Monday
8:00 - The Resident (New Timeslot)
9:00 - 9-1-1 (New Timeslot)
9-1-1 was a legitimate hit at midseason, and rather than try something new in the fall, Fox is moving it to one of the week's more unstable nights. It should pair thematically well with The Resident.
Tuesday
8:00 - The Gifted (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Lethal Weapon (New Timeslot)
Following the controversial firing of its co-lead Clayne Crawford, Lethal Weapon eked out a last-minute renewal after Seann William Scott (American Pie) was hired to replace him. It shifts back an hour and is paired with The Gifted, which was not the big hit Fox likely expected and needed it to be.
Wednesday
8:00 - Empire
9:00 - Star
No changes to Wednesdays.
Thursday
Thursday Night Football
This is a big swing for Fox. Thursday Night Football is the lowest-rated of the three NFL evening programs, partially because the match-ups aren't great and partially because the rights aren't exclusive, but it's still guaranteed to do better than any other programming Fox could put here.
Friday
8:00 - Last Man Standing (NEW)
8:30 - The Cool Kids (NEW)
9:00 - Hell's Kitchen (New Timeslot)
The pandering revival of Last Man Standing is paired with a new Golden Girls-esque retirement home comedy The Cool Kids. Hell's Kitchen shifts back an hour.
Sunday
8:00 - The Simpsons
8:30 - Bob's Burgers (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Family Guy
9:30 - Rel (NEW)
With the cancellation of The Last Man on Earth, the 9:30 slot seemed finally open to Bob's Burgers, where it has occasionally aired and done well over the years... but the slot goes to newbie Rel, with Bob moving from 7:30 to 8:30.
Midseason
The Orville will return to Thursdays in January after the end of football, beginning with a premiere on December 30. The final season of Gotham will return at midseason, alongside new dramas The Passage and Proven Innocent and a second season of the science docuseries Cosmos.
Also on tap in January, Fox will present its long-delayed live production of Rent on January 27.
Well, this schedule is... stupid, is the only word that comes to mind. Is Fox broke? Or just dumb? They ordered only a handful of pilots this year, and then only four went to series (two drama and two comedy); and now they haven't a put any new dramas on the air in the fall. I suppose this is the network putting all their eggs in the NFL basket, but this schedule is just unsightly. There are moves on every night but Wednesday, some of them silly (why push Lethal Weapon back on hour when you're already moving The Gifted from Monday to Tuesday?), but those moves don't all feel especially prudent.
For example, the Friday night multicamera comedy block has been attempted by Fox before, and it hasn't worked out. Back in 2009, they had 'Til Death and Brothers airing together Fridays at 8:00; both were canceled by the end of the season. I understand the network's likely reasoning, since they're banking hard on this silly Last Man Standing revival (which, by the way, is ridiculous in and of itself; it's been gone for two years, and it's not like ABC canceled a highly-rated cash cow... it was a moderately successful, aging sitcom that couldn't justify its own price tag anymore) and that's where it aired for six seasons on ABC. But I just don't see it being a runaway success the way Roseanne has been, which was clearly the inspiration behind picking up Last Man Standing. But then again, maybe Tim Allen can rally his red state supporters and turn it into a hit. Cool... there's one night fixed.
But Fox isn't going to rise up from the ashes of its scripted programming with one sitcom success (and maybe a second, if Last Man Standing takes off and brings The Cool Kids with it) and a few weeks of football games. The Sunday night animated lineup is floundering, with anchor Family Guy regularly rating below 1.0 in the coveted 18-49 demo; Tuesdays will need to be rebuilt, and not with a controversial third season of a mediocre ratings player like Lethal Weapon and a middling success like The Gifted. Wednesdays are nowhere near their former glory, with Empire barely winning its timeslot lately. Fox needs to do something. I don't know what that something is, but it's not this.
Click after the jump for descriptions of the new series.
Comedy
The Cool Kids - From executive producer Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and starring Tony Award nominee David Alan Grier (The Carmichael Show, In Living Color), Emmy Award nominee Martin Mull (Veep, Roseanne), Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan (Will and Grace, American Horror Story) and Emmy Award winner Vicki Lawrence (Mama’s Family, The Carol Burnett Show), The Cool Kids is a multi-camera comedy about a rag-tag group of friends living in a retirement community who are willing to break every rule in order to have fun – because, at their age, what do they really have to lose. Hank (Grier) is the leader of this motley crew, a gruff, opinionated, 21st century Archie Bunker who will go to any lengths to have a good time. His loyal, but less than helpful, friends include Charlie (Mull), a bumbling storyteller who constantly goes off on tangents about some bizarre, barely believable episode from his life; and Sid (Jordan), a naysaying, pill-popping hypochondriac who shoots down every scheme, but still gets roped in. Complicating matters is Margaret (Lawrence), a brash, confident woman who forces her way into their group and refuses to leave because she’s not going to take crap from anyone – especially not these three. But what unites them all is their shared belief that they’re not done yet – not by a long shot. Growing old with dignity is for chumps. Our self-proclaimed “cool kids” are determined to make the third act of the lives the craziest one yet.
Last Man Standing - Multi-cam comedy Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen, comes to Fox. A fan-favorite for six seasons, Last Man Standing stars Allen as Mike Baxter, a married father of three girls, who tries to maintain his manliness in a world increasingly dominated by women. Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, the series also stars Nancy Travis, Jonathan Adams, Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders and Jordan Masterson. Last Man Standing averaged 8.3 million viewers in Live + 7 ratings for the 2016-2017 season on ABC. It was the network’s second most-watched comedy, after Modern Family. Among the key Adults 18-49 demographic, the series averaged a 1.7/7. The series ranked as the No. 1 new program across all syndication when it debuted off-net during the 2016-2017 season.
Rel - Based on the life of Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Insecure, The Carmichael Show), Rel is a multi-camera comedy starring Howery as a loving husband and father living on the West Side of Chicago, who finds out his wife is having an affair. And not just any affair. An affair with Rel’s own barber. Quite easily the worst person for your wife to sleep with, because as hard it is to find a good spouse, it’s even harder to find a reliable barber. Plus, with the barbershop being one of the epicenters of neighborhood gossip, Rel finds his embarrassing business is known by everyone, including the Pastor (also played by Howery), before Rel can even process the emotions himself. Offering Rel support – that is, when they themselves aren’t butting heads – are Rel’s tough-talking, no-B.S. best friend, Brittany (Jess “Hilarious” Moore, Wild ’N Out), and his recently out-of-jail younger brother, Nat (Jordan L. Jones, NCIS: Los Angeles, Wisdom of the Crowd), as well as Rel’s prideful Dad (Sinbad, A Different World, The Sinbad Show, Jingle All The Way), who perhaps has taken the barber news even harder than Rel. After his beloved kids move to Cleveland with their mom, Rel must begin the difficult task of rebuilding his life as a long-distance dad. He also jumps back into the dating pool – and often finds himself the victim of his own well-intentioned hubris. But, ever the optimist, he continues his search for love, respect…and a new barber.
Drama
The Passage - Based on author Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name, The Passage is an epic, character-driven thriller written by Liz Heldens (Friday Night Lights). Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Ridley Scott (The Martian, Gladiator) and writer/director Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield), The Passage focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race. When a young girl, Amy Bellafonte (Saniyya Sidney, Fences, Hidden Figures) is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent Brad Wolgast (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Pitch) is the man who is tasked with bringing her to Project Noah. Ultimately, however, Wolgast becomes her surrogate father, as he tries to protect her at any cost. Brad and Amy’s journey will force them to confront Project Noah’s lead scientist, Major Nichole Sykes (Caroline Chikezie, The Shannara Chronicles), and the hardened ex-CIA operative in charge of operations, Clark Richards (Vincent Piazza, Boardwalk Empire, Rescue Me), whom Brad trained. It likewise brings them face-to-face with a dangerous new race of beings confined within the walls of Project Noah, including former scientist Tim Fanning (Jamie McShane, Bosch, Bloodline, Sons of Anarchy) and death-row inmate Shauna Babcock (Brianne Howey, The Exorcist). In seeking out any allies he can find, Brad also turns to his former wife, Dr. Lila Kyle (Emmanuelle Chriqui, Entourage, Murder in the First), for help. But as Project Noah’s scientists hone in on a cure that could save humanity, these new beings begin to test their own powers, inching one step closer to an escape that could lead to an unimaginable apocalypse.
Proven Innocent - Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Danny Strong (Empire) partners with David Elliot (Four Brothers) to tell the emotional story of one woman’s fight for the innocence of others, as well as her own. Proven Innocent follows an underdog criminal defense firm led by Madeline Scott (Rachelle Lefevre, Under the Dome, A Gifted Man), a fierce and uncompromising lawyer with a hunger for justice. There is no one who understands the power of setting an innocent person free more than Madeline. At age 18, she was wrongfully convicted, along with her brother, Levi (Riley Smith, Frequency), in a sensational murder case that made her an infamous media obsession, a household name and a national cause célèbre. Madeline runs the firm with her partner, Easy Boudreau (Russell Hornsby, Seven Seconds, Grimm), the very lawyer who helped set her free after seven years in prison. Their team also includes investigator Bodie Quick (Vincent Kartheiser, Mad Men) and communications director Violet Bell (Tony Award winner Nikki M. James, BrainDead, The Good Wife, The Book of Mormon), who runs a true-crime podcast that follows each investigation. While a hero and a victim to some, Madeline’s bold and bullish tactics earn her a number of enemies – especially Gore Bellows (Brian d’Arcy James, 13 Reasons Why, Spotlight), the prosecutor who initially put her away and still believes in her guilt. Despite Bellows’ ceaseless quest to see her behind bars again, Madeline will continue to defend others, even as she fights to maintain her innocence and searches for the real killer in her own case.
8:00 - The Resident (New Timeslot)
9:00 - 9-1-1 (New Timeslot)
9-1-1 was a legitimate hit at midseason, and rather than try something new in the fall, Fox is moving it to one of the week's more unstable nights. It should pair thematically well with The Resident.
Tuesday
8:00 - The Gifted (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Lethal Weapon (New Timeslot)
Following the controversial firing of its co-lead Clayne Crawford, Lethal Weapon eked out a last-minute renewal after Seann William Scott (American Pie) was hired to replace him. It shifts back an hour and is paired with The Gifted, which was not the big hit Fox likely expected and needed it to be.
Wednesday
8:00 - Empire
9:00 - Star
No changes to Wednesdays.
Thursday
Thursday Night Football
This is a big swing for Fox. Thursday Night Football is the lowest-rated of the three NFL evening programs, partially because the match-ups aren't great and partially because the rights aren't exclusive, but it's still guaranteed to do better than any other programming Fox could put here.
Friday
8:00 - Last Man Standing (NEW)
8:30 - The Cool Kids (NEW)
9:00 - Hell's Kitchen (New Timeslot)
The pandering revival of Last Man Standing is paired with a new Golden Girls-esque retirement home comedy The Cool Kids. Hell's Kitchen shifts back an hour.
Sunday
8:00 - The Simpsons
8:30 - Bob's Burgers (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Family Guy
9:30 - Rel (NEW)
With the cancellation of The Last Man on Earth, the 9:30 slot seemed finally open to Bob's Burgers, where it has occasionally aired and done well over the years... but the slot goes to newbie Rel, with Bob moving from 7:30 to 8:30.
Midseason
The Orville will return to Thursdays in January after the end of football, beginning with a premiere on December 30. The final season of Gotham will return at midseason, alongside new dramas The Passage and Proven Innocent and a second season of the science docuseries Cosmos.
Also on tap in January, Fox will present its long-delayed live production of Rent on January 27.
Well, this schedule is... stupid, is the only word that comes to mind. Is Fox broke? Or just dumb? They ordered only a handful of pilots this year, and then only four went to series (two drama and two comedy); and now they haven't a put any new dramas on the air in the fall. I suppose this is the network putting all their eggs in the NFL basket, but this schedule is just unsightly. There are moves on every night but Wednesday, some of them silly (why push Lethal Weapon back on hour when you're already moving The Gifted from Monday to Tuesday?), but those moves don't all feel especially prudent.
For example, the Friday night multicamera comedy block has been attempted by Fox before, and it hasn't worked out. Back in 2009, they had 'Til Death and Brothers airing together Fridays at 8:00; both were canceled by the end of the season. I understand the network's likely reasoning, since they're banking hard on this silly Last Man Standing revival (which, by the way, is ridiculous in and of itself; it's been gone for two years, and it's not like ABC canceled a highly-rated cash cow... it was a moderately successful, aging sitcom that couldn't justify its own price tag anymore) and that's where it aired for six seasons on ABC. But I just don't see it being a runaway success the way Roseanne has been, which was clearly the inspiration behind picking up Last Man Standing. But then again, maybe Tim Allen can rally his red state supporters and turn it into a hit. Cool... there's one night fixed.
But Fox isn't going to rise up from the ashes of its scripted programming with one sitcom success (and maybe a second, if Last Man Standing takes off and brings The Cool Kids with it) and a few weeks of football games. The Sunday night animated lineup is floundering, with anchor Family Guy regularly rating below 1.0 in the coveted 18-49 demo; Tuesdays will need to be rebuilt, and not with a controversial third season of a mediocre ratings player like Lethal Weapon and a middling success like The Gifted. Wednesdays are nowhere near their former glory, with Empire barely winning its timeslot lately. Fox needs to do something. I don't know what that something is, but it's not this.
Click after the jump for descriptions of the new series.
Comedy
The Cool Kids - From executive producer Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and starring Tony Award nominee David Alan Grier (The Carmichael Show, In Living Color), Emmy Award nominee Martin Mull (Veep, Roseanne), Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan (Will and Grace, American Horror Story) and Emmy Award winner Vicki Lawrence (Mama’s Family, The Carol Burnett Show), The Cool Kids is a multi-camera comedy about a rag-tag group of friends living in a retirement community who are willing to break every rule in order to have fun – because, at their age, what do they really have to lose. Hank (Grier) is the leader of this motley crew, a gruff, opinionated, 21st century Archie Bunker who will go to any lengths to have a good time. His loyal, but less than helpful, friends include Charlie (Mull), a bumbling storyteller who constantly goes off on tangents about some bizarre, barely believable episode from his life; and Sid (Jordan), a naysaying, pill-popping hypochondriac who shoots down every scheme, but still gets roped in. Complicating matters is Margaret (Lawrence), a brash, confident woman who forces her way into their group and refuses to leave because she’s not going to take crap from anyone – especially not these three. But what unites them all is their shared belief that they’re not done yet – not by a long shot. Growing old with dignity is for chumps. Our self-proclaimed “cool kids” are determined to make the third act of the lives the craziest one yet.
Last Man Standing - Multi-cam comedy Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen, comes to Fox. A fan-favorite for six seasons, Last Man Standing stars Allen as Mike Baxter, a married father of three girls, who tries to maintain his manliness in a world increasingly dominated by women. Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, the series also stars Nancy Travis, Jonathan Adams, Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders and Jordan Masterson. Last Man Standing averaged 8.3 million viewers in Live + 7 ratings for the 2016-2017 season on ABC. It was the network’s second most-watched comedy, after Modern Family. Among the key Adults 18-49 demographic, the series averaged a 1.7/7. The series ranked as the No. 1 new program across all syndication when it debuted off-net during the 2016-2017 season.
Rel - Based on the life of Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Insecure, The Carmichael Show), Rel is a multi-camera comedy starring Howery as a loving husband and father living on the West Side of Chicago, who finds out his wife is having an affair. And not just any affair. An affair with Rel’s own barber. Quite easily the worst person for your wife to sleep with, because as hard it is to find a good spouse, it’s even harder to find a reliable barber. Plus, with the barbershop being one of the epicenters of neighborhood gossip, Rel finds his embarrassing business is known by everyone, including the Pastor (also played by Howery), before Rel can even process the emotions himself. Offering Rel support – that is, when they themselves aren’t butting heads – are Rel’s tough-talking, no-B.S. best friend, Brittany (Jess “Hilarious” Moore, Wild ’N Out), and his recently out-of-jail younger brother, Nat (Jordan L. Jones, NCIS: Los Angeles, Wisdom of the Crowd), as well as Rel’s prideful Dad (Sinbad, A Different World, The Sinbad Show, Jingle All The Way), who perhaps has taken the barber news even harder than Rel. After his beloved kids move to Cleveland with their mom, Rel must begin the difficult task of rebuilding his life as a long-distance dad. He also jumps back into the dating pool – and often finds himself the victim of his own well-intentioned hubris. But, ever the optimist, he continues his search for love, respect…and a new barber.
Drama
The Passage - Based on author Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name, The Passage is an epic, character-driven thriller written by Liz Heldens (Friday Night Lights). Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Ridley Scott (The Martian, Gladiator) and writer/director Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield), The Passage focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race. When a young girl, Amy Bellafonte (Saniyya Sidney, Fences, Hidden Figures) is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent Brad Wolgast (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Pitch) is the man who is tasked with bringing her to Project Noah. Ultimately, however, Wolgast becomes her surrogate father, as he tries to protect her at any cost. Brad and Amy’s journey will force them to confront Project Noah’s lead scientist, Major Nichole Sykes (Caroline Chikezie, The Shannara Chronicles), and the hardened ex-CIA operative in charge of operations, Clark Richards (Vincent Piazza, Boardwalk Empire, Rescue Me), whom Brad trained. It likewise brings them face-to-face with a dangerous new race of beings confined within the walls of Project Noah, including former scientist Tim Fanning (Jamie McShane, Bosch, Bloodline, Sons of Anarchy) and death-row inmate Shauna Babcock (Brianne Howey, The Exorcist). In seeking out any allies he can find, Brad also turns to his former wife, Dr. Lila Kyle (Emmanuelle Chriqui, Entourage, Murder in the First), for help. But as Project Noah’s scientists hone in on a cure that could save humanity, these new beings begin to test their own powers, inching one step closer to an escape that could lead to an unimaginable apocalypse.
Proven Innocent - Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Danny Strong (Empire) partners with David Elliot (Four Brothers) to tell the emotional story of one woman’s fight for the innocence of others, as well as her own. Proven Innocent follows an underdog criminal defense firm led by Madeline Scott (Rachelle Lefevre, Under the Dome, A Gifted Man), a fierce and uncompromising lawyer with a hunger for justice. There is no one who understands the power of setting an innocent person free more than Madeline. At age 18, she was wrongfully convicted, along with her brother, Levi (Riley Smith, Frequency), in a sensational murder case that made her an infamous media obsession, a household name and a national cause célèbre. Madeline runs the firm with her partner, Easy Boudreau (Russell Hornsby, Seven Seconds, Grimm), the very lawyer who helped set her free after seven years in prison. Their team also includes investigator Bodie Quick (Vincent Kartheiser, Mad Men) and communications director Violet Bell (Tony Award winner Nikki M. James, BrainDead, The Good Wife, The Book of Mormon), who runs a true-crime podcast that follows each investigation. While a hero and a victim to some, Madeline’s bold and bullish tactics earn her a number of enemies – especially Gore Bellows (Brian d’Arcy James, 13 Reasons Why, Spotlight), the prosecutor who initially put her away and still believes in her guilt. Despite Bellows’ ceaseless quest to see her behind bars again, Madeline will continue to defend others, even as she fights to maintain her innocence and searches for the real killer in her own case.
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