Upfronts Week: FOX

 


One of the many things lost last year was an annual event I always enjoy, Upfronts Week, a time when the Networks unveil their Fall schedules. This Upfronts week doesn't look exactly like it has in year's past, but the schedules are still rolling out, and I'll be here to look at them. For each network I'll be looking at the Best Scheduling Move, Most Curious Scheduling Move, Most Promising New Show and Least Promising New Show.

FOX:

Best Scheduling Move:
In 2019, FOX introduced 911: Lone Star as a means of keeping the popular franchise on the air each week during the broadcast season. Due to the pandemic delay, both 911 and Lone Star aired as a block on Monday nights this winter. In 2021-2022, FOX is going back to the original plan. That keeps a 911 series on the air each week, likely as a Monday anchor. I think it's a wise move that gives the network its best flexibility.

Most Curious Scheduling Move:
I'll be honest, there isn't really anything here I find strange or curious. FOX has a pretty stable and slim schedule. Thursday nights in the Fall are given over to the NFL, and Friday nights are the WWE now. Wednesdays is a reality series block and Sundays are animation domination after football. The network is then using its returning series, 911 on Mondays and The Resident on Tuesdays, as an anchor to launch its new shows. It all makes sense.

Most Promising New Show:
There are only two new scripted shows on FOX in the Fall, so that makes this section and the  next both straightforward and tricky. Of the two new series, I think The Big Leap is the most promising. First, it has 911 as a lead-in. Second, it seems like the most interesting of the new Fall shows, focusing on a group of folks looking for a second chance who get it by being cast in a dancing reality show that culminates in a performance of Swan Lake. This one comes from a good producing team and has a cast that includes Scott Foley, Teri Polo and Piper Perabo.

Least Promising New Show:
The other new show is Our Kind of People, based on the novel from Lawrence Otis Graham called Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class. This is the only scripted series from FOX not to get a trailer during yesterday's presentation (and that includes mid-season shows), which was sort of a red flag. It could work, and has The Resident as a lead-in, but it also sounds a bit like every other Prime Time soap we've gotten the past decade.

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