Analyzing the 2016 Fall Schedule: FOX

FRIDAY

SHILO’S PREDICTIONS: 8:00 MasterChef Junior; 9:00 Sleepy Hollow
CRAIG’S PREDICTIONS: 8:00 New Girl; 8:30 Grandfathered; 9:00 Sleepy Hollow
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 8:00 Hell’s Kitchen; 9:00 The Exorcist

SHILO: Okay, I love a good scheduling theme, so when I first saw the FOX schedule, Fridays tickled me. That being said, I don’t love the actual pairing here. Hell’s Kitchen is still a pretty decent lead-in and it’ll be the only reality property in the hour now that CBS pulled The Amazing Race, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. I worry about The Exorcist, though, for a number of reasons. It’s a concept that does amend itself to long-form storytelling like other properties FOX has adapted for television; it’s very difficult to make horror for broadcast, as it has to be scary enough for horror fans and not scary enough to drive people away; the last time a scripted show debuted and broke out on Fridays was Grimm five years ago; and The Exorcist will be trying to divide whatever audience there is on Fridays at 9:00 with another genre show – Grimm.

What I also wonder about is why FOX didn’t give Sleepy Hollow a longer order. They went to the trouble of writing out Nicole Beharie instead of ending the show because Sleepy Hollow does well internationally, is within spitting distance of syndication, and is owned by the studio, so FOX has vested interest in keeping it going. Yet instead of giving the show 16, 18, or 22 episodes to pad its syndication count, it gets 13 episodes and a push to midseason, thereby putting the show at only 62 episodes. Given the controversy about the show’s treatment of Beharie and main attraction to Sleepy Hollow being her chemistry with Tom Mison, it stands to reason that this is a show that won’t be able to last without her; why not hold your nose at the poor ratings to come, do as many episodes as you can, and cut bait at the end of next season?

CRAIG: Watching the Exorcist trailer, beyond Geena Davis being in it which is cool, I really didn’t get it, or get the reason for it being a thing. I think it was a highly buzzed about pilot, but being slotted on Friday doesn’t really encourage a lot of confidence, even though, yes, Grimm has done well there. I guess this choice also gets a big “MEH” from me.