Fox Defers (Again) on Announcing Fall Schedule Ahead of 2023 Upfronts

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For the second year in a row, Fox is not releasing a fall schedule ahead of its upfront presentation.

Fox did the same thing in 2022, opting instead to announce their content slate for the upcoming broadcast season but holding off on announcing a formal schedule until a later date. Last year, the move came as the network was still waiting on decisions on the dramas “9-1-1” and “The Resident.” But with the latter show canceled and the former moving to ABC, this year’s move comes as the writers’ strike enters its third week.

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Networks like CBS and NBC have already announced their fall lineups, but whether or not any primetime scripted shows across all the networks debut as scheduled remains to be seen as the strike drags on.

“Obviously nobody wants this strike and our thoughts go out to the writers at the moment,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade during a conference call Monday morning. “But we feel very confident in our schedule and our ability to pivot when necessary. Currently, there are no changes to the schedule, but as the summer continues, we’ll look at that carefully and make the right decisions going forward.”

Fox’s slate for next season will include two new dramas, two new animated comedies, and two new unscripted series. The new dramas are medical drama “Doc” and action-drama “Rescue: HI-Surf,” with the latter hailing from executive producer John Wells.

The long-awaited animated series “Krapopolis” from Dan Harmon is also set to debut next season, along with fellow animated comedy “Grimsburg” starring Jon Hamm. “Krapopolis” has already been renewed through Season 3 at Fox, while “Grimsburg” has been renewed through Season 2.

In unscripted, Fox has the game show “Snake Oil,” hosted and produced by David Spade, and the music game show “We Are Family” hosted by Jamie and Corinne Foxx.

Full details on the new shows can be seen below.

“Across every genre of Fox’s 2023-24 lineup, we continue to attract the brightest, most prolific creators in the industry,” Wade said in a statement. “As a result, our content portfolio continues to deliver balance and variety in its storytelling through the strength and stability of our returning favorites and tremendous creativity of our new series.”

Returning Fox series include: dramas “9-1-1: Lone Star” (Season Five), “Accused” (Season Two), “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” (Season Two), and “The Cleaning Lady” (Season Three); comedy “Animal Control” (Season Two); animated series “Bob’s Burgers” (Season 14), “Family Guy” (Season 22), “The Great North” (Season Four) and “The Simpsons” (Season 35); and unscripted series “Farmer Wants a Wife” (Season Two), “Hell’s Kitchen” (Season 22), “I Can See Your Voice” (Season Three), “LEGO Masters” (Season Four), “The Masked Singer” (Season 10), “Name That Tune” (Season Three), “Next Level Chef” (Season Three), and “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” (Season Two).

The only bubble show remaining on Fox’s current schedule is the mockumentary series “Welcome to Flatch,” though a decision is not expected on that series until after upfronts.

New Fox Dramas:

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.

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.

New Fox Animated Comedies:

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).

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.

Fox’s New Unscripted Shows:

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.

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.

Additionally, LEGO Masters will air its second all-new multiple-night event LEGO Masters: Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular. Over the course of four crazy hours, LEGO Masters once again will shake it up like a snow globe, with unpredictable twists and surprises. Celebrities will join, as will fan-favorite builders from past seasons, all working together, to create jaw-dropping holiday-themed challenges that will make the contestants’ faces redder than Rudolph’s nose. Make sure you’re on host Will Arnett’s “Nice List,” because LEGO Masters is making all-new plans for the ho-ho-holidays. LEGO Masters is produced by Endemol Shine North America, Tuesday’s Child and Plan B Entertainment, under license from the LEGO Group. Executive Producers include Arnett, Pip Wells; Sharon Levy, DJ Nurre and Michael Heyerman from Endemol Shine North America; Karen Smith and Steph Harris from Tuesday’s Child; Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner from Plan B; and Jill Wilfert and Robert May from the LEGO Group.

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