air whole in 2010. The final 10 episodes of season 12, “Mom’s the Word” to “Chap Stewie” in 2014, season 13’s #JOLO on April 12, 2015, and season 18’s “Connie’s Celica” in 2020 also aired in the slot. The 9 PM hour remains the same.
What does this mean for Bob’s Burgers, who is still noticeably absent? Well we’ll just have to wait a bit more to find out. And while February seems spoken for, there’s still a chance either of the remaining Disney+ Simpsons episodes will air before the March return. Them and Family Guy are awaiting their next probable double renewals.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter