Fox’s Fall Schedule Includes a Lot of Singing and Product Placement

Fox has unveiled their fall schedule ahead of their upfront presentation, and their strategy mostly seems to be: If it ain’t broke, let’s milk it for another season. Like every other season of the last decade, Fox is building its schedule around “American Idol” and, now, “The X-Factor.” Despite dwindling ratings — in part because of the proliferation of “American Idol” copy-cats, INCLUDING “The X-Factor” — “American Idol” still remains the top rated show on network television, and the most profitable (“The X-Factor” is the second most profitable). How does Fox make them even MORE profitable with ratings decreases? Easy: Pad them out into two hours apiece (instead of 90 minutes followed by a low-rated sitcom). Will that mean more singing? No! Of course not. It’ll mean more product placement and more commercials, silly.

Meanwhile, the animation block — “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and “The Cleveland Show” — will all return to fill out the Sunday night lineup. “House” is gone on Mondays, but it’ll be replaced by “Bones.” “My Boss,” a show starring Jordano Spiro as a surgeon trying to help the family pay back a debt to the mob, will follow at 9 EST in the fall. Kevin Bacon’s new show, “The Following” — about a complicated relationship between an FBI agent and a serial killer he captured — will hold that slot in the spring.

Tuesday is the only semi-interesting night on their schedule. “Raising Hope” moves to 8 EST, “New Girl” holds its slot at 9 EST, and sandwiched in between will be the new entry, “Ben and Kate” about adult siblings who raise a child together. At 9:30, Mindy Kaling’s new show, the OBYN office comedy, “It’s Messy” (or as I like to call it, “Splashy Vagina”) will premiere. As soon as Fox said they were eying a Mindy Kaling show, everyone pretty much knew it would be paired with Zooey Deschanel’s show. It makes quirky girl sense.

Wednesday will see “The X-Factor” in the fall and “American Idol” in the spring for two full hours. It should also be noted that Demi Lovato and Britney Spears will be announced as new judges of “The X-Factor.” Thursday, meanwhile, will have one-hour results shows, which is totally, completely absurd. They will be followed by “Glee,” which moves from Tuesday to Thursday. Oh, and Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker will have recurring roles in the next season of “Glee.”

Friday sees “Fringe” finish out its series run, followed by “Touch,” Keifer Sutherland’s mid-season replacement which has already been shuffled to the network television death zone. “Hell’s Kitchen” will replace “Fringe” in the spring.

It’s a fairly staid schedule without a lot of new programming. Once the preview clips are made available to Mindy Kaling’s show and Kevin Bacon’s drama, we’ll have them for you if they’re worth seeing.

Here’s the full schedule in fewer words.

MONDAY

“Bones,” 8:00 p.m. ET

“The Mob Doctor,” 9:00 p.m. ET

“The Following,” (midseason)

TUESDAY

“Raising Hope,” 8:00 p.m. ET

“Ben and Kate,” 8:30 p.m. ET

“New Girl,” 9:00 p.m. ET

“The Mindy Project,” 9:30 p.m. ET

“The Goodwin Games,” (midseason) TBD

WEDNESDAY

“The X Factor,” 8:00 p.m. ET

“American Idol,” 8:00 p.m. ET (midseason)

THURSDAY

“The X Factor,” Results 8:00 p.m. ET

“American Idol,” Results 8:00 p.m. ET (midseason)

“Glee,” 9 p.m. ET

FRIDAY

“Touch,” 8:00 p.m. ET

“Fringe,” 9:00 p.m. ET

“Hell’s Kitchen,” (midseason) TBD

SATURDAY

“Fox Sports Saturday,” 7:00 p.m. ET

“Cops,” (midseason) TBD

SUNDAY

“NFL Game,” 7:00 p.m. ET

“Animation Domination,” 7:00 p.m. ET

“The OT,” 7:30 p.m. ET

“The Cleveland Show”, 7:30 p.m. ET

“The Simpsons,” 8:00 p.m. ET

“Bob’s Burgers,” 8:30 p.m. ET

“Family Guy,” 9:00 p.m. ET

“American Dad,” 9:30 p.m. ET