The second of the network upfronts is out, covering FOX’s fall schedule. Here are my thoughts and what I anticipate Critical Myth will be covering in one degree or another next season. The following is the schedule released by the network on 16 May 2011:
FOX FALL 2010 SCHEDULE *New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET
8:00-9:00 PM TERRA NOVA
9:00-10:00 PM House
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM Glee
9:00-9:30 PM NEW GIRL
9:30-10:00 PM Raising Hope
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:30 PM THE X FACTOR
9:30-10:00 PM I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER
THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE X FACTOR
9:00-10:00 PM Bones
FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM Kitchen Nightmares
9:00-10:00 PM Fringe
SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM Cops
8:30-9:00 PM Cops
9:00-10:00 PM Encores/ America’s Most Wanted (specials)
SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM The OT (NFL post-game)
7:30-8:00 PM The Cleveland Show
8:00-8:30 PM The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 PM ALLEN GREGORY
9:00-9:30 PM Family Guy
9:30-10:00 PM American Dad
- Mondays
Considering how long we’ve all been waiting for “Terra Nova”, I’m wondering if it will all be worth it. But I’ll still be there to see what hits the screen! I’m still not interested in “House”, though, especially when even it’s devoted fans are starting to say it’s getting long in the tooth.
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Tuesday
My wife loves “Glee”, so I’m sure we’ll be watching that. Despite the everlasting charms of Zooey Deschanel, I just can’t imagine that I’ll want to watch “New Girl”. And I wasn’t interested in “Raising Hope” before, so I certainly doubt I would be now.
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Wednesday
Because dominating the spring weekday schedule with a bloated “American Idol” is not enough, FOX wants to do the same in the fall with “The X Factor”. The difference is that this show might actually be entertaining enough to warrant a look, given the judges involved. “I Hate My Teenage Daughter”, on the other hand, looks DOA to me.
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Thursday
This night will be the obligatory results show for “The X Factor”, which is fine, I suppose, since it will ultimately be a DVR recording where we only watch the last five minutes, if that. I’m not a fan of “Bones”, but for those that are, this is where it landed on the schedule, still up against heavy competition.
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Friday
I still don’t understand the logic behind pairing “Kitchen Nightmares” with “Fringe”. Why not switch “Kitchen Nightmares” with “Terra Nova” and create a solid genre block on Friday nights? Sure, it would clutter an already packed Friday schedule for the geeks, but it would make a lot more sense. (Yes, I know, “Terra Nova” is classic counter-programming, given the reality behemoths on the other networks on Monday nights, but it’s going to get killed there!)
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Saturday/Sunday
Reruns, Cops, and an animation block that somehow is still considered relevant. I have no interest in any of it.
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Mid-Season
If they weren’t going to put “Terra Nova” on Fridays with “Fringe”, then why not put “Alcatraz” there instead? Creating a JJ Abrams Friday is hardly the worst idea. Instead, it’s going to be up against the same Monday-night titans that threaten “Terra Nova”. There’s also the “Bones” spin-off “The Finder”, which I have no interest in watching, but I’m sure others feel differently. All I can say is that FOX is notorious for shuffling the schedule in the winter/spring, so these plans don’t really mean much.
There’s also “Touch”, a new Keifer Sutherland vehicle with genre overtones, that isn’t on the official schedule, and apparently waiting in the wings for another show to flop or a summer 2012 run. But that show didn’t seem too promising during pilot season, so I’m not sure why it’s even on the bench.
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What Didn’t Make the Cut
Probably the biggest disappointment on the FOX slate was the absence of “Locke and Key”, which had an incredibly good production pedigree and a solid cast, never mind some critically-acclaimed source material. How does “Touch” make the cut, when this is tossed to the wayside?
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Final Verdict
So when it comes to FOX, the shows that will likely be covered on Critical Myth include Fringe, Alcatraz, Terra Nova, and possibly Touch.