Fox Breaking Its 8-Year Winning Formula Is Great For Its Criminally Underrated Comedy

Published Sep 13, 2026, 10:15 AM EDT Arielle Port started as a TV producer, developing content for Netflix (Firefly Lane, Brazen) and Hallmark (The Santa Stakeout, A Christmas Treasure) before transitioning into entertainment journalism. Her love of story went from interest to lifelong passion while at The University of Pennsylvania, where she fell in with a student-run web series, Classless TV, and it was a gateway drug. Arielle Port has been a Writer for Screen Rant since August 2024. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and more importantly, her cat, Boseman. Fox has built the most stable comedy lineup on network television, particularly when it comes to animation. The Simpsons remains a masterpiece even after 37 seasons, but Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, and American Dad! give it an unusually deep bench of proven animated comedies. The Simpsons has long been Fox’s anchor for its Sunday night block, surrounding it with a rotating lineup of animated comedies. Over the last eight years, the network has largely preserved Sunday as a home for Fox’s Animation Domination, cycling in newer animated series while keeping The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers at the center of the lineup. However, Fox is tinkering with its Sunday night programming for its fall 2026 TV schedule. Some of its biggest animated comedies, including Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, American Dad!, and Krapopolis, are being held for a midseason release in winter 2027 instead of fall 2026. More notably, Fox is giving its only live-action sitcom a chance in its traditional Animation Domination block. Back for its fifth season, Animal Control will be moved to Sunday nights, airing between The Simpsons, Universal Basic Guys, and Grimsburg. Joel McHale’s consistent, under-the-radar sitcom has the best workplace of any workplace comedy: an animal control center in Seattle. By pairing it with its most established comedy franchise, Fox is hoping more people will adopt its only live-action sitcom. Animal Control is exactly the kind of workplace sitcom that should have a much bigger following. The Fox comedy has everything that makes the genre so reliably entertaining, from a strong ensemble to workplace romances and, naturally, a steady rotation of adorable animals. Now heading into its fifth season, Animal Control has already achieved something many sitcoms never get the chance to do: stick around long enough to prove that its premise and characters have staying power. Joel McHale is perfectly suited to the series as Frank Shaw, a sarcastic, self-assured animal control officer who knows exactly how charming he is. McHale has a terrific ensemble around him, including Vella Lovell, Ravi V. Patel, and Grace Palmer, and the show has steadily developed the personalities and relationships that make a workplace comedy work. There’s even a will-they/won’t-they romance that feels like the kind of pairing sitcom viewers actually want to see happen. Perhaps part of Animal Control’s problem is that viewers tend to associate the best workplace sitcoms with NBC, which has long dominated the format with shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Fox has traditionally been better known for animation, making Animal Control something of an outlier on the network. Of course, five seasons is a pretty compelling vote of confidence, particularly for a sitcom that has remained quietly well received without becoming a major part of the television conversation. Fox finally seems ready to give Animal Control the audience it deserves with its time-slot switch-up. Fox Is Experimenting With Sunday Nights Fox is confident enough in its deep bench of animated shows to experiment with its Sunday night formula. Rather than putting every established animated sitcom on the fall schedule, Fox is holding Bob's Burgers and Family Guy until midseason, along with American Dad! and Krapopolis. That marks the end of an era for The Simpsons and creates a very different Sunday lineup, with Animal Control following at 8:30 p.m., ahead of Universal Basic Guys and Grimsburg. It’s a significant opportunity for Animal Control, which has spent four seasons as a relatively quiet success. Fox Fall 2026 Sunday Night Lineup Starting September 27 Time Series Style Season 8 pm The Simpsons Animated Season 38 8:30 pm Animal Control Live Action Season 5 9 pm Universal Basic Guys Animated Season 3 9:30 pm Grimsburg Animated Season 3 Moving it to Sunday isn't a play born out of desperation. Instead, the network is giving one of its most underrated comedies access to one of its most valuable comedy lead-ins. Viewers who haven't yet discovered Animal Control on their own may stick around after The Simpsons and discover Joel McHale's workplace comedy. There is also little risk in Fox spreading its animated inventory across the season. With such an embarrassment of riches in terms of established animated comedies, the network doesn't need to burn through all of its proven programming in the fall. Holding long-running masterpieces like Bob's Burgers and Family Guy for midseason gives Fox fresh ammunition later in the season while allowing Animal Control to test whether it can attract a larger audience. Ultimately, Fox is betting that its Sunday comedy brand is strong enough to survive breaking its own rules. Every network wants a guarantee, but breaking from the expected will always create more exciting possibilities. If The Simpsons can help bump Animal Control’s audience, Fox may finally give its underdog comedy the chance to run free. Enjoy ScreenRant's primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check "Network TV" in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series. SIGN UP NOW! Release Date February 16, 2023 Network FOX Directors Jay Chandrasekhar Animal Control is a single-camera-focused sitcom television series from FOX and stars Joel McHale as a local animal control team member. All of them coming from diverse backgrounds, the misfit crew will navigate their relationships and the various challenges brought by different animals as they try to work together to become a fully functional department.