2013 Upfront Answers, Fox

Last week, I asked "Upfront Questions" to preview each network's fall 2013 schedule. With the schedule now official, here are the "Upfront Answers"!

Fox's upfront previews: True Power Rankings | Upfront Questions

Other Upfront Answers: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW

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MONDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8:00-9:00 PM Bones (fall) / ALMOST HUMAN (new; late fall)
9:00-10:00 PM SLEEPY HOLLOW (new; fall) / The Following (midseason)

My Question: Will Fox try harder to transcend the "filler while we wait for The Following" perception?

While it certainly seems like Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow are more promotable deals than The Mob Doctor, they're not so much transcending it with quality as with quantity. The sheer volume of new shows ordered by Fox ensures that they won't have to put up with Mob Doc-type ratings in the fall; if Sleepy Hollow is a disaster, they can always transition to a Bones / Almost Human lineup. I'm sure that's on their radar.

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TUESDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8:00-8:30 PM DADS (new)
8:30-9:00 PM BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (new)
9:00-9:30 PM New Girl
9:30-10:00 PM The Mindy Project

My Question: What's the solution to keep New Girl afloat?

As most of the commenters suspected (though I wasn't so sure), it is indeed another comedy block, but this one is definitely a bit more "splashy" than the Raising Hope / Ben and Kate combo of a year ago; Brooklyn Nine-Nine has a big-time cast and seems to be well-regarded, and Dads is of course part of the Seth MacFarlane empire. I'm definitely not as underwhelmed by this combo as I was by last year's 8:00 hour. But it's still new shows, so it's still a big question mark.

In addition to potential better support in the 8:00 hour, there's also this: New Girl goes after the Super Bowl! (It's joined by an as yet unspecified new comedy.) It felt like Fox may have been setting up a season two launch of The Following or another American Idol reboot for the nod, but this will be yet another attempt to give the live-action comedy push a shot in the arm. I think I like the move, since The Following will probably be fine and it's more difficult getting into the comedy game.

Finally, The Mindy Project stays at 9:30 in a decision that I'm sure will cause some controversy. I didn't have much of an opinion on this one, because Mindy is pretty weak but also a very good fit and a big 18-34 draw. A Friday move clearly would've killed it, and I had real doubts Fox would renew this just to bury it there. Unless there was another perfect-on-paper fit in development, I didn't have a big problem with this.

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WEDNESDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8:00 - The X Factor / American Idol

My Question: To what extent will Fox acknowledge that its singing empire is crumbling?

To no real extent at all. I'm not a fan of Fox standing pat here for another year, but for now, both of these shows are still skedded for three hours on Wednesday/Thursday, while there's a lot of timeslot-sharing going on to squeeze all the new stuff into Monday, Tuesday and Friday. (And even then, there are still several shows unscheduled.) I'd say this might change at midseason, but given the subject matter of the new shows and the fact that the stronger Idol airs at midseason, it seems unlikely.

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THURSDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8:00-9:00 PM THE X FACTOR Results (fall) / AMERICAN IDOL Results (midseason)
9:00-10:00 PM Glee (fall) / RAKE (new; midseason)

My Question: Are the singing lead-ins still compelling launch-pads for new shows?

Not really, as Wednesday remains two hours and Glee stays in the post-X slot in the fall. If they had to "launch" something, it was smarter to wait for midseason and the bigger American Idol ratings. Glee and Rake are lighter dramas in what could be a very comedy-happy timeslot; expect the Glee deterioration to continue, and... well, we'll see about Rake, but I think it could be a decent counter-programming option here.

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FRIDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8:00-9:00 PM JUNIOR MASTERCHEF (wt) (new; fall)
9:00-10:00 PM SLEEPY HOLLOW encores (fall)

Late Fall:
8:00-9:00 PM BONES (late fall)
9:00-9:30 PM RAISING HOPE (late fall)
9:30-10:00 PM ENLISTED (new; late fall) 

My Question: Does Fox make any real scripted effort on a post-Fringe Friday?

They're promising to make a pretty substantial effort, but not until the "late fall." Anyone who's done this for any length of time knows that Fox has threatened to make the Bones Friday move on many occasions before taking it back. Once again, they've left themselves some time (till "late fall") to audible out of it. Is this one more likely to stick? That's pretty much all up to Sleepy Hollow. That said, unless the Tuesday 8:00 hour goes to sub-Mob Doc levels, I do think the Raising Hope and Enlisted lineup will stick on the night, as I've felt Raising Hope was a very good fit for Friday. We may very well end up with Kitchen Nightmares / Raising Hope / Enlisted, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
 

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SUNDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
7:00-7:30 PM NFL Game (fall)
7:30-8:00 PM THE OT (fall)
8:00-8:30 PM The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 PM Bob's Burgers
9:00-9:30 PM Family Guy
9:30-10:00 PM American Dad!

My Question: Will Fox return to an integration of live-action and animation on Sunday?

No, not yet anyway. There are still a couple unscheduled live-action comedies, so it can't be ruled out, but it seems more likely that most of the midseason shake-up on this night will revolve around the launch of animated newbie Murder Police. (Hey, I had to come up with some question for Sunday!)

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GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

My big comment in this space in 2012 was: "My real problem with Fox is that I think they should've ordered more new shows." The good news: they certainly don't have that problem this year! The problem manifested immediately in fall 2012 as Fox really had no clear alternative to the horrifying The Mob Doctor ratings, and a show like Ben and Kate actually made it to 2013. Even beyond all the timeslot-sharing, Fox still has another two dramas and two more comedies that haven't shown up yet, so their flexibility will be much greater. That's good.

From a scheduling standpoint, there was one big thing I wanted them to do: start trimming back on the singing show real estate. And they didn't do it. That's disappointing, and with the weaker property in the fall, it means there's very little chance they will audible into it in the winter/spring. There's real potential for The X Factor to basically die out next year, so Fox is setting themselves up to have some pretty massive schedule holes. However, it's worth noting that the more "old school Fox," male-leaning direction of the new shows doesn't really match up with the singing stuff. Basically they're riding out the "new Fox" brand on Wednesday and Thursday and trying to establish the other stuff elsewhere.