Fox Gives Early Renewal To Animated Comedy ‘Grimsburg’

Fox Entertainment, the home of Sunday night animated adult comedies, is particularly bullish on its upcoming entry, Grimsburg. Prior to debuting on an undisclosed date in 2023, the broadcast network has handed the Jon Hamm (Mad Men) entry a second season renewal, with an undisclosed number of new episodes ordered.

“Grimsburg is yet another clear example of our strong commitment to, and intense focus on, upholding the high bar of standards any show must exceed in order to reside under the Animation Domination banner,” said Michael Thorn, President of Entertainment, Fox Entertainment in a statement. “Of course, having Jon Hamm’s talent and star power front and center is a great place to start. Equally important, everything we’re seeing with Grimsburg – from the very first scripts and show bible to animatics and preliminary cuts – makes us believe we have a winner on our hands that beautifully complements our animation brand.”

The logline: From Bento Box Entertainment, Grimsburg centers on Marvin Flute (Hamm), who may be the greatest detective ever to catch a cannibal clown and correctly identify a mid-century modern armoire. But there’s one mystery he still can’t crack — himself. To do that he must return to Grimsburg, a town where everyone has a secret or three, and redeem himself in the eyes of his fellow detectives, his ferocious ex-wife and his lovably unstable son.

The series joins Fox Entertainment’s other all-new animated comedy, Krapopolis, which last week also was renewed for a second season. From Dan Harmon, Krapopolis centers on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each.

Of course, if an animated comedy on Fox finds an audience, it can last for years; decades actually. Current granddaddy The Simpsons is now in season 34; Family Guy in season 21; and Bob’s Burgers is season 13. Interesting factoid: Prior to The Simpsons, the longest-running animated comedy in primetime was The Flintstones, which before heading to Saturday morning (and the endless spin-off series), aired on ABC for six seasons; from 1960 to 1966. Yabba dabba doo!