Disney Renews The Best Television Shows For Multiple Seasons
Disney has renewed The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers for another two seasons each.
The Simpsons will continue its reign as the longest-running primetime scripted series in the history of television. According to Deadline, the award-winning animated series has been renewed for two additional seasons. In addition, both Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers have received two-season renewals.
Michael Thorn, President of Scripted Programming for Fox Entertainment, recently expressed his excitement for the trio of renewals. He praised the studio’s “excellence in animation” as well as the creators and “incredible voices” behind each series. With The Simpsons being on the air for over three decades, Family Guy running strong for over two decades, and Bob’s Burgers pulling in strong ratings for more than a decade, it seems that animated shows are just as popular as ever.
20th Television Animation’s EVP Marci Proietto echoed Thorn’s enthusiasm. She said they were incredibly proud of their lasting relationship with Fox, which has allowed the three animated hits to “thrive” for decades. She also stated that she was incredibly thrilled that Fox gave each series two additional seasons.
Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Bob’s Burgers are all produced by Disney Television Studios’ 20th Television Animation. Currently, all three series rank among the Top 10 comedies for the 2022-23 season. This marks the fifth consecutive season Family Guy has made the list, the fourth time for The Simpsons and the second time for Bob’s Burgers.
Premiering in December 1989, The Simpsons drew in an astonishing 26.7 million viewers during its debut episode. Although the show hasn’t seen those kinds of ratings in years, recent episodes have still performed well compared to many other scripted shows. In addition to drawing in an average of 1.95 million viewers per episode on Fox, the series is heavily streamed on both Hulu and Disney+.
Family Guy premiered in January 1999. Although it isn’t nearly as popular as The Simpsons, the most recent season of the Seth MacFarlane-created series still pulled in an average 1.31 million viewers per episode on Fox. Additionally, it’s also available to stream on Hulu and Disney+, and it’s currently one of the most-streamed programs on both services.
Bob’s Burgers is the newest of the three shows. Premiering in January 2011, the animated series averaged around 5 million viewers per episode during its first season. Naturally, with the explosion of streaming services, the show has seen a significant drop in viewership in its later seasons.
All three series are currently on a hiatus due to the NFL playoffs. The Simpsons will return to finish out its 34th season, while Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers will wrap up seasons 21 and 13 respectively. The trio of shows will all return with new episodes on February 19.
In the meantime, fans can rejoice that The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers will run for at least two more years. As networks continue to struggle to retain viewers with their scripted shows, this particular trio of animated series continues to thrive. With that said, we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see all three shows still on the air a decade from now.
