Fox is reaffirming its already sizable commitment to animated comedy.

The network announced Sunday morning at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that it will launch a late-night 90-minute animation block on Saturdays, starting in Jan. 2013.

"It's something that we've been working on for a while," Fox president of entertainment Kevin Reilly said at the start of his executive session. "We have real estate on our schedule in Saturday night late night that we've not been programming in quite a few seasons."

Reilly pointed to the high bar set by The Simpsons and Family Guy and the quality of projects they've been forced to turn down as prime motivation in launching the new block.

The new unit overseeing the development and production of the alternative animated series will be run by former Adult Swim head Nick Weidenfeld, who serves as EP of Children's Hospital and The Boondocks. Hend Baghdady will also serve as executive in charge of production.

The slate of animated shorts and series will run online and on-air, with four new animated series planned per season with the 2013 launch. The line-up will go head-to-head against NBC's Saturday Night Live, running from 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 am ET/PT.

But Reilly seemed to place just as much focus on the online tie-in.

"This may be the first time a network is building a clear bridge for talent to develop and grow ideas in the digital/alternative arena and organically move them into the mainstream," he said in a press release. These new late-night series will be assets in their own right - but the clear possibility exists for a breakout digital success to graduate to primetime."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-partnering-adult-swim-alums-279492

did I not predict that FOX would expand their "Animation Domination" to another night?

hopefully the new shows are good :rock:

did I not predict that FOX would expand their "Animation Domination" to another night?

hopefully the new shows are good :rock:


I agree, when it comes to animation comedies, I really trust FOX over all other networks.

No doubt it'll be Seth McFarlane's "The Flinstones" or reruns of "Family Guy".

hopefully the Flintstones gets a more PG-rated timeslot and direction and they move the saucier stuff to the late night slot

I don't know, guys.

On paper it sounds good, but think about it. What's the last really good animated show to come from Fox? Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad are all older shows (AD being the youngest at 7), and as much as I personally enjoy The Cleveland Show, it's ratings aren't that hot. Several recent attempts at animated shows have bombed; Sit Down and Shut Up, Bob's Burgers and most notably, the wretched Allen Gregory.

I sincerely hope that the projected shows are much better than the newer efforts on Adult Swim, too. The last good show coming from that block was Moral Orel.

If they got Dino Stamatopolous (Moral Orel and Frankenhole creator) or Mike Judge to create some new content, I'd be all for it. Time will tell, I guess.

I'll watch, I'm not a fan of SNL it will be something to watch.

hopefully the Flintstones gets a more PG-rated timeslot and direction and they move the saucier stuff to the late night slot

True, so "Family Guy" may take that Saturday Night time-slot!