Fox’s Animation Domination schedule is going to go through a huge shake up with the cancellation of a show that’s been around for five years, and that means there are going to be some changes to the schedule that kicks off next year. Fox has been making big moves with their adult animated franchises as just last year they had renewed many of their biggest shows for four new seasons each. This included The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy. But as part of those massive renewals, there was actually one big surprise addition to the line up that also serves as a big return.
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It was also surprisingly announced that American Dad! has been renewed for four more seasons with Fox. The animated series ended its nearly 12 year run with TBS and will be coming back to Fox with four more seasons picking up right from where it all left off. But this major return seems to have come at the cost of a show that has been recently cancelled to potentially make room as the midseason plans for Fox’s Animation Domination schedule begin to take shape for 2026.
The Great North Cancelled Ahead of 2026
Fox has officially announced that they have cancelled The Great North with the network after five seasons and nearly a hundred episodes. Fans got the hint that the show was ending with its final episode serving as a celebration of everything that had come before, and then members of the staff confirmed their time had ended with the show as well. It was all but official before the announcement was made, but now Fox is moving forward with their other shows at this time. Which immediately raises questions about the Animation Domination block for 2026.
The current Fall 2025 iteration of the Animation Domination block with Fox airs new episodes of The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Universal Basic Guys and Krapopolis. Each of these shows has been renewed for multiple seasons, and will likely return for their next batches of episodes next Fall after they reach their respective ends. But the real shifts in the schedule will come early on in the year during the midseason offerings. This is where The Great North tended to Fall with its later seasons as it helped to keep the Animation Domination block going outside of its traditional Fall peak window. But with a show like American Dad returning, there unfortunately needed some room to be made in the schedule.
Family Guy is already set to make its Season 24 premiere in early 2026 as part of the midseason, and it’s also where we’ll see the next season of Grimsburg returning to the Animation Domination schedule as well. Depending on what else Fox is offering at the time, the schedule will then see its final few episodes of the latest Bob’s Burgers or The Simpsons (which is guaranteed to air through at least February with the premiere of its 800th episode) seasons as well.
American Dad Returns to Fox in 2026
With Fox’s midseason schedule kicking into place, American Dad! is going to slot right into that schedule with its major comeback. The series will be crossing over its 400th episode mark with its new season, and will be kicking off Season 20 of its run (depending on where you sit with its production schedule). It’ll likely be paired with Family Guy once more for the strongest midseason schedule possible, so it’s a bummer that Fox got rid of such a strong series but it’s hard to argue against a classic show coming back to the network.
American Dad! has been an incredibly successful animated franchise ever since leaving Fox. Not only is it one of the most watched shows available for streaming with Hulu, but it’s run with TBS ended up being much longer than it ever ran with Fox the first time around. American Dad! was one of that network’s pillars for a while as it was both the final animated TBS original and the final TBS original show ever produced for the network overall. Now it’s coming back to Fox much stronger than it ever was before, and with its own dedicated fandom making the jump too.
Fox’s midseason schedule used to be one of the weaker phases of the Animation Domination block, but that has changed quite a bit in the past few years. As Fox continues to invest in longer runs for each of its projects, it’s also meant that their entire year pretty much offers new adult animated episodes of any given show. American Dad! is going to return and make the midseason schedule that much stronger, so fans are going to want to keep an eye out for how it all works out.
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