Fox Pauses Live-Action Comedy Greenlights

Fox will carry only one live-action comedy into the 2026-27 season—*Animal Control* starring Joel McHale—after canceling the sophomore series *Going Dutch*. CEO Rob Wade and President Michael Thorn said the network is pausing new live-action comedy orders while designing a sustainable licensing model for linear broadcast.

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After Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets, the broadcast unit set a $3-$4 million per-episode range for dramas and a sub-$1 million co-production model for titles like *Murder In a Small Town*, with a premium tier above $4 million for dramas. Sources say Fox is considering a $1.6 million per-episode price for live-action comedies, with tiers, and no final figure confirmed.

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Wade framed the pause as an opportunity to “dig into that business model and work out how we can make it effective in the long term.” Thorn said the “first priority is cementing *Animal Control* status as a hit show” while evaluating the next move in live-action comedy. Executives are confident Fox will resume scripted comedy after model finalization, with new orders expected by June. Fox is also leaning into non-scripted comedic programming, including the drama *Best Medicine* and game shows hosted by comedians such as Joel McHale and Ken Jeong, while new live-action comedy orders are slated for June.

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• “One of the things that Rob and I have spent a lot of time on is taking a look at, how do you do the best creative in the best model that’s built for linear today?,” — Michael Thorn, President, Fox Television Network

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• “And candidly, we’ve spent a lot of time on both drama and unscripted, and I wouldn’t say we can spike the ball on either, but we’ve really evolved those production models forward in a way that sets us up for success, and now we’re taking a step back, and we’re doing the same thing on live-action comedy.” — Michael Thorn

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• “We believe in the genre, you’ll see more from us in the future, but right now, our first priority is cementing *Animal Control* status as a hit show, while we look at what’s our next move in the live-action space.” — Michael Thorn

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• “We’re confident that we will be seeing more comedy on the network in the future, and I think this just gives us an opportunity to pause and, as Michael says, really dig into that business model and work out how we can make it effective in the long term.” — Rob Wade, CEO, Fox Entertainment

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