2015 Fall TV Preview: the New Shows on FOX

FOX wants to do a weekly X-Men series. X-Men: The Series won’t happen this fall. FOX marks the second network to bring movie to TV with Minority Report. Scream Queens has a chance to stand out. The new shows look underwhelming, though. FOX ordered two of the blander procedurals to series. John Stamons returns to playing a handsome, desired man that unexpectedly has to help raise a child.

FOX

MINORITY REPORT

Created By Max Borenstein

Premiere Date: Monday, September 21 at 9PM

Premise: (from FOX's press release, May 2015) The future is coming. Based on the international blockbuster film by executive producer Steven Spielberg and the first of his films to be adapted for television, MINORITY REPORT follows the unlikely partnership between a man haunted by the future and a cop haunted by her past, as they race to stop the worst crimes of the year 2065 before they happen. A drama of crime and conspiracy, this is a timeless story of connection: two lost souls, Dash and Vega, who find friendship, purpose and redemption in each other.

Thoughts: CBS ordered a Limitless adaptation to screen. FOX ordered Minority Report, the 2002 Tom Cruise film. TV executives have nostalgia for average movies. Why doesn’t FXX produce American Pie the series? The gang all have teenage children because the president’s a duck—or pre-teens, so Jason Biggs can explain the birds and the bees to his preteen daughter as Michelle emasculates him with a glare. Minority Report looks network generic: procedural, ongoing mystery, tough but vulnerable ass-kickers. I wondered before, during, and after my watch of the trailer and my read of the premise whether or not Looper could work as a TV series. Minority Report’s concerned with the future and the past, both inform the other, which is all nonsense and if the writers don’t lose their way nine episodes into the season I’ll buy them all a packet of Instant Oatmeal. Issues of time in network television invariably become incoherent like a drunk.

SCREAM QUEENS

Created By Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan & Ryan Murphy

Premiere Date: Monday, September 22 at 8PM

Premise: (from FOX's press release, May 2015) The girls of Kappa House are dying for new pledges. SCREAM QUEENS is a new killer comedy-horror series from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, the Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning executive producers of GLEE and "American Horror Story." Part black comedy, part slasher flick, SCREAM QUEENS is a modern take on the classic whodunit, in which every character has a motive for murder... or could easily be the next blood-soaked casualty.

Thoughts: Late 90s slasher flicks inspired me to write screenplays, so I’d like to watch a weekly series that’s “part slasher flick,” but I can’t stand Ryan Murphy’s creative vision in any project. I watched one episode of Glee with a friend in fall 2009. We thought Will worked as a janitor. I really like the Scream Queens cast. Emma Roberts overcame the Scream 4 travesty to become my girl. The presence of Jamie Lee Curtis in a weekly slasher series should have a share of meta writing about a crazy Midwestern brother. Nasim Pedrad deserves more prominent billing. She’s probably the killer, though Chanel accuses her in the teaser; however, that’s the kind of postmodernism that works. Reveal the killer in an aside during a 3 minute YouTube trailer. MTV’s Scream was/is a disaster. Scream Queens definitely gets a full season.

ROSEWOOD

Created By Todd Harthan

Premiere Date: Wednesday, September 23 at 8PM

Premise: (from FOX's press release, May 2015) Meet the Beethoven of private pathologists... From executive producer Todd Harthan ("Psych," "Dominion"), ROSEWOOD is the story of DR. BEAUMONT ROSEWOOD, JR. (Morris Chestnut, "Nurse Jackie," "The Best Man" franchise), the most brilliant private pathologist in Miami. Plagued with his own set of medical ailments, Rosewood sees that every moment of life should be embraced and lived to the fullest. And those moments of victims' lives that will never be are what drive him the most.

Thoughts: Rosewood follows Bones and Castle in structure and execution. A man and a woman work together, solve crimes, and become lovers. When and how Rosewood and Villa become lovers no one knows, but they will. Rosewood’s an energetic, confident medical examiner with less than a decade to live, which reverses the trope of the dying cop/medical examiner. Usually, that character type is miserable, popping pills and swilling whiskey. Rosewood’s not that. Villa’s a tough cop with vulnerabilities and touched by Rosewood’s medical maladies. They’ll work great together, solve crimes, and eventually marry. He’ll die in the series finale. Rosewood, everyone.

GRANDFATHERED

Created By Danny Chun

Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 29 at 8PM

Premise: (from FOX's press release, May 2015) What's the fastest way to put the brakes on a cruise-controlled bachelor lifestyle? Fatherhood? Guess again. Television icon John Stamos ("Full House," "ER") stars in a new comedy about the ultimate bachelor who discovers he's not only a father, but a grandfather. Will Jimmy and Sara fall for each other all over again, even though she's the one thing he never dates - a woman his own age? And who's higher maintenance, Jimmy or the baby? GRANDFATHERED is an unconventional, sophisticated comedy about coming of age - at any age.

Thoughts: Grandfathered’s not dissimilar from Full House. Stamos plays a successful restaurateur instead of a musician and soon finds himself helping his son, who he didn’t know existed, raise a child. Grandfathered looks perfect for a Hallmark movie, but less perfect for a weekly episodic sitcom. It’s a John Stamos vehicle. Despite the claim that it’s an unconventional show, I think it absolutely is an unconventional show.

THE GRINDER

Created By Andrew Mogel & Jarrad Paul

Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 29 at 8:30PM

Premise: (from FOX's press release, May 2015) How many TV lawyers does it take to try a real-life case in a real-life courtroom? One, and his name is THE GRINDER. THE GRINDER is the story of two brothers, who took different paths, but meet again in the middle - for justice... sort of.

Thoughts: Fred Savage’s acting hasn’t deteriorated as his brother’s has over on Disney channel. Lawyer shows either depicts serious dramatic situations or it’s like Franklin & Bash. The Grinder can send up lawyer shows, the TV industry, how it is after a series ends for a lead actor, while conforming to the formula of what it parodies.