 |
| L.A. Reid, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Simon Cowell. Frank Micelotta/Fox |
On Monday, Fox made more headlines at their upfront about shows they are fixing than new shows they’re launching.
The X Factor, the show everybody thought was the next sure thing blockbuster last fall, fell well short of ratings expectations. Executive producer/star Simon Cowell spent big bucks luring Britney Spears and Demi Lovato to the judges table next season but why? Britain just crowned their latest Got Talent winner and it is a dog. Cowell maybe should have signed up the hound from The Artist instead of Spears–not known for her talking–or Lovato, who had to step away from the showbiz glare a year-and-a-half ago.
Besides The X Factor, Fox announced that Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker would both guest on the fourth season of Glee, which is moving to Thursdays at 9. This could work out well for Global, which had to juggle top-rated NCIS and Glee on Mondays (although they’ll now have to make room for Bones) and now can follow Survivor with Glee.
 |
| The Following: Bacon and Purefoy |
CTV, meanwhile, faces the same double booking problem Thursday at at 8 with The Big Bang Theory bumping both American Idol and The X Factor to CTV Two.
Global programming boss Barb Williams should also send Fox’s Kevin Reilly a basket of fruit for sliding the new Kiefer Sutherland drama Touch to Fridays.
New to Fox for 2012-13 are two half hour comedies:
The Mindy Project, starring Mindy Kaling from The Office as a single OB/GYN in search of the perfect mate. Several SNLers snuck into the pilot. See the trailer here.
Ben and Kate, a comedy about odd couple-ish siblings still looking out for one another, stars newcomers Dakota Johnson and Nat Faxon. Check it out here.
New dramas include The Following, starring Kevin Bacon as an ex-FBI agent lured out of retirement to help track down a sick, creepy serial killer (Rome‘s James Purefoy). From Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek). The trailer is here.
 |
| Glee kids Naya Rivera and Chris Colfer |
Also new is The Mob Doctor, about a promising surgeon (Jordana Spiro) who has to sew up his Southside Chicago benefactors first, or else. See the trailer here.
Fox has another comedy, The Goodwin Games, slotted for mid-season. The series stars Scott Foley (Felicity) as one of three siblings who stand to inherit $23 million from their late father (guest star Beau Bridges) if they can win a special family edition of Trivial Pursuit. From the gang behind How I Met Your Mother. Preview it here.
