Fox just officially announced their fall schedule, and the alleged mid-season one (though we know that one is always written in pencil and subject to major changes before we get to January). I have both schedules, and the full press release, up at NJ.com. About to start a conference call with the execs from Fox, and I'll likely do a second NJ.com post with quotes and analysis when that's done, so check back there (or here for a link) in an hour or two.UPDATE: Take two is now up at NJ.com.
41 comments:
I know by now not to get too worked up over an advance FOX schedule, but moving Fringe to Thursdays at 9 against Office/30 Rock? Booooooo.
Why do they even bother with the midseason schedule? Besides the fact that it never airs as presented, it always leaves off a few shows, in this case Lie to Mie.
All I ask is that either House or Chuck be moved to a different day - I haven't seen season 2 of Chuck yet because of that conflict, and still have no idea when the season 2 DVDs will be out. (Happy it's been renewed, though!)
I honestly have to say that this is a schedule that makes a lot of sense for Fox. Its almost as if they have an actual human intelligence running the network (hi Ben Silverman!). House/Lie is brilliant, as is Bones/Fringe.
This schedule reads like Fox's bid to step on the other networks' necks. The only soft block is Friday at 8/8:30. That of course assumes that the Dance/Glee on Tues/Wed gamble works out.
NBC already said Chuck is moving. But the suicide mission for Fringe makes no sense.
Friday's is a bigger hot mess than this past year! At least there was a targeted demo for advertisers- regardless of the lack of numbers it drew.
Karen- we'll know Chuck's spot tomorrow but I'd assume it'll be Wed or Friday (most likely). Fridays could be kind to a family show like Chuck- I'm kinda pulling for that. Plus, it could show 5 episodes consisting solely of Big Mike closeups and it would still bet the Fox Friday. CBS is the only real Fri competition.
You're terminated motherfncker.
I think Bones & Lie to Me would make more sense on Thursdays. Though I guess Fringe might be better counterprogramming to CSI. I'm really surprised it took them this long to air SYTYCD in the fall. Having that as their fall show and Idol as their spring show makes a lot of sense and will probably cause less disruption to the rest of the schedule. Airing two seasons of SYTYCD back to back (summer and fall) might be overkill, though. They probably should have just held season 5 for the fall.
I'm thinking their thought on Fringe is that Fringe is the season's top-rated new show, CSI has shown a fair degree of erosion this year since Petersen's departure, and that the Fringe audience is loyal and isn't likely to also be committed in that timeslot.
I think there are a number of errors with that calculus, but remember that the moves of Survivor, CSI, and Grey's to Thursdays were all big gambles that ultimately paid off for them.
So I guess this makes it official... Sarah Connor Chronicles is terminated. Sad to see a great concept with some great characters go so badly off course. Word is that Warner Bros. isn't even shopping it to other networks. I had hoped that maybe with the Terminator Salvation hype and the promise it showed in the final episodes maybe Fox would pick it up for one more season, and--barring that--maybe SciFi channel. Oh well... Can't say that I'll miss the frustration. But darn it could have been so good...!
Matt- I agree with the logic, however I also see the sarcastic comedy on NBC a competitor for Fringe's fan base. Genre fans dig those shows (that dry humor). There will be a lot of conflict for fans between NBC and FOX thurs.
I think Greys and CSI have their own demo with very little overlap with the other two- CSI could even lose some to Fringe. But it's NBC I'm worried about.
Dollhouse got a full-season order? Really? I thought it was only going to get 13.
Ugh, Thursdays at 9pm are so crowded. Supernatural, Fringe, Office/30 Rock and Grey's at the same time? I have three-tuner Tivo capability and am still going to have to miss something!
The schedule does seem to make sense, although that Friday comedy block at 8pm is ill-advised. As a SYTYCD fan, having it in the fall is incovenient personally but smart business-wise.
Rachel- you are not wrong. Dollhouse does only have a 13 episode order. They ran fall and midseason this year with only 12 episodes.
I'm guessing that's what we get again. I would be shocked if there was a change of plan and additional episodes were picked up (although I wouldn't mind!)
I haven't seen season 2 of Chuck yet because of that conflict, and still have no idea when the season 2 DVDs will be out. (Happy it's been renewed, though!)The DVDs (and Blu-rays) are rumored for Aug 18.
TSCC was expensive to produce, so I'm sure that worked against it. And pretty much rules out a move to cable. As for Terminator:Salvation, that might have worked against the show too. The WB had wanted to do a young Bruce Wayne series and Smallville has been dying to use that charcter for years, but the studio won't let them do it because they don't want to take away from the movie franchise. I'm guessing the relative lack of success of the last Superman movie while Smallville was still on the air has probably made studios extra wary of having a franchise on the small and big screens at the same time.
Take two is now up at NJ.com
Does anyone know what "Past Life" is about?
Question about DVR numbers for Dollhouse: yes, more people watch the show on DVR, but are any of those people watching the commercials? How does Fox turn DVR numbers into ad dollars? Are they just hoping word of mouth from DVR users leads to more timeslot tune-in from non DVR users?
Does anyone know what "Past Life" is about?There's a description of it in the initial post with the Fox press release.
I'm assuming Labine's status on Reaper was at least a small factor in Sons of Tuscon going midseason and not fall. But I'm surprised to see 'Til Death back on the fall schedule. My impression was that the show was basically being produced so it could be sold into syndication later. Given the way Fox has treated it this season it's clear they have no real use for it. I realize they may have a contractual obligation to air it, but I'm surprised they're not just using it as summer burn off.
So with Fringe moving to Thursday and Chuck likely to move from Monday, is Thursday at 9 is the new Monday at 8?
Any word on what they're going to do with their last batch of King of the Hill episodes? I didn't see it on the schedule anywhere, but I'm pretty sure they've still got some episodes in the can.
Ah, I should have read Take 1 along with Take 2. Anyone want guess how long the Friday Night comedies will last? Three weeks is my guess. And I suppose "Til Death" will air as long as the title says. "Fringe" on Thursdays at 9 is just suicidal, not to mention the requiring of me to build a 4 way DVR. Other then that, along with CBS this will probably be the most solid fall line-up of the season.
Alan, you always misspell Tucson as Tuscon. I've seen you do it every time you've talked about the new show. As someone who once lived in that lovely city, please please please, come up with some kind of mnemonic device for yourself to remember that the c comes BEFORE the s!
So are we thinking Thursdays might be Chuck at 7 (I mean 8 - sorry, I'm in Illinois), and Fringe at 9/8C? Because if somehow Chuck moves but ends up opposite something else I watch, I'll just weep.
Sad about losing the opportunity to watch Summer Glau walk around looking cool. Oh, and did I read Dean Winters has been cast in something? Can't remember what, but after watching him in Rescue Me, TSCC and Life on Mars, I assume whatever he's in, his character will be shot to death soon enough. (ETA: Don't mean to sound cynical about TSCC. I really will miss that show. And I really did like watching Summer walk around looking cool.)
It sounds like Chuck on Fridays at 8, actually -- which, for some fanboys/girls, will make it an ideal double-feature with Dollhouse.
Can you find out what Whedon's plans for Whiskey are now that Amy Acker is on an ABC show? It'll be kind of hard to ignore that character and storyline next year since they was such a huge part of the finale.
Chuck + Dollhouse on Fridays would make this fangirl happy indeed!
My wife and I are fans of Fringe since the very first episode. One of the main reasons that we stuck with it was because we don't watch any other shows on Tuesday night. If FOX moves it to Thursday night, we won't watch Fringe anymore -- we like it, but not as much as the Office & 30 Rock. Stupid FOX already lost 2 viewers for the show...
Darren
Nikky - No, it didn't, Dollhouse ran twelve episodes starting in February. It was originally on the fall schedule, then got pushed to midseason. If it only got 13 episodes - which I would be okay with - why is it on both?
Does the 13 episodes order of Dollhouse include the unaired one that will be on the DVDs? So, do they only need to create 12 episodes for next season?
Don't remind me of Happy Town. I'm afraid it's going to be the same story as it always is with Appelbaum and Nemec, in which a likable cast and decent production are undone by their laughably inane writing.
Alan, on twitter you wrote: "Kevin Reilly says he would have had '110 angry e-mails' from fans if Dollhouse had been canceled. come on, only 110?" I saw another article with a quote saying 110 million. I think that's more like it!
I'm not going to be outraged by the cancellation of Terminator: TSCC, which showed a lot of promise in its first season but meandered a lot this past season. I just hope Summer Glau can find something worthy of her talents that can stay on the air for more than 25 episodes.
Interesting to see Fringe moving to take on the aging CSI, reminiscent of how CSI was the weapon used to finally take down NBC on Thursday nights earlier in this decade.
Fox seems to be in decent shape overall, so I'm surprised to see them resorting to using So You Think You Can Dance in the fall. It works fine as summer fluff against minimal competition, but I can't see it doing much of anything in the fall. Of course, I once believed the same thing about Dancing With the Stars.
Alan, on twitter you wrote: "Kevin Reilly says he would have had '110 angry e-mails' from fans if Dollhouse had been canceled. come on, only 110?" I saw another article with a quote saying 110 million. I think that's more like it!
I was retweeting someone else's joke. And while I don't have a recording or a transcript, I'm pretty sure Kevin said just 110, and that the million was implied/inferred.
Is "Brothers" really the best title they could come up with? Maybe Fox isn't aware, but there was actually a Showtime series called "Brothers" back in the '80s that also dealt with a former NFL player and his brother (the brother was gay, which was somewhat groundbreaking at the time.) Also, the title seems to have a bit of a racial implication here, which I'm guessing wasn't their intent.
Does a midseason show get picked up for 6 or 13?
@Hyde: Really? I thought it was the other way around--the first season of TSCC floundered a lot, but the second season (people here tend to not like the second-half Sarah's-POV mini-arc, but I enjoyed it) was stellar.
I do agree with Alan that the season ended in a place that made dramatic sense for the end of a story, but I would have loved to see it continue. I guess I'll have to settle for being happy with what I've got, which, you know, I guess I can be.
So, if Fringe is losing the "Fringe will resume in 30 seconds" thing, does that mean we're losing an extra 7 minutes an episode?
Tyler Labine playing a wayward schemer? Gee, that's different. "Sons of Tucson" sounds like 30 minutes of hell to me.
Although I know that nothing about the mid-season schedule is written in stone, I'm happy to see Dollhouse has a tentative spot. I don't think it needs years to tell its story, but another full season would be great.
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