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UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
“We have been looking at Thursday for a long time,” Fox’s reality chief Mike Darnell said. “It is a tough nut to crack, and if you want to crack it, you have to make a big move there.” Idol has been the biggest show on television for 8 years, so why make this move now? It was CBS’ surprising decision in May to take another reality juggernaut, Survivor, off Thursdays that set the Idol shift idea in motion, Darnell said. With Idol itself going through a major transition with new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler and without Simon Cowell, Fox brass decided to wait and see how the show’s production was going and, happy with what they’d seen so far, they pulled the trigger on the scheduling change. “It felt like the right time to make the move,” Darnell said. “Now we can own Thursday.”
Seeing the door opening at 8 PM on Thursday with Survivor gone was a major but not the only factor for the Idol move, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said. “At the same time, we’re looking at what’s going on on Tuesday where we are winning the night with Glee, which, after airing after the Super Bowl, will probably end the season as the highest-rated scripted series.” Glee was originally slated to air behind Idol on Wednesdays in midseason. “Glee doesn’t need the protection, and we also have the making of comedy block with Raising Hope taking root on Tuesdays,” Reilly said.
As for the decision to bump Fringe to Fridays where no scripted Fox series has survived in a long time, “Fringe has a very particular, loyal audience,” Reilly said. With the show picking up almost half of its viewership via DVR, he doesn’t expect the sci-fi series to take a big ratings hit in moving to Fridays where it will be paired with solid reality performer Kitchen Nightmares. “If (Fringe) could stay near the current levels, we’ll get a big trade-up on Friday and will solve our problem there.”
As for the show Fringe will be replacing on Friday, The Good Guys, and another low-rated series, freshman comedy Running Wilde, while they have not been officially canceled, Reilly confirmed that the network won’t be giving Wilde a back order or pick up more episodes of Guys.
Asked whether he had any concerns about Idol facing former judge Paula Abdul’s new dancing reality series on CBS for a few weeks in January, Darnell was blunt. “No. We love Paula, but it’s not a concern.”
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Unfortunately, Friday is Fox’s death slot. Many innovative Fox shows have been sent there to die, Fringe being the latest, and perhaps the greatest.
The show is brilliant, and I hope the cast and crew bear up and carry on with their customary grace and talent. This show so deserves a wider audience, but it seems the cultural taste for thoughtful, adventurous science fiction is just not there. Whether it manages to get renewed or not, this show will be remembered for a good while.
The real sadness is how John Noble was passed over for an Emmy nomination last summer. That was the sort of thing that could have made a difference in getting more viewers to notice the show. It just was wrong that he was ignored.
@ Ross
It isn’t just Fox, man. They call it the Friday Night Death Slot for a reason. Hell, cable nets won’t even go near it because there’s no profit margin for their more divided audiences.
USA Network had for the longest time its two most successful shows (Monk, and Psych) on on Friday nights. So your a little off base with your “even cable networks” comment.
It is terrible that John Noble was overlooked. Maybe this season his dual role as “Walternate” will pay off. I also enjoy seeing Blair Brown. even fleetingly, as Nina.
Actually I think Firefly was the best show to be canceled in that slot but there is also John Doe.
So in moving from Thursday’s ridiculously competitive timeslot to Friday’s presumed death slot, Fringe is changing from a small fish in a big pond to possibly the big fish in a puddle. It could work. But if not, I keep wondering what a jewel Fringe could be on FX…
Fringe’s move to Friday scares me to death.
Despite their promises not to screw with it back in September, FOX seems to be doing everything in their power to screw it over as thoroughly as possible.
First, the interruptions this season are absurd. We get 4 episodes, go on hiatus for 3 weeks, get 3 episodes and another week off. What’s next? The whole month of December gone? If Fringe could go a good 6, 7 weeks airing the episodes consequentially, it would be golden. People aren’t tuning in cause they can’t remember for the life of them if it’s even on.
Friday nights seem cursed in the land of television, and Fringe taking the “graveyard shift” is not a good omen. It seems like they’re one step closer to pulling the ax that no one wants to see. Fringe has an extremely loyal, extremely dedicated, extremely passionate and extremely supportive audience. We love that show.
I just hope that FOX knows what its doing and gives Fringe it’s chance to shine. And see the beautiful green light of season 4.
I’m going to miss Good Guys. I’d like to see a cable network pick it up.
Cable nets don’t want a show that can only pull an 0.7 on a network. DirecTV wouldn’t even pick it up at those ratings.
Finally someone at Fox read my emails ‘DROP Running Wilde and The Good Guys!’ Those two shows were like… two fat children running in a marathon to support health eating.
Haha they said the same thing about DOllhouse and Terminator : the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Fringe is moving to Fridays to die.
everyone FREAKS when stuff is moved to Friday. Okay, sure… yes… 99.9% of the time, on Fox, on Friday stuff dies. Friday stuff on all networks doesn’t really work. I seem to recall a little show called CSI starting OUT on Friday night. Could work. They gotta try and they needed to open up another hour. I agree, the numbers probably won’t change much and DVR viewership on that series is high.
Although it was a long time ago, Fox successfully moved X-Files to Friday night and it did well. There is too much competition on Thursday so maybe Fringe will do better. As for Running Wilde, I don’t know why that is still on the air. Unwatchable although I like the cast a great deal.
No you’re wrong. The x-files PREMIERED on friday night and then was moved to Sunday when it became a hit.
The X-Files started on Fridays but wasn’t expected to be the big hit it was. After three decent seasons Fox moved it to Sundays where it became a hit followed by the feature film.
Then basically 70% of Fox’s canceled shows either were scheduled on Friday or moved their to die.
Those who have DVR will be okay but its likely done.
Friday is the graveyard!!!
Good guys is airing their full order of episodes. There’s actually no back order to make. It’s just not getting renewed. A little bit of semantics in the wording, but more accurate.
And we can read through the PR speak on Fringe and pretty much expect that it’s canceled in May. You don’t move it to Friday expecting some miracle turnaround. A reality show might work, but scripted shows go to die on Fox Fridays.
Yeah, it is really strange wording. Unless they had actually considered butting the second season of The Good Guys right up against the first. Maybe they did Fox seemed really high on it back in May.
Good Guys ratings are far too terrible to be renewed. It’s the lowest rated scripted show on the broadcast networks.
Fox doesn’t move shows to Fridays thinking they will do great. They do it to dispose of the episodes.
I was just indicating that the Fox guy misspoke when he said no back order. He meant no renewal and the show is canceled.
RE: Fringe – hey, who needs good writing, acting, and character development or, heaven forbid, a show that actually is willing to take risks (with the dual-verse storyline in S3)
That’s what we need on TV – more reality garbage and boring formulaic procedural clones. Bring on Dancing With the Idol While Surviving the Nightmare Kitchen, High School Musical redux, Law And Order: Class Action Litigation, and CSI: Juneau!
But then again when people listen to Justin Bieber and consider Lindsay Lohan’s legal tribulations headline news, it’s pretty self-evident why we can’t have nice things.
The Good Guys had it coming. Tell the Burn Notice guys to focus on that show so it doesn’t jump the shark.
well, it would be amazing if Fringe can actually become a big enough hit like the X-File. but the tv landscape is so different now…so worry for this gem, it’s been firing on all cylinders this season.
The Good Guys is the highlight of my week, Bradley Whitford is the funniest man on television. “Spicy in my eyes!” was brilliant. Two and a Half Men continues on even though it caters to the lowest common denominator, yet The Good Guys may not? I’ll be heartbroken if it’s cancelled!
GOOD GUYS is the FUNNIEST show on TV–I laugh till I cry! I live in TX and it’s so accurate in every way. THe combo of Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford is priceless. BW is made for this part–he nails the character every week. Just when I think it can’t get any funnier, he “lubricates” himself with motor oil–LOLOL
This show needs more PR & promotion–it’s so well done with hilarious plots and surprise twists and turns. THE GOOD GUYS is such a breath air after all these blood & guts cop shows & medical dramas. Please KEEP the Good Guys on the air–just give them a new time slot (after Idol?) and a second chance. BEST SHOW ON TV!
Ditto…
I love FRINGE and I’m not a sci-fi person whatsoever. So, if it can appeal to someone like me, it can appeal to anyone.
Fox, put your full support behind the show so others will find it. Please! It is too well-made, too well-written and too well-acted to let languish. After all the mediocre and wretched crap you put in front of us (American Idol most definitely included), there are people out there who relish smart TV. And, FRINGE is definitely that!
Completely agree. Hopefully the FOX people keep their word on Fringe, and if not, at least give it to another cable network, where it could be taken care of.
Holy Crap Fox is sending Fringe to Friday to die! These are dark days. Can’t they put a couple of those crappy Sunday cartoons on Friday and have an actual TV show with real people on there instead? That would be very X files of them and a recipe for triumph of the awkwardness that is Sunday Night Football.
These are dark days, Dark days indeed.
Fox sucks! They have killed off way too many good shows and continue to air crap in lieu of quality programming. The Good Guys is a great show, well written and not your norm for the BS that is network TV! Shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Wonderfalls, Arrested Development, Tru Calling, Brimstone, Vanished, Buffy, Angel, Briscoe County, Jr., The Lone Gunman, Millenium, Dark Angel, John Doe, Sliders, Fastlane, all those are better than any reality TV bullsh!t airing today!
Remember that Fox is owned by megalomaniac Rupert Murdoch.
You forgot Freaky Links. I loved me some Freaky Links.
i think it would be a great, even fabulous friday nite to have the good guys, then fringe on… i dont think either show should get the axe. hells kitchen should get the axe on the other hand. fringees would appreciate the humor, action, and music on the good guys a whole lot.
two weeks for the next episode is seeming like just too long a time between episodes. surprise us and show fringe, it’ll give fringees a chance to introduce the show to more possible viewers…. pppllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssssssseeeeee.
I’ve always thought of FRINGE as one of those shows that was so smart and so fun, that it miraculously somehow dodged the bullet of “so good for network television, they had to cancel it..”
Now it looks like that might actually happen. It would be a shame b/c the cast and writers are superb as pros and as people.
I give Fox a lot of credit for finally making a move I know Beckman and team have pondered for quite some time. Might as well do it a blow things up a bit. As for Darnell’s comment, “Now we can own Thursday,” PR peeps — I feel your pain.
We need a restraining order preventing Fox from programming genre TV on Friday or Saturday nights without a guaranteed 3 season, full 22 episode, must all be shown and may not be cancelled order
It’s such a bother when a really brilliant show (Fringe) shows up by accident on the wasteland that is television. And yes, let’s face it, the reason why it never found a larger audience is because it’s “quality television.” If this show had started out on HBO it wouldn’t have had a problem. This is why Fox (or any other broadcast network) shouldn’t be allowed to play with nice things.
It’s going to be a great pleasure watching American Idol tank, though. And watching Bones fans start DVR-ing it because (as we have seen) they abandon the 9 pm slot in large numbers to watch Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t imagine why Fox thinks it has a stable tentpole in Bones, either; that show is 6 seasons old.
Time to wake up and smell the DVRs, people. Live ratings are the buggy whips of the 21st century. There is no going back.
The CW has claimed they can blow off old-school ratings, at least to a degree, because they’ve figured out how to monetize their other viewing mediums, whether DVR or online.
Shows like Fringe will always have a big “non-traditional” audience. Fanboys will be fanboys. Star Trek was resurrected after a decade in limbo because of the passion of the geeks.
I work on a genre show that gets more than a third of its audience via DVR, and we think there’s a number almost as large watching us on the web.
The future of broadcast is as a launch platform to give wide exposure to shows that can then be sold through other mediums. Fox may or may not be smart enough to successfully exploit Fringe under that kind of model.
But that’s where the future lies. The night of the week is going to matter less and less.
If this is really the case, then shouldn’t we be more upset at content creators who sell their shows to broadcast networks knowing that they’re less likely to be canceled on cable due to dual revenue streams?
Or could be the fact those same creators make so much more money working on broadcast than they do cable, so they will always make that move instead.
People keep bemoaning FOX (I still miss Kitchen Confidential), but at the end of the day, the content creators should just avoid FOX as a buyer. I know I would if I had a non-animated, non-reality show.
Sad to see the end of The Good Guys. It’s not a buddy cop show it’s a show about a quirky character who solves crimes. Move the show to USA network, get rid of the partner sidekick and replace him with the nerd chick, and you’ve got Monk in Texas.
Don’t drop Jack! He’s the perfect foil to Dan and his very un-PC Cop-ways of bustin’ punks! NAd Jack is thinking more like Dan every week!
You realize that The Good Guys finished filming an ENTIRE SEASON already, right? It had a summer run to start and finished filming and airing at least 20 episodes, right? THERE WAS NO BACK ORDER TO PICK UP. The back order already WAS picked up after the summer. It’s season is just over. It was a great show that never had a chance ratings-wise with no lead in and airing on friday nights. It deserves a chance on a different night or a different network… Running WIlde on the other hand is just AWFUL. I love Arrested Development, and I’m beginning to think that it had NOTHING to do with Mitch Hurwitz. He’s tried with 8 new shows since then and they are just AWFUL. On the other hand- the Russo brothers who directed Arrested, are really killing it on Community these days…..