Fox fall schedule is notable for its omissions

The Fox television network unveiled its 2014 fall schedule and gave us a peek into what 2015 has in store as well. Fox had previously announced its new series acquisitions — Gotham, Red Band Society, Mulaney, Gracepoint, Utopia, Backstrom, Empire, Hieroglyph, Wayward Pines, Bordertown, The Last Man on Earth, Weird Loners — but many of them won’t be seen until 2015.

With the absence of The X Factor, and American Idol not returning until 2015 (with a shorter schedule than usual at about 37 hours instead of 50), that has freed up some time to debut some new shows in the fall. One glaring omission from the schedule is Glee, which has also been benched until 2015 and its 22-episode order may be trimmed to as little as 13. The plan is to run the final season without any breaks and to wrap up the story the best way possible. Another big change for the network is the break-up of Sunday’s Animation Domination block with only Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons and Family Guy still on the schedule (American Dad moves to TBS, The Cleveland Show is cancelled). One of this season’s bright spots, Brooklyn Nine-Nine will occupy the spot after The Simpson and newcomer Mulaney, starring John Mulaney and Martin Short, moves into the post Family Guy time slot.

The show everyone seems most excited about, Gotham, will make its debut in the Monday slot leading in to last season’s hit Sleepy Hollow. Fox is so high on both shows that Gotham was given an initial 16-episode order and Sleepy Hollow, which was originally planned to get a second 13-episode season, is going to get an additional 2 – 5 episodes. Fox believes Gotham should outshine and out-perform ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. simply for the fact that the Batman prequel will include famous fiends like The Riddler, The Penguin and Catwoman … at least the people they were before they become the famous Bat-villains. If nothing else, Gotham is certainly the most talked about new show of the coming season.

Besides Gotham, Fox has a couple of prestigious dramas on the boards with Red Band Society and Gracepoint. Red Band Society is based on a Spanish TV series and takes place in a hospital where a group of teens meet in the pediatrics ward. The comedic drama stars Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and Dave Annable, and is executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Gracepoint is the US adaptation of the hit British crime drama Broadchurch. Former Doctor Who David Tennant reprises his role from the original series.

Looking ahead to 2015, a truncated American Idol will return (no word yet on the judges), and the network hopes that the show will remain on the air for many years to come (rumors were swirling that the original trio of judges would return for the final season, whenever that may be), and Fox is planning three big special events for 2015 starting with a New Year’s Eve event hosted by Pitbull, a special to commemorate Evel Knievel’s attempted jump over Snake River Canyon, and a three-hour live musical presentation of Grease.

Fox will also be filling in the time vacated by The X Factor with a new reality series called Utopia. In this new show, a group of people are sent to an undeveloped location for a year and will be forced to form a society of some sort. With elements of Survivor and Big Brother, viewers will be able to follow the action on the air and online, and those who do not make themselves indispensable to the group are sent home. The twist is that they are replaced by new castaways, giving the show an eerily similar feeling to a former Fox reality program that was supposed to have no end, Forever Eden … which lasted all of seven episodes (18 remain unaired). Will Utopia be a bright spot on the Fox schedule?

As of now, the 2014 schedule is set with many of the big guns set for 2015 including Backstrom, from Bones creator Hart Hanson, Lee Daniels’ Empire, starring Terrence Howard, the ancient Egypt action-adventure series Hieroglyph, from Pacific Rim writer Travis Beacham, limited run series Wayward Pines from M. Night Shyamalan, and comedies Bordertown (working title),  The Last Man on Earth (with Will Forte), and Weird Loners starring Becki Newton. Here’s what to expect in the fall:

Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m. — Gotham
9:00-10:00 p.m. — Sleepy Hollow

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. — Utopia
9:00-9:30 p.m. — New Girl
9:30-10:00 p.m. — The Mindy Project

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. — Hell’s Kitchen
9:00-10:00 p.m. — Red Band Society

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. — Bones
9:00-10:00 p.m. — Gracepoint

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m. — MasterChef Junior
9:00-10:00 p.m. — Utopia

Saturday
7:00-10:30 p.m. — Fox Sports Saturday

Sunday
7:00-7:30 p.m. — NFL Game
7:30-8:00 p.m. — Bob’s Burgers
8:00-8:30 p.m. — The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 p.m. — Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9:00-9:30 p.m. — Family Guy
9:30-10:00 p.m. — Mulaney