FOX shuffles out its fall schedule

FOX has a problem. Beyond the aging franchise that is American Idol, it’s discovering –somewhat- that America is edging away from game shows/reality TV on the broadcast networks (leaving it to the cable nets, where the mass audience seems to be drawn to broader and dumber programming) and they’re coming back –somewhat- to the idea that scripted TV is good. Yet their fall schedule plays it safe and that’s bad for them in the long run. While they may not have the viewership of CBS, they’ve generally been number one in the all-important advertising demographic. And despite falling from number one to last this year, they seemed not to have noticed the dramatic shift.

The aging series Bones returns and launches Monday night. It is followed by Sleepy Hallow, a modern re-telling of the Washington Irving story. The 9pm hour on Monday has always been FOX’s best night to launch drama’s, but because The Following will be back at midseason on Monday (and mostly due to star Kevin Bacon’s condition that he does only 15 episodes a season), Sleepy Hallow will have an uncertain future. The concept is intriguing: Ichabod Crane (British actor Tom Mison) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to find that the world is on the brink of destruction and that he is humanity’s last hope, forcing him to team up with a contemporary police officer (Nicole Beharie) to unravel a mystery that dates back to the founding fathers. It’s still a procedural, but one with a interesting twist.

Tuesday remains the comedy block, but just like this past season, it tried to launch two new comedies with returning ones. While Ben & Kate fizzled, The Mindy Project survived. Yet that show suffered due to the scheduling of The New Girl, which suffered a dramatic loss in viewership from its first season. While one assumes FOX loves The Mindy Project, as the concept was tweaked through most of its first season, it was not the huge breakout hit they wanted. Anyways, FOX will launch two new comedies starting at 8pm. Dads is from Seth MacFarlane, creator of The Family Guy. Martin Mull stars in the series which is about two successful video game entrepreneurs who have their lives turned upside down by nightmare dads, who unexpectedly moving in with them. Peter Riegert plays the other dad. The other comedy is Brooklyn Nine-Nine, starring former SNL actor Andy Samberg who is a talented but free-wheeling police detective with a new by-the-book captain (Andre Braugher).

Wednesday brings The X Factor (and American Idol replaces it in January).

Thursday has The X Factor results show followed by Glee (which got a two season pick-up earlier this year, despite a viewer drop off on a very competitive night on TV –both this show and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy share virtually the same audience, and guess which one gets better ratings? I mean, it’s not a cheap show, so why the 44 episode pick-up and keeping it on Thursday then?). Eventually, the new legal procedural Rake -based on the Australian series about the chaotic, often-comedic life of a defense lawyer (Greg Kinnear)-will move into Glee’s spot. 

Junior Master Chef launches Friday, a new competitive cooking show with Gordon Ramsey and a bunch of pre-teens and teenagers. Sounds fucking fun. Reruns of Sleepy Hallow will fill the 9pm slot, before the returning Raising Hope and the new comedy Enlisted debut after the World Series in November. Bones will relocate here as well in November. 

FOX keeps Sunday as their Animation Domination, though American Dad seems destined to be shelved, as the network will debut a new animated series, Murder Police, at midseason. With Bob’s Burger shining as a worthy successor to The Simpsons (which ain’t going away) and Family Guy not going anywhere either, the only place for that new animated show is where American Dad now resides. 

Not yet scheduled is the drama Almost Human from JJ Abrams, a cop series set 35 years in the future where police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. It stars Karl Urban (Star Trek) and Gang Related, with Ramon Rodriguez as former gang member who is a rising star on Los Angeles’ elite Gang Task Force led by Sam Chapel (Terry O'Quinn). Also two comedies, Us and Them that stars Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel as couple whose path to happily-ever-after is littered with screwed-up people and Surviving Jack, which stars Christoper Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as an oncologist learning to be a father just as his son is starting high school. 

FOX also announced that 24 will return next summer as 12 episode series.

Gone are: Ben & Kate, Fringe, Touch, and The Mob Doctor