In a somewhat innovative deal, TBS announced on Tuesday (July 16) that it has picked up an 11th season for “American Dad,” meaning that the Seth MacFarlane comedy will soon be ending its run on FOX.
The deal goes like this: FOX has the 10th season of “American Dad” set to premiere this fall. Easy, right? That will be the show’s final season on FOX and then, in late 2014, the 15-episode 11th season will premiere on TBS.
There’s an extra twist: TBS’ corporate sibling Adult Swim will get encores of each episode after their initial TBS airing, which makes sense since Adult Swim has been getting strong ratings for “American Dad” repeats for several years. TBS has also been reairing “American Dad” episodes each afternoon.
[Note that animation seasons corollate with episode orders and not with when episodes air. By a totally different math, it’ll be the ninth season that’s premiering on FOX this fall. Or something. We’re confused, too.]
“‘American Dad!’ is a great fit for TBS, a favorite of comedy fans who like smart, irreverent humor with ample doses of biting wit and skewering satire,” blurbs Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. “We look forward to welcoming Seth MacFarlane and the rest of his team as they bring this iconic show to TBS.”
Add 20th Century Fox TV Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden, “‘American Dad! is a brilliantly inventive series, and TBS”s desire to platform new episodes demonstrates the enduring power of great and compelling content. Seth, Mike [Barker] and Matt [Weitzman] have created an incredibly rich world of unique characters, and we couldn”t be happier that they will be able to continue to tell their trademark brand of subversive, hilarious stories to their millions of fans.”
“American Dad,” which has earned a pair of Emmy nominations for Outstanding Animated Program, has aired 152 episodes on FOX.