Fox Will Use NFL to Launch New Series ‘Universal Basic Guys,’ ‘Rescue: Hi-Surf’

‘Universal Basic Guys’

Fox

Fox will use its biggest possible launchpad — Sunday NFL games — to help introduce two of its three new series for the fall to viewers.

The animated comedy Universal Basic Guys will premiere after an NFL doubleheader on Sept. 8 and air a new episode each week before settling into its regular place behind The Simpsons toward the end of that month. Fresh episodes of Bob’s Burgers and The Great North — which have leftover installments from their most recent seasons — will also run on Sept. 8 and 15, giving Fox a complete night of programming both weeks

Rescue: Hi-Surf, a drama about lifeguards in Hawaii, will also get a post-NFL premiere on Sept. 22, then move to its full-time home the following night. It will pair on Mondays with 911: Lone Star, which Fox kept off the air in the strike-altered 2023-24 season.

Fox will concentrate most of its premieres in the week of Sept. 23. The network’s third newcomer for fall, a drama titled Murder in a Small Town, will open with a 90-minute premiere on Sept. 24. The Masked Singer and The Floor follow on Sept. 25, and an all-food competition night of Hell’s Kitchen and Crime Scene Kitchen debuts Sept. 26. The Thursday lineup is a small change from the schedule Fox announced in May: Crime Scene Kitchen is replacing Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, with the network deciding to pair two culinary shows instead. Special Forces is now set to air in the second half of the season.

Sports will fill Friday and Saturday nights, and the full Sunday animation block, also including Krapopolis, debuts Sept. 29. Courtroom anthology Accused gets the final premiere date on Oct. 1, pairing with Murder in a Small Town.

Fox’s fall premiere dates are below. All times are ET/PT unless noted.

Sunday, Sept. 8
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: Universal Basic Guys

Friday, Sept. 13
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: Fox College Football Friday

Sunday, Sept. 22
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: Rescue: Hi-Surf

Monday, Sept. 23
8 p.m.: 911: Lone Star
9 p.m.: Rescue: Hi-Surf (regular time)

Tuesday, Sept. 24
8 p.m.: Murder in a Small Town (90 minutes)

Wednesday, Sept. 25
8 p.m.: The Masked Singer
9 p.m.: The Floor

Thursday, Sept. 26
8 p.m.: Hell’s Kitchen
9 p.m.: Crime Scene Kitchen

Sunday, Sept. 29
8 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30 p.m.: Universal Basic Guys (regular time)
9 p.m.: Bob’s Burgers
9:30 p.m.: Krapopolis

Tuesday, Oct. 1
8 p.m.: Accused
9 p.m.: Murder in a Small Town (regular time)