Fox gives ‘Dads’ full-season order

Fox isn’t looking to get emancipated from “Dads”: The network announced Friday that it has picked up nine additional episodes of the controversial freshman comedy, bringing the series to a full-season, 22-episode order.

Really.

The series, from Seth MacFarlane, made its fall debut with bad buzz already in the air, with many condemning it as racist. Despite the harsh reviews, its modest ratings haven’t worked against it just yet. Although a soft performer on Tuesday, it has stayed consistent -- and has fared better than second-year Tuesday comedy “The Mindy Project” in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. Its most recent airing garnered 3.61 million viewers in the demographic, trumping “Mindy’s” 2.86 million. But it could definitely use a boost.

Still, it’s enough to make Kevin Reilly, Fox’s chairman of entertainment, want to nuture the relationship -- so much so, he’s using glowing terms like “asset” to describe the comedy.

“Fox has been looking to break into the multi-camera format for some time,” Reilly said in a statement. “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 [executive producers] Seth [MacFarlane], Alec [Sulkin], Mike [Scully] and Wellesley [Wild] take us the rest of the season.”

The comedy joins “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” in getting a full-season order.