FURTHER THOUGHTS FROM SHILO
Most Surprising Possible Renewal: Every renewal that FOX has made thus far has been understandable on at least some level, but if we see a Backstrom renewal, I would be kind of amazed. Ratings have been bad and haven’t improved even with Bones, the most compatible lead-in it could have asked for, returning from hiatus, while reviews were worse and buzz around it has been nonexistent. Whether you blame the off-putting marketing campaign (“This guy’s such a dick! Watch Backstrom on Thursdays!”), how difficult it is to breakout on Thursdays, or the general state of disarray FOX found itself in this season, the fact remains that Backstrom is too poorly rated for a reach renewal, especially since FOX has new presidents who want to make their mark on the network.
Show That Should Have Been Renewed: Since I don’t really disagree with any of FOX’s cancellations this past season, I’ll just talk about how much I miss Red Band Society. Its ratings were bad and it didn’t generate enough buzz to overcome that, but it was an interesting premise for network television to explore and it amazes me that shows with skeevier, more violent content are able to flourish on network television while something like Red Band was pretty soundly rejected. This was an important show and it’s a shame that financials weren’t able to work out for it to continue, either on FOX’s summer schedule or on, say, ABC Family, a cable offshoot of co-producer ABC Studios.
Possible Biggest Surprise: If Studio City has a similar tone to Empire, I would be surprised if it doesn’t get sampled and hold a decent audience for at least its first few weeks. Granted, it doesn’t have the big names of a Scandal or a How to Get Away with Murder, but it will get peak Empire ratings as its lead-in and shows like Empire can only launch successful shows if they’re similar enough to appeal to its audience. With Studio City possessing a familiar premise that would gel well with Empire, anything less than a rousing success would be startling.
Safest Bet: Scream Queens will bow big. I don’t know if it’ll be able to hold the audience it gets for its premiere or if Ryan Murphy will be able to bounce back from his most recent network series (The New Normal), but the concept, cast, marketing, and scheduling will be enough to give it quite a bit of breathing room.
Biggest Need: Depth. FOX has Empire, Gotham, Gordon Ramsey, and not a whole lot else. In order to get themselves in much healthier shape, they have to use their assets to build themselves back up. If their fall schedule isn’t aggressive enough with the solid lead-ins and companion pieces that they do have, it’ll be that much longer before FOX is able to compete with the ABCs and CBSs of the world. Frankly, if the new FOX presidents don’t try to do something to make some noise next fall and begin digging their network out of the ratings basement, I would be shocked.
SHILO’S SCHEDULE
SUNDAY 7:00 NFL on FOX; 7:30 Bob’s Burgers; 8:00 The Simpsons; 8:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine; 9:00 Family Guy; 9:00 Bordertown
MONDAY 8:00 Gotham; 9:00 Minority Report
TUESDAY 8:00 Scream Queens; 9:00 Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life; 9:30 New Girl
WEDNESDAY 8:00 Empire; 9:00 Studio City
THURSDAY 8:00 MasterChef Junior; 9:00 Sleepy Hollow
FRIDAY 8:00 Bones; 9:00 Drama Encores
