FURTHER THOUGHTS FROM SHILO
Most Surprising (Possible) Renewal: I can’t see there being more Proven Innocent. One of its stars is on a pilot currently in contention at NBC, the show has zero interest in any ratings measure, and it’d have to move mid-week to account for WWE Smackdown, which would be a disaster. Additionally, it debuted to poor reviews earlier this year and has a premise that, to be polite, doesn’t jibe with what I think the programming philosophy of New FOX will be. With FOX reducing its scripted presence, Proven Innocent would’ve had to really overperform in order to put itself in contention and frankly, it did not.
Show That Likely Won’t Be Renewed But Should Be: Aside from Star, which will likely be undone by cost despite very solid ratings, I weirdly think Lethal Weapon has a decent renewal argument. It would behoove FOX to build relationships with independent studios like Warner Bros. and with Lethal inching toward syndication, WB will likely do what it can to make more episodes amenable for FOX. The show showed some flashes of ratings strength later in its season, seemed to mend its (very public) behind the scenes issues, and remains the bubble show most in line with the New FOX brand. I don’t think it would or should be a priority for FOX but as a midseason filler of 13-15 episodes? They could do worse.
Possible Scheduling Disaster: The way FOX is going to be constructed, it’s kind of tough for them to have a full-out disaster. Sundays will be all animated, Mondays are probably going to be the same as this year, Wednesday should be Empire into another soap, and Thursdays and Fridays are sports. The closest they might come is building a four-comedy lineup on Tuesdays, as I don’t think The Cool Kids is strong enough to be an anchor and none of the new comedies on the development slate look like they could self-start. With Last Man Standing going back to mid-week for the first time since 2012, I hope they don’t put too much pressure on it, which a four-comedy lineup would do.
Possible Biggest Surprise: One of my biggest surprises of this season was that FOX didn’t launch a drama in the fall, opting to hold Proven Innocent and The Passage until midseason. Even though they’re still gunning for a schedule that’s predominantly reality, sports, and events, FOX is not going to be able to survive without scripted, so I would be surprised if they went a second consecutive season without a new fall drama. That’d be a bad message to send to the creative community and I’m not sure studios would be lining up to work with FOX if they felt like their work wasn’t going to be prioritized.
Safest Bet: Sunday will be all animated. FOX has been signalling that they’re going all-in on animated with the early renewals of The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers, as well as picking up two animated shows before anything else for next season. It’s very easy to order 13-ish episodes of both Bless the Harts and Duncanville, having one sub in for the other so that the lineup can remain all originals. I know FOX likely doesn’t want a repeat of this year when they had to air Family Guy repeats once Rel failed, so they’ll do their best to have both animated shows air on Sundays.
Project I’m Rooting For: Filthy Rich could be very fun. Television as a whole has veered away from these big, splashy primetime soaps and if the Christian television setting is properly utilized, this could make for a scathing, surprisingly substantive take on the soap form. Plus even though I’m forever #TeamSJP and lament that we didn’t get a third Sex and the City movie to close the franchise on a proper note, I’m excited to see Kim Cattrall get a role she can really sink her teeth into.
The One That Will [Probably] Get Away: Lovestruck. I know it has a concept that wouldn’t really work on broadcast television and there’s been no real buzz about the show during upfronts season, but I’m all for more shows with that type of tone and Rachel Bilson needs a new show to be charming on ASAP. If this doesn’t make it, I’m going to need somebody to write her a good dramedy.
What FOX Needs: They need a better defined brand. I was expecting their development this season to be much broader than what it ended up being, as there are several projects that wouldn’t have been out of place on a pre-merger FOX (e.g. Richard Lovely, Adam & Eve, neXT, Prodigal Son, etc.). This makes the in-progress rebrand feel a little pointless; the merger was always going through, so where is the New FOX-ness in their development slate outside of a couple of multi-cams?
