FOX unveiled its fall schedule today as well as a midseason schedule. However, since they never stick to their midseason schedule, I will not post it though I will comment on it. Check out my commentary on NBC's fall schedule here.
MONDAY
8:00 TERRA NOVA
9:00 House (8th season)
After many years as the 8pm Monday drama, House has been faltering lately and will get moved back to 9pm in what is thought to be its final season though nothing is official. At 8pm, FOX will launch the epic new drama Terra Nova which may be able to get the family crowd. The drama was supposed to launch last fall then this spring but now will finally launch this fall. It will certainly get sampled well and it will be interesting to see if this can become FOX's next big thing. As of now, FOX is planning to move House back to 8pm in the spring while launching sci-fi thriller Alcatraz at 9pm.
TUESDAY
8:00 Glee (3rd season)
9:00 THE NEW GIRL
9:30 Raising Hope (2nd season)
FOX is sticking with a comedic theme on Tuesday night as Glee will continue to be the anchor. As many (including myself) predicted, they will slide Raising Hope back to 9:30pm and use the Glee strength as a direct lead-in to a new show, the comedy The New Girl which has been testing very well. It should get a good sampling and will maybe be a stronger option than Raising Hope has been. As of now, they plan to give Glee a short break in the spring and launch a two hour comedy block that may include the yet-to-be picked up Family Album and/or Little in Common.
WEDNESDAY
8:00 THE X-FACTOR
9:30 I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER
FOX is going all new on Wednesday night. As expected, The X-Factor will be the American Idol of the fall in terms of scheduling, but will it be in terms of ratings? FOX is betting big that this show can help them in the fall where they have always had trouble. They are using X-Factor to launch the multicamera sitcom I Hate My Teenage Daughter starring Jamie Pressley. With no other multicam sitcoms on the schedule, it's not surprising that this show is on its own island.
THURSDAY
8:00 THE X-FACTOR RESULTS
9:00 Bones (7th season)
FOX is keeping the status quo on Thursday nights as FOX will launch the results edition of The X-Factor in the same place as the American Idol results. At 9pm, Bones will continue to air after sliding back an hour this spring. This is somewhat of a surprise as Bones doesn't really need the help but it makes more sense when you consider that spinoff The Finder is scheduled to air in this slot at some point during the season, possibly when American Idol launches in January.
FRIDAY
8:00 Kitchen Nightmares (4th season)
9:00 Fringe (4th season)
FOX is keeping things the same on Friday nights. While this lineup was low rated, it was a big improvement for FOX over anything they've done on Friday nights in the recent past. Fringe will continue in the Friday night slot after a surprise renewal. It will compete with NBC's new Grimm for the genre crowd. Is there enough of an audience for both shows? We are now 2 for 2 with scripted programming on Friday night.
SATURDAYS
8:00 Cops (24th season)
9:00 Encores
The big news on Saturday is that the long-running tandem of Cops and America's Most Wanted will be cut in half as Wanted has been cancelled as a regular series and will air only as occasional specials. America's Most Wanted has aired for 23 seasons and has been on for almost as long as FOX's entire existence. They will still air Cops at 8pm but use 9pm as extra exposure for shows from the week.
SUNDAYS
7:00 The OT
7:30 The Cleveland Show (3rd season)
8:00 The Simpsons (23rd season)
8:30 ALLEN GREGORY
9:00 Family Guy (9th season)
9:30 American Dad! (7th season)
FOX is sticking with animation on Sundays but holding off Bob's Burgers and new entry Napoleon Dynamite for midseason. After the NFL wrapup show The OT, FOX will air The Cleveland Show in the troublesome 7:30pm slot. NFL Sundays often go over so this show could get preempted often in the fall. The Simpsons will return in the slot it has held forever and lead into new entry Allen Gregory which should get a good sampling in the fall where the NFL often powers FOX's lineup. Family Guy continues as the 9pm tentpole while American Dad! gets to return back to its old timeslot after going to the 7:30pm slot this year. The plan for now is Napoleon Dynamite to air at 8:30 in the spring and Bob's Burgers to air at 9:30. It doesn't look like they will add animated comedies on another night despite some rumors that would happen.
MIDSEASON: American Idol, Bob's Burgers, Hell's Kitchen, ALCATRAZ, THE FINDER, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
All these shows except Hell's Kitchen have specific timeslots planned as I indicated above but we all know that FOX regularly changes its midseason schedule after seeing how the fall pans out so we'll see. Potentially joining this list could be the Kiefer Sutherland drama Touch and Little in Common and/or Family Album to Tuesday night comedies.
CANCELLED: America's Most Wanted, Breaking In, The Chicago Code, The Good Guys, Human Target, Lie to Me, Lone Star, Million Dollar Money Drop, Running Wilde, Traffic Light
No big surprises here except for the end of the long-running America's Most Wanted. I expected to see Million Dollar Money Drop used in some capacity but that doesn't appear to be the case. On this list is every new 2010-2011 show except Raising Hope and Bob's Burgers as both NBC and FOX had two survivors from a weak freshman class this season.
TO SUM UP
FOX is playing things pretty safe as expected but they are banking on the success of The X-Factor. If it hits, FOX could be even stronger than it is now as they usually shoot up in ratings after the spring launch of American Idol. Their new shows are promising and well-scheduled. It was smart to give Terra Nova an 8pm launch while the fading House could be stronger at 9pm. It was smart to launch a new comedy after Glee as well as a multicam comedy after The X-Factor. All in all, it looks like a promising fall for FOX.
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