The “Mammoth” comedy series is officially heading to Fox, giving the network a new live-action sitcom and a protagonist who has missed four decades of social change. Christopher Lloyd and Danny Zuker, longtime collaborators on “Modern Family,” will adapt Mike Bubbins’ British comedy for the 2027-28 television season.

Fox announced the series order on September 3, 2026. It is the network’s first live-action comedy greenlight in more than two years, which makes the project more than another remake. “Mammoth” is also an early test of whether Fox can rebuild a comedy lineup that has become noticeably sparse.

What is Fox’s “Mammoth” about?

The series follows Tony Mammoth, an excessively confident high school gym teacher buried by a freak ski avalanche in 1983. He emerges 40 years later with his Burt Reynolds moustache, prized Trans Am and old assumptions all apparently intact.

Tony returns to the job he loves, only to discover that schools, relationships and acceptable workplace conduct have changed while he was unavailable for comment beneath the snow. He remains convinced that society did not need most of these revisions.

Lloyd described the character as someone who believes he had already “mastered manhood” before the avalanche interrupted his otherwise flawless assessment of himself.

“He’s charming, wildly self-assured, hopelessly out of step and, despite his many blind spots, impossible not to root for,” Lloyd said.

Zuker said Tony receives the second chance many people want, then learns that his confidence does not quite fit his new circumstances.

“We love his shameless confidence, his fascination with a world he barely recognizes, and the big heart underneath it all,” Zuker said. “He’s a lot. We can’t wait to bring him to Fox.”

Why does the order matter for Fox’s comedy plans?

Fox will produce “Mammoth” through Fox Entertainment Studios, allowing the company to control production and distribution. That matters as the network tries to work out how scripted comedy can remain financially practical on traditional television, a question executives have been examining with all the enthusiasm usually inspired by a budget meeting.

At Fox’s May 2026 upfront presentation, executives Rob Wade and Michael Thorn said the network was “taking a step back” to develop a live-action comedy production model better suited to linear television.

The retreat followed the cancellation of “Going Dutch” after two seasons. That left Joel McHale’s “Animal Control” as Fox’s only live-action comedy scheduled for 2026-27.

Deadline reported that “Mammoth” competed for a place on the schedule against several projects, including:

  • “Thunderjacks”
  • An American adaptation of “King Gary”
  • A project involving Andrea Savage

The same report said “Mammoth” is not expected to use Fox’s contemplated lower-cost comedy model. Budgets associated with that approach have reportedly ranged from $1.1 million to $1.6 million per episode.

How does the American version change the BBC original?

Bubbins created and stars in the British “Mammoth,” drawing partly on his previous career as a physical education teacher. His Tony Mammoth is a Welsh PE teacher from the 1970s, while Fox’s version moves the freezing incident to 1983 and recasts him as an American high school coach.

That change gives Lloyd and Zuker a different cultural gap to explore. Instead of transplanting every detail of the Welsh series, the Fox adaptation can build its jokes around American schools, masculinity and the particular confidence of a man whose worldview stopped updating during the Reagan administration.

The original began as a BBC Wales pilot in 2021. It later reached BBC Two nationally with three episodes in April 2024. A second run arrived in December 2025 with another three episodes and a Christmas special.

British Comedy Guide reported in May 2026 that the BBC had commissioned a third season. The British supporting cast includes Sian Gibson, Joseph Marcell, Mali Ann Rees and Joel Davison.

Mike Bubbins will serve as an executive producer on the Fox adaptation alongside Mark Linsey and Angie Stephenson of BBC Studios Los Angeles. Lloyd and Zuker will write, run and executive produce the series.

What remains unknown about the Fox series?

Fox has not announced who will play Tony Mammoth or any of the supporting characters. The network also has not disclosed an episode count, directors, production dates or a specific premiere date beyond the broad 2027-28 season window.

Those unanswered questions leave plenty of room for the adaptation to change before filming begins. Casting will be especially important because the entire premise depends on Tony being irritating enough to create conflict but appealing enough to justify spending repeated half-hours with him.

For now, Fox has committed to the series and to a familiar creative team with a strong network-comedy record. Lloyd co-created “Modern Family,” while Zuker served as an executive producer and writer on the long-running ABC sitcom.

“Mammoth” therefore arrives carrying two separate expectations: adapting a British character without flattening what made him distinctive, and helping Fox restore a live-action comedy pipeline that currently has little margin for another cancellation. No pressure, then, apart from reviving a genre, translating a sitcom and making an outdated gym teacher lovable.