Tuesday, May 08, 2012
SitcomsOnline.com 2012-13 Upfront Preview: Fox; TV Land Celebrates Mother's Day with Raymond, Happily Divorced
Our upfront preview week continues! Today we take a look at Fox, who will present its schedule on Monday. Fox is coming off a decent season as X Factor did decent (but not huge) last fall and Fox also found a comedy hit in New Girl. And American Idol is still is the number one show on TV even with massive drops, but they still will need some more dramas to hit, especially in the fall without House and no real drama hits as Glee is declining and Bones is aging.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com Fox 2012-13 preview:
New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
Already Renewed Returning Series: The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad!, Bones, Glee, Raising Hope, Fringe, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, The X Factor, New Girl, Cops.
Likely Returning Series: American Idol & Touch.
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: House, Terra Nova, Allen Gregory, Napoleon Dynamite, Alcatraz, The Finder, Breaking In, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Mobbed & Q'Viva.
Likely Additional New Series Pick-Ups (our picks): Untitled Mindy Kaling Project (comedy for fall), Mastermind (drama for fall), Untitled Berman & Wright Project (drama for fall), Little Brother (comedy for fall), and Rebounding (comedy for mid-season).
OUR FALL 2012 PREDICTION:
Mondays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Untitled Berman & Wright Project (NEW!)
Tuesdays
8:00PM Glee
9:00PM New Girl
9:30PM Untitled Mindy Kaling Project (NEW!)
Wednesdays
8:00PM The X-Factor
9:30PM Little Brother (NEW!)
Thursdays
8:00PM The X-Factor Results
9:00PM Mastermind (NEW!)
Fridays
8:00PM Kitchen Nightmares
9:00PM Fringe
Saturdays
8:00PM College Football on Fox
Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun / Animated Encores
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM The Cleveland Show
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad!
Comments: Fox will try to turn The X-Factor into a big hit in season two with new judges, but does anyone care at this point? The series is likely to return to its Wednesdays from 8-10pm (later 8-9:30pm) and Thursdays 8-9pm timeslots. Once again the plan will probably be to reduce the performance show to 90-minutes by mid-October or so, so perhaps a comedy will air at 9:30pm--and a better one like John Stamos' Little Brother and not something bad like this past season's I Hate My Teenage Daughter. That's one comedy pick-up that was a big head scratcher. Anyway on to the fall schedule picks, House is gone and Bones will likely remain on Mondays leading it off. They should use the 9pm slot to try and launch a new drama like the Untitled Berman & Wright Project about a mob doctor. I don't think they should go with a more male oriented drama like Mastermind in this slot, as Terra Nova and Alcatraz fizzled, plus ESPN has Monday Night Football in the fall. Moving on to Tuesdays, I think Glee will remain in the slot leading into a comedy hour. Raising Hope will be back, but perhaps in mid-season so it can make room for a new comedy, almost all but certain to be the Untitled Mindy Kaling Project right after New Girl at 9. On paper it sounds like a perfect match. On Wednesdays, as mentioned The X-Factor will likely air 8-10pm then eventually be reduced to 8-9:30pm into a new comedy, perhaps the John Stamos series Little Brother. That seems like a good fit and the woman will go wild for John. On Thursdays, X-Factor will likely be at 8pm, perhaps leading into a new drama like Mastermind from Kevin Williamson. I think Touch, should it return, will be mid-season. Fridays will likely remain the same as it is now, with Kitchen Nightmares at 8 leading into the final 13-episode season of Fringe. It will be interesting what airs at 9pm in mid-season. Saturdays will now be sports in the fall, with College Football most weeks. This means Cops is on hiatus until mid-season. And on Sundays, animation domination will continue of course with a mix of the 5 series they have already, but likely one will be benched to January because of NFL overruns and it should be Bob's Burgers again. As Cleveland Show does better at 8:30pm. Every other timeslot should remain intact. Fox is working on a Saturday late night animated block to start in January, so stay tuned for news on that. No more encores on Saturday nights!
So, Fox hopes The X-Factor turns into a big hit this fall in its second season to try and make Fox bigger in the fall. Look for Fox to try and get a second comedy hit out of New Girl and to try and find a new drama hit as none of this past season's dramas did that well. Only Touch has a chance of returning, as The Finder and Alcatraz do not deserve to return. And finally, Fox could also use In Living Color specials in December or sweeps. Perhaps that will be a good Friday option once Fringe concludes? The question for Fox will be if The X Factor can grow in season 2. If it does, it will be a good launching pad for at least two new series.
Remember, Monday (May 14) is the actual date when we will find out Fox's plans for the 2012-13 season. So, come on back next Monday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for the official fall line-ups for all the networks.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!
Stay tuned tomorrow for our prediction for ABC!
TV Land will air a special Mother's Day-themed episode of Happily Divorced, starring Fran Drescher and guest-starring Rosie O'Donnell, on Wednesday (May 9) at 10:30pm ET/PT. The episode will revolve around Fran (Drescher) looking to spend quality time with her mother, Dori (Rita Moreno), after Fran forgets to make reservations for Mother's Day at Dori's favorite restaurant. Rosie O'Donnell will play Katie, a friend from Fran's past who, more than anything, wishes to have her mother back so she can celebrate the special day with her. Both Drescher and O'Donnell have been very public about their relationships with their moms and how they have influenced who they are today, making this episode particularly meaningful. The series, filmed in front of a live audience, was recently picked up for 12 additional episodes for its second season, set to air later this year.
TV Land will also air its annual Mother's Day marathon, and this year it stars everyone's favorite meddling mom, Marie Barone! With Marie (Doris Roberts) being the loving but overbearing mother that she is, there's no better way to commemorate the day than with back to back episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, airing Sunday, May 13 from 9pm to 11:30pm ET/PT.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, April 7
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)
Monday, April 7
- Eric André (Man Seeking Woman/2 Broke Girls/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Watch Eric on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Marsai Martin (black-ish) - Marsai is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Keegan-Michael makes a special appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish/Girlfriends) - Tracee appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about Black Mirror on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Karan Soni (Miracle Workers/Blunt Talk) and Kate Micucci (Raising Hope/Scrubs) - Karan and Kate are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - E! News has an interview with Michael at 11pm on E!. He also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) - NBC's Today catches up with Chase in the 9am hour.
- Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Bowen co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - NBC's Today catches up with Kean in the 10am hour.
- Rashida Jones (Sunny/BlackAF/Duncanville/Angie Tribeca/Unhitched/The Office) - Rashida talks about Black Mirror on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Susan Kelechi Watson (Louie) - Susan talks about Netflix's The Residence on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is playing a round of Behind-the-Scenes and dishing on some of his biggest projects on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) - Tichina is telling Drew about being single and using dating apps, her daughter turning 21, and filming the last season of The Neighborhood on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Max Greenfield (The Neighborhood/New Girl) - Max and Tess Sanchez are telling Drew all about how they make their marriage work in an all new Drew Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael discusses his Still Ugly podcast on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Randall Park (Young Rock/Blockbuster/Fresh Off the Boat/Veep/Supah Ninjas) - Randall talks about Netflix's The Residence on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
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