Safe is the name of the game for Fox’s fall schedule. The X Factor will be the anchor for the
network, with a focus on comedy. Fox is also in need of a drama hit, with House
ending and only one freshmen drama surviving to next season, Touch.
Here is Fox’s fall schedule:
Monday:
8 pm: Bones
9 pm: The Mob Doctor
Once home to their mighty dramas such as House and 24, Mondays
became a sore spot for the network. The once venerable House was only averaging low to mid 2’s in the demo. Freshmen
dramas failed to gain traction, Terra
Nova an expensive flop and Alcatraz
failing to find an audience on a crowded night.
Fox did shore things up a tiny bit by moving Bones to the 8 pm slot in the spring, and will continue to anchor
the night in the fall. Fox will try
again with a new drama The Mob Doctor.
Given the stiff competition from NBC, ABC, and CBS, it’s hard to see this drama
becoming a hit.
Tuesday:
8 pm: Raising Hope/ Ben & Kate
9 pm: New Girl/ The Mindy Project
The rumors proved true as Fox is expanding their comedy block to two
nights. New Girl will anchor the
night and Fox slotting its highly-touted The
Mindy Project behind it. However, I have a big issue with Raising Hope leading off the night. When
Fox did a trial run at 8 pm in the spring, the ratings weren’t great, getting
mid to high 1’s. And using it to lead into a new comedy, Ben & Kate will be handicapped by a weak lead-in.
Wednesday:
8-10 pm: The X Factor
To say the ratings for The X
Factor were a disappointment would be an understatement. Yes ratings were
great, getting high 3’s to low 4’s, but many thought it would garner Idol-type ratings. The show suffered
from brutal high expectations, but Fox and Simon Cowell did nothing to tamp
down those expectations.
The show will have new judges in the fall with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato joining the team. Since when were these two a good judgement of talent?
Thursday:
8 pm: The X Factor (results)
9 pm: Glee
Fox has had a lot of trouble trying to capitalize on the post Idol/X Factor slot., with The Finder and Touch
failing to hold onto the reality audience. Slotting Glee here serves two purposes: to shore up the 9pm hour and to give
Glee a boost. Glee has been shedding viewers mainly because of quality and poor
writing. Will moving it here give it a new lease on life? We’ll know in the
fall.
Friday:
8 pm: Touch
9 pm: Fringe
I applaud Fox for trying to air scripted content on Fridays, but putting
a sophomore show like Touch, which
hasn’t stabilized in the ratings yet, on a Friday is very risky. I only have to
point to The Finder, which was
getting similar ratings to what Touch was
getting after Idol, only to shed a
majority of its viewers on a move to Friday. Bones would have been a logical choice at 8pm given that it's a veteran show with a loyal fan base, but Fox felt it would be better served on Monday helping launch a new show.
While Fox will have the whole summer to advertise the move to Fridays,
I don’t see this working out, even if it’s Kiefer Sutherland.
Fringe? It’s the last season and both Fox and Warner Bros. were generous
enough to give the fans a proper ending.
Sunday:
8pm: The Simpsons/ Bob’s Burgers
9 pm: Family Guy/ American Dad
No big changes here. Their animation block has shown some minor
audience erosion this year, and Fox has not had a breakout hit to compliment/replace
the aging Simpsons and Family Guy. Fox decided to play it safe and not launch any new animation shows in the fall.
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