Moving on with my suggestions on what each network should do - here is FOX!
FOX had a miserable fall - one of the worst runs a network has ever had. It was followed by the shocking smash hit that was Empire and it elevated the entire network for weeks on end. Then Empire ended and things went back to their normal low. Despite the many instant bombs, they got OK results from Gotham, The Last Man on Earth, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's move to Sunday. They need to build from there with smart scheduling.
Past FOX suggestions: 2014 2013 2012 2011
For a list of FOX pilots, click here
MONDAYS
8:00 Gotham
9:00 FRANKENSTEIN
It seems that for each new Monday show FOX gives, one falls apart. That happened last season when Sleepy Hollow hit but The Following disappointed in season two. Then this season, Gotham did pretty well but Sleepy Hollow fell apart. Yet, Gotham is one of their decent performers and they need to use it to launch a new drama at 9pm. My suggestion would be Frankenstein to keep this a genre night. It seems like they should launch Frankenstein as early as possible to take advantage of the season.
TUESDAYS
8:00 FANTASY LIFE
8:30 THE GRINDER
9:00 The Last Man on Earth
9:30 New Girl
I went back and forth on Tuesdays. Part of me thought maybe leave the night alone because Masterchef Junior does alright and New Girl and The Mindy Project won't really help any other shows. But I think they should consider launching a new comedy block in the 8pm hour with the fantasy football sitcom, Fantasy Life, and Rob Lowe's The Grinder. Then I'd bring The Last Man on Earth over for 9pm and let New Girl do the least damage at 9:30pm. I don't know if it'll work but I think it's worth a shot because not all their sitcoms can go on Sundays.
WEDNESDAYS
8:00 SCREAM QUEENS
9:00 Empire
I'm sure it's tempting to put Empire at 8pm so it can be a lead-in, but it's not an 8pm show. FOX should not mess with a good thing and leave it alone. It seemed to have a halo effect on American Idol anyway so it could to a promising newbie as well. I think that promising newbie could be Ryan Murphy's anthology Scream Queens. It seems like this could be a buzzy, exciting night of TV. They have to be careful about how they schedule Empire. They don't want it to lose momentum when baseball comes around in October.
THURSDAYS
8:00 Masterchef Junior
9:00 Sleepy Hollow
Thursdays are a bit of the "odd day out" for me. I think Masterchef Junior can do decently anywhere so I'd put it here because I didn't really have any other places for it and it should be somewhere other than Friday. There's a couple options for 9pm but I went with Sleepy Hollow to give that show one more chance.
FRIDAYS
8:00 Bones
9:00 HOUDINI & DOYLE
Friday should not be dismissed or an afterthought when FOX only has so much space available. Bones did alright here a couple years ago and it's clearly on its last legs so it can have a final season Friday night. FOX already picked up Houdini & Doyle. I don't have a lot of hope for it so I put it in a slot where if it bombs, it wouldn't be disastrous for FOX.
SATURDAYS
8:00 Sports
SUNDAYS
7:00 NFL Overrun/The OT/Animated Encores
7:30 Bob's Burgers
8:00 The Simpsons
8:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9:00 Family Guy
9:30 UNTITLED JOHN STAMOS COMEDY
Sundays were the only good part of the FOX schedule in the fall thanks to football lead-ins so I'd use that again and keep the lineup mostly in tact. They could keep The Last Man on Earth on Sundays, but I'd launch something new when the overall lineup is stronger in the fall. I went with the new John Stamos series. It seems like he has a pilot every year, one of them has got to work!
MIDSEASON: 48 HOURS 'TIL MONDAY, MINORITY REPORT, STUDIO CITY, THE X-FILES, American Idol, Hell's Kitchen, The Mindy Project, World's Funniest Fails
FOX needs to consider ending American Idol next season. It takes up too much valuable space and it's just going to keep getting sadder for the show that once dominated all. I think Studio City could be a nice spring match with Empire since Scream Queens will likely have a limited season. 48 Hours 'Til Monday and yes, The Mindy Project, can be on deck in case a comedy fails. Minority Report could be a drama replacement if something doesn't work and I have a feeling we won't see the X-Files reboot until next summer.
CANCELLED/ENDED: Backstrom, The Following, Glee, Gracepoint, Mulaney, Red Band Society, Utopia, Weird Loners
Not much to see here. It's time to say goodbye to The Following.
Tomorrow: ABC!
FOX had a miserable fall - one of the worst runs a network has ever had. It was followed by the shocking smash hit that was Empire and it elevated the entire network for weeks on end. Then Empire ended and things went back to their normal low. Despite the many instant bombs, they got OK results from Gotham, The Last Man on Earth, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's move to Sunday. They need to build from there with smart scheduling.
Past FOX suggestions: 2014 2013 2012 2011
For a list of FOX pilots, click here
MONDAYS
8:00 Gotham
9:00 FRANKENSTEIN
It seems that for each new Monday show FOX gives, one falls apart. That happened last season when Sleepy Hollow hit but The Following disappointed in season two. Then this season, Gotham did pretty well but Sleepy Hollow fell apart. Yet, Gotham is one of their decent performers and they need to use it to launch a new drama at 9pm. My suggestion would be Frankenstein to keep this a genre night. It seems like they should launch Frankenstein as early as possible to take advantage of the season.
TUESDAYS
8:00 FANTASY LIFE
8:30 THE GRINDER
9:00 The Last Man on Earth
9:30 New Girl
I went back and forth on Tuesdays. Part of me thought maybe leave the night alone because Masterchef Junior does alright and New Girl and The Mindy Project won't really help any other shows. But I think they should consider launching a new comedy block in the 8pm hour with the fantasy football sitcom, Fantasy Life, and Rob Lowe's The Grinder. Then I'd bring The Last Man on Earth over for 9pm and let New Girl do the least damage at 9:30pm. I don't know if it'll work but I think it's worth a shot because not all their sitcoms can go on Sundays.
WEDNESDAYS
8:00 SCREAM QUEENS
9:00 Empire
I'm sure it's tempting to put Empire at 8pm so it can be a lead-in, but it's not an 8pm show. FOX should not mess with a good thing and leave it alone. It seemed to have a halo effect on American Idol anyway so it could to a promising newbie as well. I think that promising newbie could be Ryan Murphy's anthology Scream Queens. It seems like this could be a buzzy, exciting night of TV. They have to be careful about how they schedule Empire. They don't want it to lose momentum when baseball comes around in October.
THURSDAYS
8:00 Masterchef Junior
9:00 Sleepy Hollow
Thursdays are a bit of the "odd day out" for me. I think Masterchef Junior can do decently anywhere so I'd put it here because I didn't really have any other places for it and it should be somewhere other than Friday. There's a couple options for 9pm but I went with Sleepy Hollow to give that show one more chance.
FRIDAYS
8:00 Bones
9:00 HOUDINI & DOYLE
Friday should not be dismissed or an afterthought when FOX only has so much space available. Bones did alright here a couple years ago and it's clearly on its last legs so it can have a final season Friday night. FOX already picked up Houdini & Doyle. I don't have a lot of hope for it so I put it in a slot where if it bombs, it wouldn't be disastrous for FOX.
SATURDAYS
8:00 Sports
SUNDAYS
7:00 NFL Overrun/The OT/Animated Encores
7:30 Bob's Burgers
8:00 The Simpsons
8:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9:00 Family Guy
9:30 UNTITLED JOHN STAMOS COMEDY
Sundays were the only good part of the FOX schedule in the fall thanks to football lead-ins so I'd use that again and keep the lineup mostly in tact. They could keep The Last Man on Earth on Sundays, but I'd launch something new when the overall lineup is stronger in the fall. I went with the new John Stamos series. It seems like he has a pilot every year, one of them has got to work!
MIDSEASON: 48 HOURS 'TIL MONDAY, MINORITY REPORT, STUDIO CITY, THE X-FILES, American Idol, Hell's Kitchen, The Mindy Project, World's Funniest Fails
FOX needs to consider ending American Idol next season. It takes up too much valuable space and it's just going to keep getting sadder for the show that once dominated all. I think Studio City could be a nice spring match with Empire since Scream Queens will likely have a limited season. 48 Hours 'Til Monday and yes, The Mindy Project, can be on deck in case a comedy fails. Minority Report could be a drama replacement if something doesn't work and I have a feeling we won't see the X-Files reboot until next summer.
CANCELLED/ENDED: Backstrom, The Following, Glee, Gracepoint, Mulaney, Red Band Society, Utopia, Weird Loners
Not much to see here. It's time to say goodbye to The Following.
Tomorrow: ABC!
With all due respect, how is Sleepy Hollow moving to Thursdays possibly giving the show another chance? Thursdays, it will compete vs. Shonda Rhimes' ratings blockbusters. Fridays is also a bad move because it's the graveyard for tv. The media's all about the headline, no context of the explicit details, I get it; BUT the only reason Sleepy Hollow's second season flopped is because the (now replaced) showrunner fixed what wasn't broken i.e. sidelined fan favorite characters for two of the most hated (both now dead) and separated the lead actress from the male lead. If you look around, you'll see that SH was turned into a soap opera until the network intervened. It's not as if viewers just jumped ship out of the blue. With changes implemented, ratings should improve b/c folks who hated the bait/switch affair to the point they wouldn't watch live will most likely return.
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