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 14 May 2012:
FOX FALL 2012 SCHEDULE
MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM THE MOB DOCTOR (new)
TUESDAY
8:00-8:30 PM RAISING HOPE
8:30-9:00 PM BEN AND KATE (new)
9:00-9:30 PM NEW GIRL
9:30-10:00 PM THE MINDY PROJECT (new)
WEDNESDAY
8:00-10:00 PM THE X FACTOR
THURSDAY
:00-9:00 PM THE X FACTOR Results
9:00-10:00 PM GLEE
FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM TOUCH
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE
SATURDAY
7:00-10:30 PM FOX SPORTS SATURDAY
SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM NFL Game (fall) / ANIMATION DOMINATION (encores)
7:30-8:00 PM THE OT (fall) / THE CLEVELAND SHOW
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD
- Mondays
With “Terra Nova” and “Alcatraz” both tanking this season, I suppose we shouldn’t be shocked that FOX is veering away from its genre offerings. I’ve never been engaged by “Bones”, and “The Mob Doctor” just sounds like another standard drama likely to see the wood chipper by the end of the season.
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Tuesday
“Glee” is moving to Thursday (because that night isn’t packed enough), so all that’s left that interests me is the return of “New Girl”. Neither of the two new comedies sounds all that great.
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Wednesday
FOX finally bowed to the inevitable and made Wednesday night nothing more than a reality staple, starting with “The X-Factor” in the fall and “American Idol” in the spring. Both are complete wastes of time at this point, so FOX might as well not exist on Wednesday nights for genre fans.
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Thursday
The obligatory results shows for the Wednesday night reality behemoths will start the night, followed by “Glee”. I’m going to assume that FOX believes that the lead-in from the reality shows will boost the numbers for “Glee”, so they can continue to believe that the show and its central conceit haven’t been utterly played out yet.
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Friday
This is close to what genre fans wanted. We will be getting the fifth and final season of “Fringe”, which is a major boost for the fall. But I’m disappointed that it will be paired with “Touch”. Despite its flaws, I would have been much happier with “Alcatraz” returning over the sentimental, anti-science dreck that is “Touch”. But it does mean genre fans interested in quality need only tune in to one hour of FOX on Friday nights!
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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
“The Following” is a Kevin Williamson vehicle about Kevin Bacon hunting down a serial killer. Frankly, it doesn’t sound all that promising, and I’d rather watch bacon than Kevin Bacon. “The Goodwin Games” is a comedy, which is usually a reason to set it aside, but this time, the cast is intriguing and it has a solid pedigree, coming from the folks behind “How I Met Your Mother”. So it might be worth giving it a shot, if only for a couple episodes.
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Final Verdict
There just isn’t much that FOX is offering this season, beyond 13 episodes of “Fringe”, that begs for reviewing. And once “Fringe” is done, the network may as well not exist for genre fans (other than for those still tuning in for “Bones”, of course).
