Skip to main content

RENEWAL ALERT: The Following, New Girl, Raising Hope, The Mindy Project

March is usually a time we start seeing early renewals and sure enough, here they come. FOX has given early renewals for next year to drama The Following and sitcoms New Girl, Raising Hope, and The Mindy Project.

Serial killer drama The Following was renewed for a second season after revitalizing FOX on Monday nights in just a few episodes. The show had a stellar premiere and then grew in week two. After a week three stumble, it has rebounded and been solid the last couple weeks with a high 2 demo, which makes it FOX's best drama demo performer by a wide margin. The buzzy drama starring Kevin Bacon will likely return again at midseason as Bacon is only contractually signed to 15 episodes a year. I wouldn't be surprised if they attempt to run it for 15 straight weeks starting in early 2014 the way they are this season.

Another no-brainer renewal came with New Girl, which was renewed for a third season. The FOX sitcom was a breakout hit in its freshman year and chosen to be the anchor for a four sitcom block. The block stumbled but New Girl was always the top rated of the bunch despite being down substantially year-to-year. The show skews as young as anything on TV and gets a lot of positive press so there was no way this was anything but a slam dunk renewal.

Slightly less certain but still a fairly sure renewal came to Raising Hope. The show will be in its fourth season in the fall which is the all-important syndication benchmark. It has never been a breakout hit but it has a loyal audience and had the tough task of leading off FOX's sitcom block. The question now is, when it returns, will it be as part of a sitcom block or will FOX banish it to somewhere like Fridays just to get enough episodes for syndication?

The most surprising in the bunch was The Mindy Project, which was renewed for a second season. Airing after New Girl, the show has been a big disappointment in the ratings. What helped its cause was strong support from FOX management, the uptick in recent weeks, and the fact that it did not bomb like Ben & Kate. Just like Hope, it will be interesting to see what FOX does with this show next year. Will they keep it with New Girl or try to launch a new show after Girl and let this flounder elsewhere? Who knows, but it made it past the first season hurdle which shows FOX is committed.

With these shows joining American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, Bones, Family Guy, The Simpsons, and The X Factor on the renewal list, very few FOX shows' fates are up in the air. Not officially renewed but sure to come back is American Idol and probably Glee while Kitchen Nightmares, Cops, and The Cleveland Show could go either way (though I don't think it's looking great for Cleveland). Touch will certainly join the cancellation pile with Ben and Kate, Fringe, and The Mob Doctor.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SEASON IN REVIEW: 2017-18 Miscellaneous Awards

As usual, I am ending the season with a few miscellaneous awards. The blog will be quiet this summer but I will continue to do the week ahead posts with broadcast TV news as it happens this summer. Then I'll be back for previews, pilot reviews, and more in the fall! BEST RETURNING COMEDY Superstore (NBC) - Superstore was awarded my "Best Returning Comedy" last year, but it only got better in season three. The funniest ensemble on TV took another step forward with some truly hilarious moments (the season premiere, the Golden Globes party, and the Christmas episode to name a few) and some major plot points moving forward. It also has the potential to be surprisingly sentimental at times. I think back to the first year of the show and how I felt like it had so many funny elements but didn't always bring it completely together. Well now it does on a weekly basis and it is one of those shows that just seems to be in the sweet spot of what will hopefully be a long run. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

EPISODE GUIDES: Happy Days Season Five (Part 1)

On Thursdays, I take a detailed and critical look at a TV show by season. Today I am looking at Season 5 (Part 1) of  Happy Days ! HAPPY DAYS: SEASON FIVE 1977-1978 27 episodes Season Five is the year where Fonzie infamously jumps the shark. It happens at the beginning of the season and while  Happy Days  does eventually decline in quality, it is not this season. In fact, this season graded out slightly higher than the previous season even though it doesn't feel as strong. I think that's because there's not a lot of outright stinkers in this season. It's a very solid season with the show continuing to hum along. There are some signs of the troubles to come but it doesn't happen on a regular basis in the fifth season. Starring Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham  (27 episodes) Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli  (27 episodes) Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham  (27 episodes) Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham  (27 episodes) Anson Williams as Potsie Webber  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

EPISODE GUIDES: That 70s Show Season Seven

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Seven of  That 70s Show ! THAT 70s SHOW: SEASON SEVEN 2004-2005 25 episodes The seventh season of  That 70s Show  is the final season with Topher Grace as a series regular and also the final full season for Ashton Kutcher. Despite still having both of those cast member, the show finds itself flailing especially with Topher Grace's Eric, who is stuck in a terrible arc for most of the season. The show also brings many characters back at one point or another but everything just feels tired. This season actually graded out the worst for me. Even worse than the often maligned final season (more on that next week). Every title this season is named for a Rolling Stones song. Starring Topher Grace as Eric Forman  (25 episodes) Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart  (25 episodes) Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso  (25 episodes) Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde  (25 e...
Post a Comment
Read more