UPFRONTS 2018: FOX's Official Fall Schedule

Here is the official FOX schedule!

Past FOX Upfronts: 2017   2016   2015   2014   2013   2012   2011

MONDAYS
8:00 The Resident (2nd season)
9:00 9-1-1 (2nd season)

FOX had a wealth of promising sophomore dramas and two of them get to air on Monday night together, but the order of them seems backwards. 9-1-1 was one of the biggest new shows on TV this season and clearly found an audience. The Resident showed some promise but isn't a lead-off show. Maybe they were trying to be nice to their local affiliates, but I don't know why they didn't use 9-1-1 to help out a show that clearly has some promise. In this scenario, 9-1-1 should still be OK but The Resident is thrown to the wolves and its promise may disappear quickly.



TUESDAYS
8:00 The Gifted (2nd season)
9:00 Lethal Weapon (3rd season)

For a second night in a row, FOX is making an odd decision with its dramas. Lethal Weapon went through a major issue backstage leading to the ouster of co-star Clayne Crawford and the addition of Seann William Scott. The backstage drama left its renewal in doubt until just this weekend. But they ironed it out only to move it to 9pm and use The Gifted as a lead-in. I would not have been opposed to Weapon moving to 9pm and dealing with This is Us competition if they were launching a new drama or maybe doing a comedy block at 8pm or had a stronger show at 8pm. But The Gifted? This was a show that had promise at the beginning in the ratings and quickly fell apart before its first season ended. So now we have two shows that have no compatibility and for a second night, the weaker show is the lead-off show. This will be a mess, especially if Lethal Weapon fails to gain traction with its new lead.

WEDNESDAYS
8:00 Empire (5th season)
9:00 Star (3rd season)

Ah, finally a night that makes sense. While Empire is not the megahit it was early in its run, it is still a force and the Empire/Star combo has held up well all year, particularly this spring. These are two shows that are meant to be together and there was no obvious fit with them since Mixtape was passed on. So I'm definitely on board with keeping the pair together for another year. They will likely go on hiatus at midseason again, but no word yet on what will fill the slot in the winter months.




THURSDAYS
8:00 Thursday Night Football
As announced months ago, FOX has football on Thursdays this fall as part of their transition to "New FOX" (more on that below). The Orville is slated to return to Thursdays starting in January but no word on what it will be paired with though Gotham or maybe The Passage are possibilities.

FRIDAYS
8:00 Last Man Standing (7th season)
8:30 THE COOL KIDS
9:00 Hell's Kitchen (18th edition)

Fridays are getting a big upheaval thanks to the return of Last Man Standing to TV. After airing on ABC from 2011-2017, it returns on FOX after one year off the air and it's back in the slot that it aired for most of its ABC run. It is followed by fellow multi-camera comedy The Cool Kids, which became an intriguing show for FOX once they closed on the deal to bring Last Man back. It's an old skewing pair but it will be interesting to see if it can get the total viewers that Last Man used to get on ABC on a network that often struggles with total viewers. I didn't think ABC should have cancelled the show last year, but I also don't know that it's something audiences are just dying to see return. At 9pm is Hell's Kitchen, returning for another edition but an hour later than it usually airs.

SATURDAYS
8:00 FOX Sports Saturday

SUNDAYS
7:00 NFL Overrun/The OT/Comedy Encores
8:00 The Simpsons (30th season)
8:30 Bob's Burgers (9th season)
9:00 Family Guy (16th season)
9:30 REL

Sunday nights are mostly dedicated to what's left of the FOX Animation Domination and as always, they will benefit from NFL Sundays but probably be pretty low in the spring. The Simpsons returns for a 30th season and will continue to air at 8pm. After years of doing well with poor treatment, Bob's Burgers returns to its original slot and gets the best treatment since early in its run. That's a testament to the fact that it has been a continuously strong performer no matter where FOX has put it. The 9:30pm slot goes to Rel, which is a multi-camera comedy. It seems pretty lame and it's in a really difficult slot because the NFL glow will be long over. I wouldn't be surprised to see it get a preview at 8pm or 8:30pm on an NFL Sunday, but I don't think long term prospects are good.

MIDSEASON: THE PASSAGE, PROVEN INNOCENT, Cosmos, Gotham, Masterchef Junior, The Orville, Showtime at the Apollo
FOX only has two new shows on its fall schedule and only two lined up for midseason though off-cycle Bless This Mess or redeveloped No Apologies could join the list. Aside from The Orville, none of these shows have set slots.

CANCELLED/ENDED: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (picked up by NBC), The Exorcist, The Last Man on Earth, Lucifer, The Mick, New Girl, The X-Files

FATES TBA: The Four, Ghosted, LA to Vegas
The Four is airing this summer and while not officially announced, another winter run seems likely. Signs seem to be pointing to a renewal for LA to Vegas but things are less likely for Ghosted.

TO SUM UP:
FOX the broadcast network is transitioning to something that isn't even fully defined as it gets ready to divorce from 20th Century FOX. This is sad for many reasons - after all FOX was always the edgy different network that has gone through many identities but gave us some major cultural shows like American Idol, 24, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, That 70s Show, Married... with Children, and of course The Simpsons and Family Guy just to name a few. Its heading to a network that is going to be much more focused on sports and live events. But the sale isn't happening yet so it's in a weird transition. I get all that, but what I don't get is why this schedule seems to be shooting itself in the foot. Only two new shows in a fall where they have two days on NFL to help with promotion? Only four series pickups total while passing on some promising sounding ones? Completely botching their drama lineup on Monday and Tuesday while possibly hurting some promising young shows in the process? I guess I need to see what New FOX looks like, but I would think they would be better off making this transition with an arsenal of success stories instead of poorly scheduled returnees and uninspiring newbies. Wednesday is good and Friday could work. But there are way too many poor choices here that makes me nervous about where this network is heading. Honestly, part of me hopes it flops big time because I don't want to see other networks heading this way. We saw it once before with NBC and their Jay Leno plan, but they backpedaled quickly. I hope New FOX can still be home to some great shows like it has over the years.