The Question, Monday 9/16/13: Will Sleepy Hollow Get Off to a Sleepy Start?

The 2013-14 season in broadcast scripted programming is finally upon us with Fox's premieres of old, reliable Bones and new, cuckoo-bananas Sleepy Hollow. With multiple midseason Fox dramas in the pipeline and tight real estate, these two shows may well end up in a head-to-head duel for a weeknight timeslot. One would think Sleepy Hollow winning that duel means it has to get off to a better start than its lead-in tonight, because it needs to be able to withstand some of the typical post-premiere slippage. I have to say that the reviews are a lot better than I was expecting based on the initial impressions at upfronts. Will Sleepy Hollow get off to a sleepy start? That's The Question for Monday, September 16, 2013.

Recent Fox Drama Premieres

3.1 (Terra Nova, 9/26/11) 1.7 (The Finder, 1/12/12, 2.5 Bones) 3.3 (Alcatraz, 1/16/12) 3.9 (Touch, 1/25/12, 7.1 American Idol) 1.5 (The Mob Doctor, 9/17/12, 2.4 Bones) 3.2 (The Following, 1/21/13, 2.5 Bones)

The recent drama premiere history on Fox suggests there's not much room for a middling premiere; everything's either above 3.0 or well below 2.0. But I'm saying this goes somewhere in the 2's nonetheless. I'd be surprised if this concept has anywhere near as little opening appeal as The Mob Doctor, and I'd be surprised if it can get up to the Terra Nova/Alcatraz/Following low-3's level as well. So I'm probably gonna be surprised. I just don't know in which direction.

Over/Under: 2.45.

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