Upfronts Week, FOX

We have reached Upfronts Week, a time when hope springs eternal and networks unveil their fall schedules, including all their new shows. Each day during Upfronts Week I'll be taking a look at the network schedules and pointing out a few things, in addition to give thoughts on some new shows. Today we continue with FOX.

It's fair to say no network coming into Upfronts faced more challenges than FOX. They are in the midst of seeing a lot of their studio and production sold off, which leaves real questions about the future. And they lack a strong ratings presence and network identity. In fact, the most recognizable show for the network, "American Idol," is now airing on ABC. And their big hit from a couple years ago, "Empire," is showing its age. But FOX acquired Thursday Night Football, which not only should give them an overall ratings boost but limits their exposure to low-rated content during the week. Still, it's a brave new world for FOX, which seems to have dumped its entire comedy slate to move in a different, albeit strange, direction.

Best Scheduling Move:
Though it wasn't a great year for FOX, the network did have two new shows in 2017 that made an impact in "911," the emergency responders show from Ryan Murphy, and the unconventional medical drama "The Resident." The network has, wisely, put both shows front-and-center for the fall, launching them together on a medical themed Monday night. This makes quite a bit of sense, and is easily the best of the scheduling moves made as the network shakes up its identity and lineup quite a bit.

Most Curious Scheduling Move:
FOX dropped pretty much all of its comedy slate, and then dropped comedy from the week. Yes, there is an hour on Fridays now with a pair of new (or at least new to the network) shows dropping in front of "Hell's Kitchen." But gone is the Tuesday comedy block that was once a foundtation of the schedule. (In fact, for a while they had a two-hour comedy block on Tuesdays). Instead, they're taking "Lethal Weapon," a steady performer Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and bumping it back an hour and moving "The Gifted" off Mondays to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. I don't think it's wise to move "Lethal Weapon," and I'm curious why these two were paired together now. Overall, it doesn't make a ton of sense to me right now.

Most Promising New Show:
This is grading on a HUGE curve. FOX only has two new shows this fall (I am not counting "Last Man Standing," which is new to FOX but a continuation of a show that ran six seasons on ABC.) So one has to be the Most Promising. Sadly, I'm going with "The Cool Kids." This one is on Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and is paired with "Last Man Standing." The Friday timeslot should create a low ratings bar as a threshold, and this comes from producer Charlie Day. It stars Martin Mull and David Alan Grier, among others, as group of friends living their lives in a retirement community the way they want. There's some potential humor there, and this might pair well with Tim Allen's show. I'm not saying this looks great, but I think it's more promising in concept and placement on the schedule.

Least Promising New Show:
That leaves "Rel" on the other end of the spectrum. This one's about a married father living in Chicago who learns that his wife is having an affair with his barber, throwing his life into crisis. It stars Lil Rel Howery, and is loosely based on his life. There's potential comedy to be mined from that premise, but it sounds a little thin to me. In addition, the show got the 9:30 p.m. time slot on Sundays, going up against Football and following 90 minutes of animated features. That doesn't seem to create the best flow or option to succeed. As we saw with "Ghosted," a somewhat interesting premise buried among the animated shows on Sundays last fall, lineup placement matters. And for a network that seemingly shed its entire comedy brand, this one feels like the biggest stretch in terms of being added to FOX this fall.