EXCLUSIVE: Krapopolis has scored a third-season renewal before a frame of the animated series has been seen by the viewing public.
Fox has made the unprecedented move as it shifts the Dan Harmon-created comedy to debut in the 2023-24 season, shaking up its plans to premiere the series in a four-episode, two-hour block in May.
The renewal, from Michael Thorn, President of Scripted Programming at Fox, comes as the company is in the UK for the London Screenings, where it will be shopping it to international buyers.
Krapopolis has had a very long gestation period; Harmon signed a direct deal with the broadcast network in July 2020 with a series commitment. In February 2021, the then-untitled show was handed a formal series order, making it its first fully owned animated series. A special preview of the show, which was handed a second-season renewal in October 2022, was originally set for November 2022 but was delayed with Welcome to Flatch taking its place after an NFL doubleheader.
Then, the series was planned to launch in May alongside shows such as Jon Hamm-voiced Grimsburg and the second season of Housebroken.
However, it will now move to next season.
While some might think its debut’s constant reshuffling was a bad sign for a network show, the fact that it’s been given a third season before the general public has had a chance to see it shows Fox’s confidence in it. It also knows that potentially launching the animated show during the football season gives it a much better chance of success. If there’s a writers strike, it also doesn’t hurt to have completed product to air, either.
“The 2023-24 season is the perfect launching pad for this highly anticipated and very funny animated comedy, complete with multiple seasons of epic laughs for fans,” said Thorn. “The more we see from production, the more excited we are about their creativity, story arcs, flawless execution, brilliant voice cast, and ability to pump out episode after episode of astonishing events and outrageous, unexpected hilarity.”
The move comes as international buyers are being given a chance to see it at the London Screenings, where Fox — with its recently launched Fox Entertainment Global business, run by Fernando Szew — is also launching Joel McHale comedy Animal Control to the international market with a posh screening and event Thursday at the Charlotte Street Hotel.
Krapopolis is set in mythical ancient Greece and tells the story of a dysfunctional family of humans, gods and monsters that try their hand at running the world’s first cities – without trying to kill each other, that is. The series features the voices of Hannah Waddingham, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Pam Murphy and Duncan Trussell.
Ayoade voices Tyrannis, the mortal son of a goddess. He’s the benevolent King of Krapopolis, trying to make do in a city that lives up to its name. Waddingham plays Deliria, Tyrannis’ mother, goddess of self-destruction and questionable choices. Within her extended Olympian family – forged in patricide and infidelity – she’s known as the trashy one. Berry is Shlub, Tyrannis’ father, a mantitaur – half centaur (horse + human), half manticore (lion + human + scorpion). He is oversexed and underemployed, claims to be an artist and has literally never paid for anything, in any sense of that word, for his entire life. Murphy voices Stupendous, Tyrannis’ half-sister, daughter of Deliria and a cyclops. Trussell plays Hippocampus, Tyrannis’ half-brother, offspring of Shlub and a mermaid, and, obviously, a hot mess, biologically speaking.
Dove Cameron, Tara Strong and Alanna Ubach are recurring, with Susan Sarandon, Will Forte, Michael Urie, Jane Lynch, Amber Stevens West, Yvette Nicole Brown and Dave Franco as guest stars.
Created and exec produced by Rick and Morty co-creator Harmon, the series is produced by Fox’s Bento Box Entertainment. Jordan Young serves as showrunner and exec producer.
Fox is also launching the show on the blockchain via its Blockchain Creative Labs business with the series becoming network television’s first animated series to be curated on the blockchain. This means it will sell digital goods and NFTs that provide fans exclusive experiences, including access to token-gated content, exclusive show voting rights, private Discord channels and access to meet-and-greets with the cast and crew.