Coming in June, Fox affiliates will come together in Las Vegas for the Fox Promotions Executive Conference (FPEC). These F-Peckers, as they call themselves, will unveil the networks promotional plan for the coming season. It may be a hard sell, as the network that once billed itself as; "So Hip, So Cool, So Fox" is looking "So CBS."
Changes to the lineup
The first big move announced by the network, as reported in Variety, was to cancel "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Last Man on Earth," and "The Mick," three shows that were "So Fox." When it comes to selling the syndication of re-runs, half-hour comedies need a minimum of 100 episodes.
Luckily for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," they ended the season at the 112-mark. Sadly for "Last Man on Earth," they are still two full seasons away from that magic number. As for "The Mick," they weren't even halfway there.
Just days after "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" got the ax, the L.A. Times reported that NBC had stepped in with an offer to bring the show back for another season. This is great news for the actors who have syndication money coming their way because more episodes mean more back-end money. On the other hand, NBC's deal will likely come with some budget cuts, so some cast members without syndication money might pass on the offer of lower salaries.
Shortly after Fox executives decided to cut the networks under-performing comedies, they announced the signing of ABC's under-performing comedy "Last Man Standing.
" How much confidence does Fox really have in this Tim Allen sitcom? The answer can be deduced from the shows low priority time period. According to a story in deadline, "LMS" is going to run on Friday nights. As they say in television, Friday night is where good shows go to die. Just like "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," we can expect a few cast members to head for the exits.
Fox fall, looking older
Traditionally, Fox targets relatively young audiences, with "The Cool Kids" they're chasing the Geritol generation. Entertainment Weekly reports the project, set in a retirement community, will star comedy veterans Vicki Lawrence, David Alan Grier, Leslie Jordan, and Martin Mull. "Proven Innocent," a procedural legal drama, is scheduled for a mid-season launch according to Entertainment Weekly.
In TV terminology, mid-season means not good enough to make the fall schedule. The show is based on the Innocence Project, so it may find an audience with prison inmates as long as their being detained in a facility that lacks basic cable.
"Rel" takes the network back to its original formula. Other than "The Simpsons," the early stars on Fox were black comedies. I don't mean darkly funny shows, I mean shows with predominately black cast members. Entertainment Weekly reports "Rel" will join the Fox Sunday night line up. The cast is lead by Milton “Lil Rel” Howery with Sinbad, Jordan L. Jones, and Jessica “Jess Hilarious” Moore.
You may want to binge-watch the DC comic saga on Netflix this summer. Fox has also announced that its Batman prequel "Gotham" is heading into its final season.