Seth MacFarlane's New Animated Comedy Bordertown Gets Series Order At Fox

American Dad’s move to TBS and The Cleveland Show’s cancellation last spring isn’t an indication that Fox is tiring of Seth MacFarlane’s animated comedies. In fact, it seems they may have found the new comedy to fill the vacancy in their Sunday night line-up next season. The network announced today that they’ve ordered an animated comedy series called Bordertown from Family Guy’s Mark Hentemann and Seth MacFarlane.

The series, which has received a 13-episode order, is slated for the 2014-2015 season and centers on two families living in a Southwest desert town on the U.S.-Mexico border.

From Mark Hentemann and Seth MacFarlane (FAMILY GUY), BORDERTOWN will take a satirical look at the cultural shifts occurring throughout America. Set in a fictitious desert town near the Mexico border, the series centers on the intertwining daily lives of two neighbors: BUD BUCKWALD and ERNESTO GONZALES. Married and a father of three, Bud is a Border Patrol agent who feels threatened by the cultural changes that have transformed his neighborhood. Living next door to Bud is Ernesto, an industrious Mexican immigrant and father of four, who is proud to be making it in America. As Bud and Ernesto’s paths begin to cross, their families become bound by friendship, romance and conflict.

This sounds like the premise of a multi-camera sitcom with an inevitably short lifespan, but as an animated comedy, and one presumably slated for Fox’s Animation Domination line-up on Sunday nights — Fox’s announcement doesn’t specify the intended night Bordertown will air, just that it’s for 2014-2015 — it seems like something that would do just fine with Family Guy’s audience.

Right now, Fox’s Sunday night animated comedy block consists of The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy and American Dad. As mentioned, American Dad is TBS-bound as of next year. The series is only a few episodes into its current season, which caps off Animation Domination on Sunday nights. Assuming Fox isn’t planning to expand Animation Domination beyond the two-hours it occupies now, Borderland would fit that space nicely, and a Family Guy lead-in certainly wouldn’t hurt in terms of getting its feet off the ground.

The 2014-2015 season seems like it’s an eternity away, but it’s actually less than a year, so it’s not entirely too soon for networks to start making arrangements for the next season’s lineup. With that said, we still have midseason of the 2013-2014 schedule to anticipate, which includes the return of American Idol and The Following, as well as the premieres of Rake and new comedy Enlisted. Check out Fox’s 2013 midseason premiere date schedule here.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site.