Upfronts Week is here! As per usual, I’m here to break it down! Starting today with Fox and later on, NBC! First up, Fox.
My first thoughts… I am so, so, so, so excited that The Last Man on Earth is back. That’s all I was really worried about so it makes my heart so happy knowing that this show is coming back and we’e going to get lots more of Kristen Wiig in the upcoming season. New Girl has been renewed for a seventh and final season and I’m so happy that this show has an entire season to conclude its series. It may have overstayed its welcome a tiny bit but I’m totally in it until the end and I can’t wait to see how everything comes together. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been renewed (yay!) and will make it to its 100th episode but I wonder if the 99th episode is going to be even more of a big deal given the show’s title. Either way, can’t wait!
The X-Files is back for a 10-episode second season. I wasn’t blown away by the first installment of its return but I’ll watch this since I can’t help myself. Fox is still on the fence about its renewal of 24: Legacy due to Corey Hawkins’s commitment to his play in NYC but something tells me that show isn’t coming back when he’s done with his Tony worthy performance.
Thoughts On Cancelled Series:
The biggest upset without a doubt goes to Pitch. This show was smart and diverse and thoughtful and sexy and captivating and just so much fun to watch and Fox really let down its viewers with this one. This cancellation is going to hurt for awhile.
I’m also really bummed about Rosewood, Making History, and APB even though I pretty much knew that nobody was really watching these shows and they’d get the chopping block. It was fun while it lasted!
Thoughts On New Series:
Note: New series info below with video promos.
As far as the dramas go…The Gifted is the new X-men series from Marvel and X-men is my favorite of the Marvel superheroes (for many reasons but generally speaking, it’s more on the sci-fi side than fantasy and sci-fi is more my thing so yay) so I am SUPER pumped about this! It also stars Amy Acker who I LOVE from the Whedonverse so I am super super super excited for this. The Orville is sci-fi so you’ve got me there. Automatic watch for me. Then, it’s been created by Seth MacFarlane and the Pilot is directed by Jon Favreau so yes yes yes. I’m all in and looking forward to this one. After watching the promo, it’s basically a one hour comedy with an overarching story, which I’m totally cool with. I like comedies like this, that don’t take themselves too seriously and also knowing that MacFarlane is behind this, you’ll also get a lot of thought provoking jokes that will slip past you if you’re not paying attention. It’s the best of both worlds so I can’t wait to watch this. 9-1-1 at first glance is just an emergency response drama so… blegh. BUT it stars Angela Bassett and the creators of the show are Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuck so… it is actually going to be good which means I need to carve out time for this show. And there’s not even a promo for this one. The Resident is yet another medical drama, which, yawn. BUT WAIT it has Emily VanCamp AND it’s actually not like the other medical dramas on TV (it’s not fast paced and so far, romance doesn’t drive much of the story) so I have to at least check it out? Yes. This looks good and is so refreshing since it doesn’t follow the tropey structure of the medical dramas we’re so used to seeing. I like it. Still can’t say I’m on board for an entire season but I’m more inclined to keep watching now.
As for the comedies… Ghosted and LA to Vegas both sound solid and the trailers are great so now it just comes down to checking out the first handful of episodes. My sister is a flight attendant and she has some stories so I’m excited to see what’s in store for LA to Vegas given Vegas stories are in a lane of its own and I’m sure the show has gotten a plethora of its own wild stories from its airline consultants. And that’s going to be exaggerated on top of what the writers come up with so this should be good. That said, given how testy customers are with airlines right now, I doubt they know how to or are willing to relax and enjoy this so I’m not sure about this show’s longevity. And while I didn’t laugh aloud at either of the comedy promos, I can and do appreciate both shows and the comedy they bring to Fox, and Ghosted is definitely my kind of comedy, so, yeah, looking forward to these both, moreso Ghosted.
Finally, there are two live musical events coming our way… Rent and A Christmas Story. The latter is coming in December while the air date for Rent is TBD. Man, these live musicals were all fun and games until they decided to touch my baby, Rent. Knowing that the Larson family gave their permission gives me some ease but I’m still super nervous and not at all excited about this which I realize is hypocritical since I was excited about literally every other live musical that every network has done up to this point. Casting hasn’t begun yet for either show but boy am I ever biting my nails on this one.
New series are in CAPS.
Sunday
7:00-7:30 NFL On Fox
7:30-8:00 THE OT / Bob’s Burgers
8:00-8:30 The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 GHOSTED
9:00-9:30 Family Guy
9:30-10:00 The Last Man On Earth
Monday
8:00-9:00 Lucifer
9:00-10:00 THE GIFTED
Tuesday
8:00-9:00 Lethal Weapon
9:00-9:30 The Mick
9:30-10:00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Wednesday
8:00-9:00 Empire
9:00-10:00 Star
Thursday
8:00-9:00 Gotham
9:00-10:00 THE ORVILLE
Friday
8:00-9:00 Hell’s Kitchen
9:00-10:00 The Exorcist
Saturday
7:00-10:30 Fox Sports Saturday: Fox College Football
Midseason Dramas: THE RESIDENT, 9-1-1
Midseason Comedies: LA TO VEGAS
NEW DRAMAS:
THE GIFTED tells the story of a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. REED (Stephen Moyer, SHOTS FIRED, “True Blood”) and CAITLIN (Amy Acker, “Person of Interest”) STRUCKER are typical middle-class parents dealing with the realities of raising a family. However, when their teenage kids, LAUREN (Natalie Alyn Lind, GOTHAM) and ANDY (Percy Hynes White, “Night at the Museum 3”), are involved in an incident at their high school which reveals they are mutants, Reed and Caitlin do all in their power to protect their children. Forced to go on the run, the Struckers must leave behind their old lives to flee from a relentless government agency that tracks down mutants, the Sentinel Services, which includes Agent JACE TURNER (Coby Bell, “Burn Notice”). Complicating matters further is the fact that Reed is a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office tasked with going after mutants. Desperate and running low on options, the family’s only choice is to contact an underground network that helps mutants in trouble. The mutants in the network – ECLIPSE / MARCOS DIAZ (Sean Teale, “Reign”), BLINK / CLARICE FONG (Jamie Chung, GOTHAM), POLARIS / LORNA DANE (Emma Dumont, “Aquarius”) and THUNDERBIRD / JOHN PROUDSTAR (Blair Redford, “Satisfaction”) – are dealing with their own issues. With one of their members in prison and their team possibly compromised, they face an uncertain future in a world that looks increasingly dangerous for mutants. Written by Matt Nix (“Burn Notice”), directed by Bryan Singer (the “X-Men” franchise) and executive-produced by Nix, Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner (“X-Men: Apocalypse,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “The Wolverine”), Simon Kinberg (“X-Men: Apocalypse,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”), Jeph Loeb (“Marvel’s Daredevil,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones”) and Jim Chory (“Marvel’s Daredevil,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones”), THE GIFTED is a story of survival, a story of mutants coming to terms with who they are, a story of parents accepting the fact that their kids aren’t who they thought they were and loving them just the same – even if all of their lives are at risk because of it.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Marvel Television
WRITER: Matt Nix
DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bryan Singer, Matt Nix, Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Jeph Loeb, Jim Chory
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Derek Hoffman
CAST: Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker, Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker, Sean Teale as Eclipse / Marcos Diaz, Jamie Chung as Blink / Clarice Fong, Coby Bell as Jace Turner, Emma Dumont as Polaris / Lorna Dane, Blair Redford as Thunderbird / John Proudstar, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker
From Emmy Award-winning executive producer and creator Seth MacFarlane (FAMILY GUY, “Ted”) and directed by Jon Favreau (“The Jungle Book,” “Iron Man”), THE ORVILLE is a one-hour science fiction series set 400 years in the future that follows the adventures of the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory vessel. Its crew, both human and alien, faces the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the familiar, often humorous problems of regular people in a workplace…even though some of those people are from other planets, and the workplace is a faster-than-light spaceship. In the 25th century, Earth is part of the Planetary Union, a far-reaching, advanced and mostly peaceful civilization with a fleet of 3,000 ships. Down on his luck after a bitter divorce, Planetary Union officer ED MERCER (MacFarlane) finally gets his chance to command one of these ships: the U.S.S. Orville. Determined to prove his worth and write a new chapter in his life, Ed finds that task all the more difficult when the First Officer assigned to his ship is his ex-wife, KELLY GRAYSON (Adrianne Palicki, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Friday Night Lights”). As the new commander, Ed assembles a qualified, but eccentric crew, including his best friend, GORDON MALLOY (Scott Grimes, “ER,” “Justified”), who has problems with authority, but is the best helmsman in the fleet; DR. CLAIRE FINN (Penny Johnson Jerald, “24,” “The Larry Sanders Show”), one of the Union’s most accomplished physicians; BORTUS (Peter Macon, “Shameless,” “Bosch”), an alien from a single-sex species; ISAAC (Mark Jackson, “That Royal Today”), an artificial life-form from a machine society that thinks biological life-forms are inferior; navigator JOHN LAMARR (J. Lee, FAMILY GUY, “The Cleveland Show”), whose casual humor cuts through even the most dire situations; ALARA KITAN (Halston Sage, “Neighbors,” “Goosebumps”), a young, inexperienced security officer whose home planet’s high gravity gives her superior physical strength; and YAPHIT, a gelatinous creature voiced by comedian Norm Macdonald (“The Middle,” “Saturday Night Live”). Somehow, Ed and Kelly must put the past behind them and, with the help of the crew, navigate fascinating and sometimes dangerous adventures in outer space, as well as the tumultuous and captivating day-to-day personal relationships with their colleagues.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television
CREATOR/WRITER: Seth MacFarlane
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Seth MacFarlane, Brannon Braga, David A. Goodman, Jason Clark, Liz Heldens
DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jon Favreau (pilot)
CAST: Seth MacFarlane as Ed Mercer, Adrianne Palicki as Kelly Grayson, Penny Johnson Jerald as Claire Finn, Scott Grimes as Gordon Malloy, Peter Macon as Bortus, Halston Sage as Alara Kitan, J. Lee as John Lamarr, Mark Jackson as Isaac, Chad Coleman as Klyden, Norm Macdonald as Yaphit
9-1-1
From prolific creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, new procedural drama 9-1-1 is a fast-paced exploration into the lives and careers of first responders – cops, paramedics, firefighters – the people who put their lives on the line to save others. Starring Academy and Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Angela Bassett (“American Horror Story,” “What’s Love Got to Do with It”), the series is based on the real-life, high-pressure experiences of emergency response providers who are thrust into heart-stopping situations that are equal parts unpredictable, intense and uplifting.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Ryan Murphy Television, Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision
CREATORS/WRITERS/EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk
CAST: Angela Bassett
Focusing on three doctors at different stages of their careers and a dedicated young nurse, THE RESIDENT is a provocative new medical drama that rips back the curtain to reveal the truth of what really happens, both good and bad, in hospitals across the country. Meet DR. CONRAD HAWKINS (Matt Czuchry, “The Good Wife”), one of the best doctors at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. Charming, arrogant and only a third-year resident, Conrad does everything in the most unconventional way possible. Along with treating patients, Conrad believes it is his job to burst the illusions of first-year residents, like DR. DEVON PRAVESH (Manish Dayal, “Halt and Catch Fire”), and turn them into real-life doctors. Devon is an innocent idealist, who wears his finely tuned moral compass and passion for science like armor. With Conrad’s help, however, Devon quickly discovers the reality of his chosen profession is not what he imagined, and that ethical lines are often blurred. Nothing, not even the best medical school in the country, could have prepared him for what he’s about to learn. As Devon accompanies Conrad through the hospital’s halls, he meets distinguished chief of surgery DR. RANDOLPH BELL (Bruce Greenwood, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “Mad Men”), the face of the hospital and its most sought-after doctor, whose diminishing skills, and the errors they cause, are covered with the help of allies under his command; DR. MINA OKAFOR (Shaunette Renée Wilson, “Billions”), a rising star surgeon from Nigeria who is threatening Bell’s dominance, but who also is in the U.S. on a visa; and NICOLETTE NEVIN (Emily VanCamp, “Revenge”), one of Chastain Memorial’s most respected nurses and Conrad’s on-again-off-again romantic partner. While Conrad opens Devon’s eyes to the stark realities of hospital life, the once-optimistic young doctor soon realizes that the practice of medicine is a business, like any other. Not all patients are angels and not all doctors are gods, but one thing’s for sure: expectations are meant to be shattered.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Antoine Fuqua, Amy Holden Jones, David Boorstein, Oly Obst
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi
WRITERS: Amy Holden Jones, Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi
DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Phillip Noyce
CAST: Matt Czuchry as Dr. Conrad Hawkins, Emily VanCamp as Nicolette Nevin, Manish Dayal as Dr. Devon Pravesh, Shaunette Renée Wilson as Dr. Mina Okafor, Valerie Cruz as Renata Lopez and Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Randolph Bell
NEW COMEDIES:
Starring Craig Robinson (“The Office,” “This Is the End”) and Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation,” “Big Little Lies”), GHOSTED is a single-camera, action-comedy about the unlikely partnership between two down-on-their-luck polar opposites tasked with an even more unlikely mission: saving the human race from aliens. LEROY WRIGHT (Robinson) is a cynical skeptic and former missing persons detective, who, if we’re speaking frankly, thinks that “aliens” are a big ole bunch of B.S. and that people who believe in them are certifiably nuts…People like MAX JENNIFER (Scott). Max is a genius “true believer” in the paranormal who’s convinced his wife was abducted by aliens. At low points in their lives, both Leroy and Max are recruited by CAPTAIN AVA LAFREY (Ally Walker, “Colony,” “Sons of Anarchy”), a take-no-prisoners, former Air Force test pilot and head of the Bureau Underground, a secret government organization investigating paranormal cases. Lafrey, along with her staff – BARRY SHAW (Adeel Akhtar, “Unforgotten,” “The Night Manager”), an overly friendly forensic pathologist, and DELILAH WARD, a highly opinionated tech specialist – will support Leroy and Max in their quest for answers. Now, this heroic group of underdogs will look into “unexplained” activity in Los Angeles that often leads them to scary, thrilling and hilarious places, as they attempt to uncover the truth and keep the earth rotating on its axis for at least one more day.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten, Craig Robinson, Adam Scott, Naomi Scott, Oly Obst, Mark Schulman
WRITERS: Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten
DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jonathan Krisel
CAST: Craig Robinson as Leroy Wright, Adam Scott as Max Jennifer, Ally Walker as Captain Ava Lafrey, Adeel Akhtar as Barry Shaw
From executive producers Will Ferrell (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Elf”), Adam McKay (“The Big Short”), Lon Zimmet (“Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt”) and Steve Levitan (“Modern Family”), LA TO VEGAS is a single-camera ensemble comedy about an airline crew and the eccentric passengers who, every weekend, take the roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas with one goal in mind – to come back a winner. Welcome to Jackpot Airlines, a budget carrier whose junket flight from LA to Vegas and back again, is filled with dreamers looking for that big score. Holding (or, more to the point, barely holding) these voyages together is RONNIE (Kim Matula, “UnREAL”), a long-suffering flight attendant who tries to keep her cool (oftentimes, with little success) whether she’s dealing with a bi-polar bride-to-be or the dead body in Row 13. Managing the revolving door of bachelor parties and 21st birthdays gets even trickier when Ronnie develops a “location-ship” with COLIN (Ed Weeks, “The Mindy Project”), a regular passenger and an economics professor, whose son and soon-to-be ex-wife live in Vegas. Further complicating her job every weekend is CAPTAIN DAVE (Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Dylan McDermott, “The Practice,” “American Horror Story”), the narcissistic pilot whose fighter-pilot dreams never quite worked out; BERNARD (Nathan Lee Graham, “The Comeback,” “Hitch”), the always-positive career flight attendant who thinks there’s no flight more magical than the LA-to-Vegas; ARTEM (Peter Stormare, “The Big Lebowski”), the genial professional gambler who serves as the plane’s resident (but unofficial) bookie; and NICHOLE (Olivia Macklin, “The Young Pope”), the sweet-natured, part-time stripper who’s a lot savvier than people realize. It won’t be easy, but this unlikely group of miscreants and dreamers will eventually go from being strangers on a plane to a supportive, if unconventional, family…from Friday to Sunday…whether they like it or not.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Gary Sanchez Productions
WRITER/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Lon Zimmet
DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Steve Levitan
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Chris Henchy, Owen Burke
CAST: Kim Matula as Ronnie, Ed Weeks as Colin, Nathan Lee Graham as Bernard, Olivia Macklin as Nichole with Peter Stormare as Artem and Dylan McDermott as Captain Dave
LIVE MUSICALS:
A CHRISTMAS STORY
FOX and Warner Horizon Unscripted Television will partner with acclaimed film, television and theater producer Marc Platt (GREASE: LIVE, “La La Land,” “Wicked”) on the LIVE musical event A CHRISTMAS STORY, inspired by the holiday classic feature “A Christmas Story” and the Tony Award-nominated Broadway production “A Christmas Story: The Musical.” Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, recent Tony Award nominees for the musical “Dear Evan Hansen” and lyricists of “La La Land’s” Academy Award-winning song, “City of Stars,” also scored “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” and will compose several new songs for the LIVE television event, with Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary (GREASE: LIVE) adapting the book. The three-hour live television production of A CHRISTMAS STORY will air this December on FOX.
RENT (@RENTonFOX / #RENT)
Executive producer Marc Platt also will team with FOX on RENT, a live musical production of the Tony Award-, Grammy Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Rent.” The groundbreaking musical is a re-imagining of Puccini’s “La Bohème,” set in New York City’s gritty East Village, which tells the unforgettable story of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams during a time of great social and political turmoil. Writer/composer Jonathan Larson’s tour de force celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, as it continues to offer an inspiring message of hope and friendship.