FOX ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES FOR THE 2019-2020 SEASON

"71st PRIMETIME EMMY(R) AWARDS" TO AIR LIVE COAST-TO-COAST SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

SEASON THREE OF HIT DRAMA "9-1-1" DEBUTS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, FOLLOWED BY SERIES PREMIERE OF CRIME DRAMA "PRODIGAL SON," STARRING TOM PAYNE AND MICHAEL SHEEN

ALL-NEW TUESDAY LAUNCHES SEPTEMBER 24, WITH SIXTH AND EPIC FINAL SEASON OF "EMPIRE," FOLLOWING THIRD SEASON OF "THE RESIDENT"

SPECIAL TWO-HOUR SEASON PREMIERE OF TELEVISION'S #1 NEW SERIES, "THE MASKED SINGER," TO AIR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

"THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" KICKS OFF SEPTEMBER 26

ANIMATION DOMINATION RETURNS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, WITH UNPRECEDENTED SEASON 31 OF "THE SIMPSONS"; ALL-NEW ANIMATED COMEDY "BLESS THE HARTS," FEATURING THE VOICES OF KRISTEN WIIG, MAYA RUDOLPH, JILLIAN BELL AND IKE BARINHOLTZ; SEASON 10 OF "BOB'S BURGERS"; AND SEASON 17 OF "FAMILY GUY"

SERIES PREMIERE OF NEW DRAMA "ALMOST FAMILY," STARRING BRITTANY SNOW AND ACADEMY AWARD WINNER TIMOTHY HUTTON, TO LAUNCH WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, FOLLOWING TIME PERIOD PREMIERE OF "THE MASKED SINGER"

"WWE'S SMACKDOWN LIVE" TO DEBUT OCTOBER 4, AND AIR WEEKLY ON FRIDAYS

FOX has set the fall premiere dates for its new and returning series.

Kicking off the new season, the 71st PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS(R) will air LIVE coast-to-coast from the Microsoft Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 22 (8:00-11:00 PM ET live/5:00-8:00 PM PT live) on FOX. Don Mischer Productions and Done+Dusted will co-produce the event.

Hit drama 9-1-1 returns for its third season on Monday, Sept. 23 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), followed by the series premiere of crime drama PRODIGAL SON (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), starring Tom Payne, Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Michael Sheen, Bellamy Young and Lou Diamond Phillips.

All-new Tuesdays begin Sept. 24, with the sixth and final season premiere of EMPIRE (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), following the Season Three return of THE RESIDENT (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

On Wednesday, Sept. 25, television's #1 new series, THE MASKED SINGER, returns with a special two-hour season premiere (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, with NFL Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Michael Strahan headlining the pregame show, returns Sept. 26 (7:30 PM-CC ET live/4:30 PM-CC PT live), as the Green Bay Packers host the Philadelphia Eagles.

Animation Domination returns Sunday, Sept. 29, with the premieres of THE SIMPSONS' unprecedented 31st season (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT); the all-new animated comedy BLESS THE HARTS (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT), featuring the voices of Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell and Ike Barinholtz; the 10th season of BOB'S BURGERS (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT, in its new regular time period); and the 17th season of FAMILY GUY (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT, in its new regular time period).

The series premiere of new drama ALMOST FAMILY, starring Brittany Snow, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Emily Osment and Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton, will launch Wednesday, Oct. 2 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), following the time period premiere of THE MASKED SINGER (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

WWE's flagship program, WWE'S SMACKDOWN LIVE, debuts Friday, Oct. 4 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The weekly, two-hour live event will air 52 weeks a year, offering fans a unique combination of edge-of-your-seat action, unpredictable drama and world-class athleticism. WWE'S SMACKDOWN LIVE has helped launch the careers of pop-culture icons Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Cena, Undertaker, Triple H, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Bella Twins.

FOX fall premieres of new and returning series are listed below in chronological order (all times are ET/PT):

FOX FALL 2019 PREMIERES (All Times ET/PT, except where noted)

Sunday, Sept. 22
8:00-11:00 PM ET/live in all time zones 71ST PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS

Monday, Sept. 23
8:00-9:00 PM 9-1-1 (Season Three Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM PRODIGAL SON (Series Premiere)

Tuesday, Sept. 24
8:00-9:00 PM THE RESIDENT (Season Three Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM EMPIRE (Season Six Premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 25
8:00-10:00 PM THE MASKED SINGER (Two-Hour Season Two Premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 26
7:30 PM-CC ET live/4:30 PM-CC PT live THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (Season Two Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 29
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (Season 31 Premiere)
8:30-9:00 PM BLESS THE HARTS (Series Premiere)
9:00-9:30 PM BOB'S BURGERS (Season 10 Premiere)
9:30-10:00 PM FAMILY GUY (Season 17 Premiere)

Wednesday, Oct. 2
8:00-9:00 PM THE MASKED SINGER (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM ALMOST FAMILY (Series Premiere)

Friday, Oct. 4
8:00-10:00 PM WWE'S SMACKDOWN LIVE (FOX Sports Premiere)

FOX 2019 FALL SCHEDULE NEW SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

PRODIGAL SON

PRODIGAL SON is a fresh take on a crime franchise with a provocative and outrageous lead character and a darkly comedic tone, from Emmy Award-nominated executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter ("Riverdale," "You") and writers Chris Fedak ("Deception," "Chuck") and Sam Sklaver ("Deception," "Bored to Death"). The series stars Tom Payne ("The Walking Dead") as the son of a convicted serial killer (Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Michael Sheen, "Masters of Sex," "Frost/Nixon"), who has made hunting murderers his life's work. The series also stars Bellamy Young ("Scandal"), Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Lou Diamond Phillips ("Longmire," "Stand and Deliver"), Halston Sage (THE ORVILLE), Aurora Perrineau ("The Carmichael Show"), Frank Harts ("The Path") and Keiko Agena ("Dirty John").

ALMOST FAMILY

Executive producer Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights," "Parenthood") and writer Annie Weisman ("About A Boy," "Desperate Housewives") bring you ALMOST FAMILY, the story of an unusual family formed through extreme odds, exploring such hot-button issues as identity, human connection and what it truly means to be a family. An only child (Brittany Snow, the "Pitch Perfect" franchise, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend") finds her life turned upside down when her father (Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton, "American Crime," "Ordinary People") reveals that, over the course of his prize-winning career as a pioneering fertility doctor, he used his own sperm to conceive upwards of a hundred children, including two new sisters (Megalyn Echikunwoke, "The Following," "90210," and Emily Osment, "The Kominsky Method," "Young & Hungry"). As these three young women slowly embrace their new reality, they will attempt to form an untraditional bond as sisters, even as they must welcome a tidal wave of new siblings into their rapidly expanding family. Based on the original Endemol Shine Australia series, "Sisters," from Jonathan Gavin and Imogen Banks, the series also stars Mustafa Elzein ("Sequestered"), Mo McRae ("Big Little Lies," "Pitch") and Victoria Cartagena ("Manifest").

BLESS THE HARTS

Created and executive-produced by Emmy Award winner Emily Spivey ("The Last Man on Earth," "Parks and Recreation," "Saturday Night Live"), BLESS THE HARTS follows the Harts, a Southern family that is always broke, and forever struggling to make ends meet. They one day hope to achieve the American dream, but they're already rich - in friends, family and laughter. The series features the voices of Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Kristen Wiig ("Bridesmaids," "Saturday Night Live"), Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Maya Rudolph ("The Good Place," "Bridesmaids"), Emmy Award nominee Jillian Bell ("Workaholics," "Fist Fight"), Ike Barinholtz ("Blockers"), Fortune Feimster ("Office Christmas Party," "Chelsea Lately"), Drew Tarver ("The Other Two") and Mary Steenburgen ("The Last Man on Earth," "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). Executive producers on the series include Academy Award winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller ("Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," "The LEGO Movie" franchise, "The Last Man on Earth") and Kristen Wiig.