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Monday
Fall 2016 Schedule (Also Spring 2017)
8 pm Gotham
9 pm Lucifer
Winter 2017 Schedule
8 pm 24: LEGACY
9 pm APB
Spot's Question: Has Lucifer done enough to return to Monday 9/8c in the fall?
Yep! Keeping this gang together seemed like a good idea in theory, because the theory was that they'd be making big moves elsewhere. It seems a little less exciting in light of the relatively bland lineups on other nights, but it's fine.
We will see 24: Legacy launched after the Super Bowl. It's easy to see why: the placement of another iconic Fox brand, The X-Files, after the NFC Championship Game turned out to be one of the master-strokes of the season. Getting even a result along those lines would be massive for the network.
Tuesday
Fall 2016 Schedule
8 pm Brooklyn Nine-Nine
8:30pmNew Girl
9 pm Scream Queens
Winter 2017 Schedule
8 pm New Girl
8:30pm THE MICK
9 pm KICKING & SCREAMING
Spring 2017 Schedule
8 pm Brooklyn Nine-Nine
8:30pm THE MICK
9 pm PITCH
Spot's Question: Which Tuesday comedies make the fall schedule?
Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl are back along with the weak sophomore Scream Queens in a bonafide surrender night. And as I said last week, Fox had to have at least one night like this, and I actually think it's a pretty good idea to do it on Tuesday; there are so many interruptions for debates, elections and World Series in the fall. However, Pitch being held to the spring and thrown on this night does not seem like a vote of confidence in what seemed to be a hot Fox drama pilot.
Wednesday
Fall 2016 Schedule
8 pm LETHAL WEAPON
9 pm Empire
Winter 2017 Schedule
8 pm Lethal Weapon
9 pm STAR
Spring 2017 Schedule
8 pm SHOTS FIRED
9 pm Empire
Spot's Question: In which hour will Empire air?
Look, it's dangerous to get into the game of judging new show selections when the networks have seen them and tested them and I haven't. It's why I didn't kill NBC initially for putting Heartbeat on Tuesday. But to say the least, Lethal Weapon is not the show I was expecting to go with Empire. Star and Pitch both seemed like much more logical pairings. Instead, we get what I can only read as a retread of the rather cynical Rosewood pairing from last year: let's put it at 8:00 instead of 9:00 because we don't really trust it, and hope they will be a match because African-American leads!!!
Thursday
Fall 2016 Schedule
8 pm Rosewood
9 pm Bones
Winter 2017 Schedule
8 pm Rosewood
9 pm PRISON BREAK
Spot's Question: What's the new face of Fox Thursday?
It doesn't really look like there is a new face. Fox took the super-safe route on Thursday. Rosewood and Bones should be a compatible pair, no doubt, but compatibly weak. This is disappointing because they already took the super-safe route on another night, and even moreso because this night lacks the debate/baseball interruptions of other nights.
Friday
Fall 2016 Schedule
8 pm Hell's Kitchen
9 pm THE EXORCIST
Winter 2017 Schedule
8 pm MasterChef Junior
9 pm Sleepy Hollow
Spot's Question: How much effort can a depth-starved Fox put forth on Friday?
Well, there is a new drama. And there is, once again, MasterChef Junior apparently on the way at midseason. So after putting forth even less effort than expected during the week, they're admittedly putting more on Friday. Still, why not either use the stronger MasterChef Junior as the fall launch pad? If not that, why not flip the two hours, rather than put the genre dramas in a slot where you know they're facing Grimm and a CBS drama?
Sunday
Fall 2016 Schedule
7 pm NFL
7:30 pm Bob's Burgers
8 pmThe Simpsons
8:30 pmSON OF ZORN
9 pm Family Guy
9:30 pm The Last Man on Earth
Winter 2017 Schedule
7 pm Animation encores
7:30 pm Bob’s Burgers
8 pm The Simpsons
8:30 pm MAKING HISTORY
9 pm Family Guy
9:30 pm The Last Man on Earth
Spot's Question: Will a new comedy come to Sunday in the fall?
Yes! It's the live-action/animated hybrid Son of Zorn, further enhancing the power of Last Man creators Lord and Miller on the network. This was a good decision!
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The one thing you have to say in Fox's defense is that there's not that much they can do. They're gonna have a couple pretty rough nights regardless of how all this stuff is arranged. That being said, I count three concrete ways of making ratings progress, regardless of what the newbies are: 1) use Empire as a lead-in; 2) use the NFL to launch a Sunday newbie; and 3) use MasterChef Junior earlier in the week. They're only doing one of them. That's more than zero, but I would think a network in this state would do at least two. This seems like a super-complacent approach for a network with so little depth.
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