Though it comes as little surprise given Friday's scheduling news and the recent script order, Fox is making its plans to stick with Dads official. The network has ordered an additional nine episodes from the Seth MacFarlane executive produced series, bringing its freshman order to a full 22 episodes. It joins fellow freshmen Brooklyn Nine-Nine (picked up for the back nine) and Sleepy Hollow (renewed for a second season) as the third new Fox show to get a big vote of confidence this season.
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Initially ordered for six episodes in a straight-to-series order in January, Dads comes from Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild (Family Guy, Ted) and stars Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Mull and Peter Riegert. The Simpsons' Mike Scully also serves as executive producer.
"Fox has been looking to break into the multicamera format for some time," said Fox Entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly. "With Dads, we have an asset that we can grow, and we're looking forward to seeing where the fantastic cast and the creative minds of Seth, Alec, Mike and Wellesley take us the rest of the season."
Growth would be ideal for Dads. The series has been the softest performer on Tuesday's comedy block. Though its ratings are on par with The Mindy Project, currently averaging a 2.2 rating with adults 18-49 in Live+Seven Day returns, it has not gotten nearly as much traction as lead-out Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Multiplatform returns released Friday have the pilot thus far grossing 14.7 million views.
Dads, produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Fuzzy Door Productions, benefited from a great deal of buzz leading up to the fall season -- though most of that buzz came from negative press. Fox parlayed the poor reviews into commercials featuring viewers refuting criticisms while coming out of screenings.
