Analyzing the 2019 Fall Schedule: FOX

After an eventful couple of upfronts weeks, the five broadcast networks have put forth their fall 2018 schedules. There are some ingenious moves; there are some confounding moves. There are new shows hoping to be sampled and become the next big thing; there are relocated veterans hoping to improve their time slots and leg out a few more seasons. We won’t know whether each network put forth the right combination of shows until the fall, but that isn’t going to stop KSiteTV’s Craig Byrne and Shilo Adams from giving their annual first impressions on all five of the fall schedules. They’ll break down the schedule of every network on a nightly basis, telling you what surprised them and what they think might be set up for failure, all before naming everything from the most promising new show to worst scheduling move and what they’ll be watching in the fall.

Second up is FOX, which is heading into its first season as an independent network following the Disney merger. Surprisingly, they opted to go very heavy toward scripted content, ordering ten shows despite programming the second fewest hours among the five broadcast networks. There’s a new animated comedy on Sundays in Bless the Harts, while 9-1-1 is being used to launch serial killer thriller Prodigal Son and The Masked Singer moves into fall to give fertility drama Not Just Me a boost. Elsewhere, the final season of Empire is thrown against This Is Us and given a lead-in from The Resident and WWE SmackDown makes its broadcast return after spending the last decade traipsing through USA Network, Syfy, and My Network TV. Will FOX be proven right in betting so big on live events and scripted content in 2019-2020?

2019-2020 Scheduling Prediction Articles: NBC | FOX | ABC | CBS | The CW

2019-2020 Scheduling Analysis Articles: NBC | ABC | CBS | The CW

Trailers: Bless the Harts | Prodigal Son | Not Just Me | Deputy | Next | Filthy Rich | Outmatched

SUNDAY
SHILO: 7:00 FOX NFL & The OT; 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Bless the Harts; 9:00 Family Guy; 9:30 Bob’s Burgers
CRAIG: 7:00 FOX NFL & The OT; 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Bob’s Burgers; 9:00 Family Guy; 9:30 Bless The Harts
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 7:00 FOX NFL & The OT: 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Bless the Harts; 9:00 Bob’s Burgers; 9:30 Family Guy

SHILO: Well, we were both right about the shows that made up this night – we just didn’t know what order they would be in. Bless the Harts makes a certain amount of sense here given that the other three comedies are family-centric and I’m not surprised they’d want a show with this voice cast to get a big fall push. What was the surprise here is Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy both being pushed back half an hour; I get putting Bless the Harts at 8:30 because of the football halo, but why did both animated shows that proceed it have to move? Trying to sure up the 9:30 slot with something strong and 20+ episodes is understandable given that they had to air Family Guy reruns there for most of the season, but Family Guy has been their top-rated show this season in both Live + Same Day and non-linear measures. Even though Bob’s Burgers has looked very well this season, I don’t know the show will get enough of a boost from airing at 9:00 to justify having to promote both it and Family Guy moving.

CRAIG: I guess the thought is that Family Guy would be the ideal lead-in for the local newscast, and I know you love Bob’s Burgers, but I didn’t see the schedule shifting a half hour in the direction that it did. The Bless The Harts of it all does make sense, as the shows are aging and one probably should have the immediate 8:30 post-Simpsons slot; I just didn’t see or picture this. And I wonder if Harts or Bob’s Burgers will end up pre-empted when football goes long.