FOX has had a rough week. The network has announced the cancellation of multiple series, including The Following, Weird Loners, Backstrom and The Mindy Project. Executives also officially announced that dead-on-arrival shows Mulaney, Utopia and Red Band Society have been canned. On top of that, FOX announced American Idol will be entering its 15th and final season.
Facing another fourth-place finish among broadcast networks, FOX needs to turn things around. There is no better way to do so than by moving on and trying something new. Judging by two new, exciting trailers released on Monday, they might be doing just that.
The first trailer is for Minority Report. It’s an adaptation of an adaptation, originally a short story by legendary science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Steven Spielberg loosely adapted that story in 2002, for a great sci-fi movie starring Tom Cruise. Spielberg will executive produce alongside writer Max Borenstein, who wrote the surprisingly good Godzilla (2014). Crooner Stark Sands (Inside Llewyn Davis) and Meagan Good (Deception) star.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fLl-DMzxrk
FOX’s last big foray into science fiction was a massive disappointment. Almost Human had a great concept, pairing a human cop with a robot partner in a post-apocalyptic future, but flopped hard despite some hints of potential. It also had the talents of Karl Urban, Michael Irby and Minka Kelly.
Minority Report smartly isn’t advertising itself on a big lead actor. Sands is more prominently known as a stage actor, and it’s doubtful that many would recognize him outside of that realm. Good, on the other hand, has had some big roles including Think Like a Man and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. She also has over 1.4 million Twitter followers, so I suspect FOX will use her platform as a tool for social promotion.
Lucifer joins Gotham as a DC Comics world being adapted to the small screen.
The character initially appeared in Neil Gaiman’s brilliant Sandman series, and has had his own comic book run written by Mike Carey. The story is basically that the devil decides to quit his job and roam around earth — Los Angeles, to be specific — as a free man. It’s sort of like Elementary, but the guy’s evil. Although in this adaptation, he seems to be helping the police (Yay… more police procedural, said nobody), and they seem to be setting him as an anti-hero. Tom Ellis (Rush) stars as the titular character and Leslie-Anne Brandt (Spartacus: Blood and Sand) plays his cop sidekick.
The trailer isn’t great, and the fact it’s on a PG-13 network like FOX might compromise the tone of the original comic book. Much like Constantine, it seems Lucifer is going to suffer from having to play things a bit straighter than it would appearing on cable.
Also, this is just my own speculation, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Lucifer appears on Gotham, since both are DC Comics properties that can fit in each other’s universes.
https://youtu.be/yJb0XQAUFLI
Minority Report and Lucifer aren’t the only shows coming up the pipeline for the network. Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) is doing a horror anthology series for the network called Scream Queens. The show focuses on a sorority that reignites a 20-year-old murder mystery involving a serial killer called the Red Devil. Like most Murphy properties, I expect this one to be a hit.
Scream Queens has a cast filled with legitimate stars, including Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Abigail Breslin, Oliver Hudson, Keke Palmer, Nasim Pedrad, Niecy Nash, Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande. It wouldn’t be a Ryan Murphy special without name value, as we learned on American Horror Story with actors like Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett and Stevie Nicks.
https://youtu.be/AjXjqC-1Kvg
The rest of FOX’s offerings look brutal. The network has paid Seth McFarlane even more money to make yet another mindless animated show, this one called Bordertown. The thing seems pretty offensive and stupid, just like many other McFarlane shows. The voice cast features Hank Azaria, Alex Borstein, Missi Pyle, Judah Friedlander and Efren Ramirez.
https://youtu.be/qNq25SEUTPQ
There’s also The Frankenstein Code, a modern police procedural (SHOCKER!) about Frankenstein. I know it’s just a trailer, but the acting looks baaaaaaad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mybEO-Hb0Y
Have you ever wondered why Rob Lowe left Parks and Recreation? So he could do a show called The Grinder, which unfortunately isn’t about a sex app. The show is a single-cam comedy about a famous TV lawyer who joins a real law firm when his career fizzes. The trailer is a bit underwhelming, but I can see this being a hit.
https://youtu.be/FhhYJXV508A
FOX also gives us Rosewood, starring Morris Chestnut (V, The Best Man Holiday), who plays a brilliant doctor that uses his sophisticated autopsy lab to uncover clues the police can’t see. It’s another procedural. I don’t know how that pitch went at the FOX offices, but based on the trailer, I’m passing on this one.
https://youtu.be/1V7u8Jdo63A
And the new show with the most annoying and generic voiceover goes to… Grandfathered, starring John Stamos and *barf* Josh Peck. The hook here? Somebody as successful as John Stamos can be a grandfather. Can’t wait to see a full season of that. It seems they’re dragging down the great Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds, Community) with this show. Surprisingly, Grandfathered isn’t a procedural.
None of these shows seem to have the oomph that Empire had. It’s a pretty weak crop of trailers. Personally, I’m excited the most by Minority Report, as it looks like they have a legit special effects budget, and that’s what a good science fiction show needs these days.
While I’m sure a few of these series are better than the previews we’ve got, I’m a bit concerned that FOX is a network in desperate need of a hit to pair along with Empire. Do you think any of these trailers will give them the opportunity to do that? I don’t.
