Upfronts can be an overwhelming tidal wave of information for TV fans. Not only do you have to say your goodbyes to shows that didn’t make it to next season, you have to wrap your head around the surprising renewal/cancellation decisions and watch dozens of trailers trying to decide which shows to invest in for next season, all before you can even process the scheduling moves that’ve been made. It’s a long walk that, for some, can start as early as the first bubble watch articles that pop up in spring, so while it’s enjoyable on some level to have this much information thrown as you in a short period of time, there’s a certain sense of relief that comes with the conclusion of upfronts. After a long season filled with all types of ups and downs, it can be difficult to even think about next season, which makes trying to parse through the good, bad, and ugly of the 2017-18 schedules difficult enough before you add in that schedules come out at the tail end of the upfronts process.
But KSiteTV’s Craig Byrne and Shilo Adams are going to give it a go anyway, as they’ve tasked themselves with analyzing the fall schedules of each broadcast network. 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 will be premiering two new dramas and one new comedy while moving Empire, Gotham, Lucifer, and Lethal Weapon to new slots. Will all the scheduling jostling give them the forward momentum they so desperately need? Or is the FOX 2017-18 season already over before it began?
Before you delve into the article, you can check out every 2017-18 scheduling article below, as well as links to every trailer FOX released.
2017-18 Scheduling Predictions: NBC | FOX | ABC | CBS | The CW
2017-18 Scheduling Analysis: NBC | ABC | CBS | The CW
Trailers: Ghosted | Marvel’s The Gifted | The Orville | The Resident | LA to Vegas
SUNDAY
SHILO’S PREDICTIONS: 7:00 NFL on FOX; 7:30 Bob’s Burgers; 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Ghosted; 9:00 Family Guy; 9:30 The Last Man on Earth
CRAIG’S PREDICTIONS: 7:00 NFL on FOX; 7:30 Bob’s Burgers; 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Ghosted; 9:00 Family Guy; 9:30 The Last Man on Earth
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 7:00 NFL on FOX; 7:30 Bob’s Burgers; 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Ghosted; 9:00 Family Guy; 9:30 The Last Man on Earth
SHILO: Look at us getting everything right. After NBC took a major left turn, it’s nice that FOX opted to give us a win by doing exactly what we thought would happen on Sunday. The animated shows stayed where they were and The Last Man on Earth (thankfully) gets to populate the TV world for at least one more season, while FOX went with paranormal comedy Ghosted, described as an X-Files spoof, at 8:30. Ghosted gets the NFL halo in the fall, features stars that viewers of the Sunday lineup are familiar with, and should end up being more compatible with the lineup than Son of Zorn was, so I think it stands a reasonable chance at being a success. Plus, FOX only picked up two new comedies for next season, making it that much more important that both are protected by the schedule. In this case, Ghosted makes more sense on Sunday than LA to Vegas did, so it got the call up.
CRAIG: I’m still not sold on how Ghosted will do in the long run, but yes, FOX did as we predicted, so thank goodness for small miracles. I do wonder if FOX will ever end up developing more animation to go with their aging Simpsons and Family Guy, though.
