UPFRONTS 2012: FOX's Official Fall Schedule

FOX's turn!

MONDAY
8:00 Bones (8th season)
9:00 THE MOB DOCTOR
Bones moved to Monday nights this spring and didn't do terribly in a very competitive timeslot. As the only solid returning drama, FOX is hoping that Bones can be enough of an anchor on Monday nights. I think that it will be and I think it's their best shot for this slot. With House gone, FOX is turning to another medical drama - the new The Mob Doctor at 9pm. They wisely are saving The Following for midseason because this will be a tough sell in a very competitive timeslot that includes ESPN's Monday Night Football. 

TUESDAY
8:00 Raising Hope (3rd season)
8:30 BEN AND KATE
9:00 New Girl (2nd season)
9:30 THE MINDY PROJECT

FOX is indeed making the move of going to four comedies on Tuesday night after a trial run this spring. The trial run didn't work out to well but FOX is clearly going to focus on this night in their promotional blitz. Returning shows Raising Hope and New Girl serve as the anchors but Hope is a niche show and Girl suffered when it was left alone to be an anchor this spring. We'll see if it's ready to be the centerpiece of the night. Ben and Kate sounds like a good fit out of Hope while The Mindy Project is FOX's best comedy hope and they are giving it the best comedy timeslot they have.

WEDNESDAY
8:00 The X-Factor (2nd season)

In its first season, The X-Factor made FOX much more competitive than it has ever been in the fall but it wasn't the runaway hit that many expected. It is adding Britney Spears and Demi Lovato to the judging panel this fall and Spears' arrival will certainly create buzz at first. Can it grow in its second season or are we oversaturated with these shows? I think it may see bigger numbers at first but settle into comparable year-to-year results.

THURSDAY
8:00 The X-Factor (2nd season)
9:00 Glee (4th season)

FOX continues to air the hour results show of The X-Factor at 8pm but a somewhat surprising (though rumored) move is Glee to the 9pm slot. Glee has spent the last two years as the Tuesday lead-off but FOX will give it a more cushy timeslot this fall though it is competitive. I don't really understand the logic here because I don't think people are going to sample Glee for the first time and it can be an anchor because it already has its audience. FOX might have been better off trying a new show here (maybe even two comedies?)

FRIDAY
8:00 Touch (2nd season)
9:00 Fringe (5th season)

Fridays will likely be a low rated night for FOX. Touch couldn't do great ratings even following American Idol this spring and now it has the tough task of leading off Friday. Though expectations are lower on Fridays, this seems like a death sentence for this show but in all fairness, it probably didn't even deserve a renewal. At 9pm is the final, 13 episode season of Fringe which will continue to be low rated but please the loyal fans.


SATURDAY
8:00 FOX Sports Saturday
As announced earlier, FOX will not air Cops in the fall in favor of sports programming. So far, this has proven to be a good move for the network on the difficult night.

SUNDAY
7:00 Animation Encores/NFL Overrun
7:30 The OT/The Cleveland Show (4th season)
8:00 The Simpsons (24th season)
8:30 Bob's Burgers (3rd season)
9:00 Family Guy (10th season)
9:30 American Dad! (8th season)
FOX is keeping its lineup exactly the same as this spring except that the NFL will impact the 7pm hour on days that FOX has a doubleheader. As usual, expect the NFL lead-in nights to see great ratings for the cartoons while the non-NFL days will be much lower. With The Flintstones on hold, FOX didn't have new cartoons to try here.

MIDSEASON: American Idol, Cops, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, THE FOLLOWING, THE GOODWIN GAMES
FOX doesn't have much on the bench for midseason but specific plans as of now (though they often change). For now, the highly anticipated The Following is expected to go to Mondays and The Goodwin Games to Tuesdays. American Idol will assume its regular Weds/Thurs slot while Kitchen Nightmares will come back on Fridays when Fringe ends.

CANCELLED/ENDED: Alcatraz, Allen Gregory, Breaking In, The Finder, House, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Napoleon Dynamite, Q'Viva: The Chosen, Terra Nova
Everything here was already announced except Napoleon Dynamite, which was officially cancelled today.

My Thoughts:
FOX is clearly focusing on Monday and Tuesday but I don't think this schedule was strategic enough. With Bones as their only solid drama, I think they needed to pick up more than two new ones (and they still might if Guilty gets picked up later on). I also think the four comedies on Tuesday is a bad idea because New Girl has not proven itself able to be an anchor yet and Glee was holding up ok in the 8pm hour, much better than Raising Hope will do. I also think the Thursday 9pm slot was wasted on a show that doesn't need a lead-in anymore and the Sunday lineup really needed to be freshened up (I suggested some live action sitcoms there). Fridays will be very low rated too so overall, I'm not too impressed by what FOX did here. Some of their pilots look strong but they don't have a lot of bench so they better hope things work out.