Fox’s Animation Domination stars returned to San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, offering fans of its long-running series fresh updates on upcoming seasons. In addition to the announcement of new seasonal specials for Family Guy, panel attendees were among the first to learn of the guest stars slated for The Simpsons Season 37, as well as a hint of what’s on the menu for Bob’s Burgers Season 16.
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening was joined by executive producers Mike Price and Matt Selman, director Matt Faughnan and consulting producer/director David Silverman to discuss the show’s legacy, its future, and recent events — such as the headline-grabbing “death” of Marge Simpson in the S36 finale, which Selman dismissed as “trick bait,” saying it couldn’t be canon to the show because “The Simpsons doesn’t even have canon!”
One big announcement was the reveal of S37’s guest star roster, which will include Kieran Culkin (Succession), Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Albert Brooks — who has previously appeared on the show in various roles, including the megalomaniacal “cool boss” Hank Scorpio” — Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!), Danny Pudi (Community), Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog) and both Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson.
During the panel, The Simpsons gang shared a sneak peek at this year’s “Treehouse of Horror” special, which will guest star Idris Elba, Michael Keaton and Viola Davis and feature an opening from animator Stan Kelly (The Onion).
Selman also commented on the show’s milestone 800th episode, due to premiere in February 2026 on Fox, saying: “It’s a big deal to do 800 shows, and so we’re going to be doing two brand new original episodes that night. They’re top secret for now, but I promise you, they’ll be the best 800th episode of anything you’ve ever seen.”
The Simpsons Season 37 premiere has just been announced for Sunday, September 28. The show has been renewed through Season 40.
Another Fox favorite, Bob’s Burgers was a big draw as usual for panel attendees on Saturday morning. The panel featured series creator Loren Bouchard, supervising director Bernard Derriman and voice stars H. Jon Benjamin (Bob), John Roberts (Linda), Kristen Schaal (Louise), Eugene Mirman (Gene), Dan Mintz (Tina) and Larry Murphy (Teddy).
With Season 16 also set to premiere on Sunday, September 28, Bouchard and co. shared a clip from the launch episode, which will flashback to when Bob and Linda were new restauranteurs and expectant parents. There was also an in-production preview of one of Gail’s (Megan Mulally) typically unhinged interactions with Bob, this time giving him a message. Gail, Linda’s off-kilter cat lady sister, will have a storyline where she plans to get married as an “art project.”
The panel also offered an early look at a Christmas episode, which will bring the Belcher family to a holiday village. Of course, fans can also expect a fresh and frightening Halloween episode — this one will see Teddy getting a job at the ever-rotating retail space next door to Bob’s Burgers, whose new occupant is a “really creepy” occult shop. Bouchard says Louise’s costume this year will be “Dragon with a Girl Tattoo,” a particular favorite from the kids’ long run of punny costumes.
The panelists also looked forward to the series’ big 300th episode, which should be the second ep. of S16 looking at the schedule so far:
“There’s something absolutely bizarre about doing 300 episodes of television on the same show across 15 years. I feel like we get to sit with these characters. We kind of have this strange, you know, meditation where we have to wake up every day and think about these characters. … You start to really sit with — for me, anyway — this idea that the restaurant could fail, and we’re never gonna resolve that,” Bouchard noted. “We’re gonna sit with this idea for 15 years, to this point 300 episodes, and we don’t know whether they’re going to make it or not. I just really appreciate that, because it makes me more comfortable with the idea that we still have to be silly. We still have our small successes; no matter what, we have to figure out what we want to enjoy about each other and sort of take our little wins when we can.”
Episodes of Bob’s Burgers Season 15 are premiering through mid August.
Fox’s Fall ’25 Animation Launch Schedule:
Sunday, September 28
- 8 p.m. – The Simpsons
- 8:30 p.m. – Universal Basic Guys
- 9 p.m. – Krapopolis
- 9:30 p.m. – Bob’s Burgers
[Additional sources: Variety, Gizmodo, Hollywood Reporter]
