UPDATE: Back in May when the networks released their fall schedules, such as they were, most seemed to be at least slightly optimistic that the nascent writers’ strike would end long before filming would need to begin on the scripted fall shows. ABC was the only network that took a more pessimistic approach, filling their schedule with game shows and reruns. And now, two months to the DAY, the other networks seem to be realizing that the strikes aren’t ending anytime soon, and making adjustments to a fall schedule that is set to launch in September.
As you’ll see below, Fox’s schedule has delayed all scripted series, opting for game shows and animated series instead. Please find their fall schedule and premiere dates below.
There is no such thing as a traditional Upfront season anymore. Last year, very briefly, it felt like the Upfronts — the events when the networks announce their upcoming fall schedules and new series — were back following the pandemic and the steady decline of network television in general. But now with a writers’ strike that could very well stretch through the summer, and potential strikes by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild on the horizon, the networks are having to play the upcoming fall season entirely by ear. With some networks, this looks like loading up on reality content; with others, it looks like they are moving forward with their scripted material and hoping for the best.
It’s hard to know which direction Fox is taking, as they are not revealing a schedule at all — which, I suppose, is one way to strike-proof yourself. Fox has added two new live-action dramas, two new animated series (one of which they have been promising for years now), two new games shows (which feel oddly familiar) and one reality series that has been brought back from the dead. There’s always hope — especially when a network is desperate for material.
Schedule
MONDAY
7/8 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares (September 25)
8/9 p.m. Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (September 25)
TUESDAY
7/8 p.m. Name That Tune (September 19)
8/9 p.m. I Can See Your Voice (September 19)
WEDNESDAY
7/8 p.m. The Masked Singer (September 27)
8/9 p.m. SNAKE OIL (September 27)
THURSDAY
7/8 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen (September 28)
8/9 p.m. LEGO Masters (September 28)
FRIDAY
7/8 p.m. WWE Smackdown
SATURDAY
7/8 p.m. Fox Sports Saturday
SUNDAY
6/7 p.m. NFL on Fox
6:30/7:30 p.m. The OT
7/8 p.m. The Simpsons (October 1)
7:30 p.m. KRAPOPOLIS (September 24)
8/9 p.m. Bob’s Burgers (October 1)
8:30/9:30 p.m. Family Guy (October 1)
New Fall Shows
Like with NBC, we have no trailers to go by (except for one), so I’m just judging these based on descriptions alone. It’s not the best — but it’s all we’ve got.
DOC
Official synopsis:
Based on the globally acclaimed Italian series, Doc — Nelle tue mani, which was created and is produced by Lux Vide, a Fremantle Company, and featured Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Grannò of The White Lotus, Fox’s Doc is a new medical drama centered on the hard-charging, brilliant Dr. Amy Elias, Chief of Internal and Family Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis. After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she’s treated, colleagues she’s crossed, the soulmate she divorced, the man she now loves and the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine, despite having lost nearly a decade of knowledge and experience. Doc is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and FOX Entertainment Studios. Barbie Kligman serves as Showrunner and Executive Producer. Hank Steinberg (Channel Road Productions) and Erwin Stoff (3 Arts Entertainment) are Executive Producers. Created by Francesco Arlanch and Viola Rispoli, Doc — Nelle tue mani debuted in Italy on Rai 1 in 2020, where it ranked as the network’s #1 series premiere since 2007. Since then, the series format has been sold in 12 countries with seven versions already made.
T’s Take:
A surgeon with amnesia seems like a huge liability issue for a hospital, but sure. I guess Fox has to replace The Resident with something.
Rescue: HI-SURF
Official synopsis:
From prolific, award-winning executive producer/director John Wells (Shameless, The West Wing, ER) and executive producer/writer Matt Kester (Animal Kingdom, Outsiders), pulse-pounding Hawaii lifeguard drama Rescue: HI-Surf follows the personal and professional lives of the heavy-water lifeguards who patrol and protect the North Shore of O’ahu—the most famous and dangerous stretch of coastline in the world. Each episode will feature these dedicated, heroic, and adrenaline-seeking first-responders saving lives in the difficult and often life-threatening conditions of Hawaii’s Seven Mile Miracle. Rescue: HI-Surf is co-produced by Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment Studios. Matt Kester created the series. Kester, John Wells, and Daniele Nathanson are Executive Producers and co-Showrunners. Erin Jontow (John Wells Productions) is also an Executive Producer. Kester will write the first episode, and Wells will direct the first two episodes.
T’s Take:
Baywatch + 9-1-1.
KRAPOPOLIS
Official synopsis:
From Emmy Award-winning creator Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty, Community) comes Krapopolis, an animated series like no other. Set in mythical Ancient Greece, the series centers on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each other. The series’ voice cast features Emmy Award winner Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), Matt Berry (What We Do in The Shadows), Pam Murphy (Mapleworth Murders) and Duncan Trussell (The Midnight Gospel). In the series, Ayoade voices “Tyrannis,” the mortal son of a goddess. He’s the self-involved, narcissistic King of Krapopolis trying to make do in a city that lives up to its name. Waddingham plays “Deliria,” Tyrannis’ mother, goddess of self-destruction and questionable choices. Within her extended Olympian family – forged in patricide and infidelity – she’s known as the trashy one. Berry is “Shlub,” Tyrannis’ father, a mantitaur (half centaur [horse + human], half manticore [lion + human + scorpion]). He is oversexed and underemployed, claims to be an artist and has literally never paid for anything, in any sense of that word, for his entire life. Murphy voices “Stupendous,” Tyrannis’ half-sister, daughter of Deliria and a cyclops. Trussell plays “Hippocampus,” Tyrannis’ half-brother, offspring of Shlub and a mermaid, and, obviously, a hot mess, biologically speaking. Krapopolis is owned by Fox Entertainment and produced by Bento Box Entertainment. Dan Harmon is Creator and Executive Producer. Jordan Young is Executive Producer and Showrunner (Season One). Alex Rubens is Executive Producer and Showrunner (Seasons Two & Three).
T’s Take:
This series has been bouncing around Fox for literally years now. It was originally supposed to debut in Spring 2022, but then it was pushed to November? But then they decided they would debut in May of this year … until they decided to premiere it in the Fall 2023-2024 season? Normally this would signal that the network wasn’t sure about the series, but it’s already been renewed for three seasons, so clearly Fox has faith in it. As far as what I think … look. It’s Dan Harmon and Matt Berry and Hannah Waddingham, and they’re all great, but based on that clip above, I don’t think this is for me. That said, I’m sure it will have fans and do great. (I will note that this series originally was supposed to have NFTs tied to it — is that still happening? Because the NFT language seems to have been cut from the logline entirely. Just curious.)
GRIMSBURG
Official synopsis:
All-new animated comedy Grimsburg stars Emmy Award winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Top Gun: Maverick), who also serves as an executive producer on the series. In Grimsburg, Marvin Flute (Hamm) is a brilliant detective with opinions as eccentric as his taste, who can’t help but prioritize his own personal problems — whether it be his family or petty differences among his co-workers — over the crimes he’s tasked with solving. Now that he’s back in Grimsburg, a town where everyone has a secret or three, Flute will follow every lead he’s got to redeem himself with the ex-wife he never stopped loving, even if it means hanging out with the son he never bothered to get to know. Grimsburg is owned by FOX Entertainment, and produced by Bento Box Entertainment. Catlan McClelland and Matthew Schlissel created the series and serve as co-Executive Producers. Gail Berman, Hend Baghdady, Chadd Gindin, Connie Tavel and Jon Hamm serve as Executive Producers. Chadd Gindin serves as Showrunner.
T’s Take:
Again, this is not made for me, and that’s OK! And without a video, it’s hard to say whether I have confidence it will find an audience or not. Sure, Jon Hamm’s involved, but his very pretty face isn’t so … who knows.
SNAKE OIL
Official synopsis:
All-new game show Snake Oil is hosted and produced by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated comedian David Spade (Saturday Night Live, Just Shoot Me) and executive-produced by Emmy nominee Will Arnett (LEGO Masters, Arrested Development), through his Electric Avenue Productions. In the show’s all-new original format, contestants are pitched unique products by convincing entrepreneurs – some of whom are showcasing real business ventures, while the others are “Snake Oil Salesmen,” whose products are fake. With the help of guest celebrity advisors, contestants must determine which products are real and which are a sham, for a chance to win life-changing money. In each round of Snake Oil, contestants choose a pair of entrepreneurs and learn about their extremely unique (and often bizarre) products through visuals, a custom-made infomercial exclusively produced for Snake Oil, and by quizzing the business representative themselves. With the help of their celebrity advisors, the contestants must then decide who is selling an authentic product and who is hawking a sham. Will they make the right choice or be duped by snake oil?! Snake Oil is produced by FOX Alternative Entertainment and Electric Avenue. Will Arnett, Marc Forman and Neal Konstantini serve as Executive Producers, and Konstantini serves as Showrunner. David Spade is a Producer.
T’s Take:
So … it’s Shark Tank … but some of the products are being hawked by the Trump Organization conmen and contestants have to determine if they are being duped? Now that I think about it, I think this could provide some valuable life lessons for a lot of people in this country.
WE ARE FAMILY
Official synopsis:
We Are Family is an all-new music guessing game show hosted and executive-produced by Jamie Foxx and co-hosted by his daughter, Corinne Foxx. Showcasing non-famous relatives of celebrities performing duets with their hidden famous family member, We Are Family will feature a studio audience entirely comprised of 100 contestants playing through multiple rounds of clues and gameplay to win up to $100,000 each by correctly guessing which celebrity the performer is related to before they are revealed. Celebrities appearing on We Are Family will range from musicians and professional athletes to actors and beyond. The series is co-produced by Apploff Entertainment and Fox Alternative Entertainment, which created the program. Jeff Apploff, Jamie Foxx and Matilda Zoltowski are Executive Producers, and Zoltowski is Showrunner.
T’s Take:
Basically, it’s Claim to Fame, except with singing and game show contestants? So is Fox just reimagining all of ABC’s reality programming as game shows? More power to them, I guess. (But also, get better soon, Jamie Foxx.)
Kitchen Nightmares
Cancellations
- 9-1-1
- Call Me Kat
- Fantasy Island
- Monarch
- The Resident
Renewals
- 9-1-1: Lone Star
- Accused
- Alert: Missing Persons
- Animal Control
- Bob’s Burgers
- The Cleaning Lady
- Farmer Wants a Wife
- Family Guy
- Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars
- Hell’s Kitchen
- I Can See Your Voice
- Kitchen Nightmares
- Lego Masters
- Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test
- The Masked Singer
- The Great North
- The Simpsons
Shows Still Up in the Air
- Welcome to Flatch
- Housebroken
- So You Think You Can Dance (likely canceled — it is not on the Summer 2023 schedule)
- Beat Shazam (Season 6 will debut later this month)
- Crime Scene Kitchen (Season 2 will debut later this month)
- Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Season 2 will debut later this month)
- Housebroken (Season 2 still airing)
- Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer
- MasterChef (Season 10 will debut later this month)
- MasterChef Junior
- Name That Tune
- Next Level Chef
- The Real Dirty Dancing