Most Surprising (Possible) Renewal: I’d be surprised to see more APB. It had a pretty promising premiere number, perfectly retaining the first Monday episode of 24: Legacy following the Super Bowl, but it lost momentum fairly quickly. While some of that had to do with 24 continuing to swoon, the show didn’t generate any type of buzz during its 12-episode run and ended its season having lost about 2/3 of its audience from premiere to finale. FOX might love itself a good cop show, and the networks seem drawn to the technology-boosted procedural format for some reason, but they have other options they can go with aside from something that’s among its lowest-rated dramas and a million miles from syndication.
Show That Likely Won’t Be Renewed But Should Be: I don’t think Son of Zorn has much of a ratings argument for renewal, and probably isn’t even in the running considering the post-production time would’ve required a renewal months ago, so I’ll just say that I really enjoyed the show and found myself disappointed that it didn’t find any traction. Initially, it felt like something that FOX audiences would embrace, but it turned into something that probably would’ve been better suited for Adult Swim or FXX. Miss you already, Vulchazor.
Possible Scheduling Disaster: I don’t see it for The Exorcist. While the show had very positive word of mouth, limited freshmen that get renewed often have a lot of trouble the following season and where The Exorcist likely would be airing on Fridays, its ratings woes would be intensified that much more. I’m all for networks supporting shows they love and finding creative ways to renew passion projects, but unless The Exorcist has beastly streaming numbers or something, there’s no real upside to renewing it (no awards, no syndication, not much critical acclaim, etc.), particularly when you have imminent syndication options at the ready.
Possible Biggest Surprise: Considering some of their scheduling this past season, I don’t know if I would be surprised at anything FOX does. They could put Married with Children reruns Mondays at 9:00 and I’d just shrug it off at this point, so if they don’t do something new in front of Empire, or if they keep Orville off the fall schedule, or if they consolidate Lethal Weapon with Lucifer in lieu of using both with new shows, y’know, FOX is gonna FOX at this point.
Safest Bet: The Marvel drama will go to series. It has a recognizable brand behind it that FOX will want to utilize and it fits with what FOX tends to go for with its dramas. I’d go a step further and say that of all the dramas currently in contention at every network, the FOX Marvel drama is the biggest lock of them all, both to be picked up for series and to make it onto the fall schedule.
Project I’m Rooting For: Ghosted could be a lot of fun. It’s an idea that hasn’t been done to death and seems like something that would not only be visually interesting, but could provide the type of goofy escapism that viewers need right now. It’s also something that sounds readymade for FOX audiences, so with the right promotion, I don’t see a reason why it couldn’t do well while freshening up the FOX brand.
ESSENTIAL LINKS
Upfronts 2017: Assessing Each Network’s Needs
FOX’s 2016-2017 Schedule: Thoughts & Predictions
Analyzing the 2016 Fall Schedule: FOX
We’re running all five prediction articles on the same day this year! Find all of the networks below:
NBC – FOX – ABC – CBS – The CW
