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Fox is rethinking its midseason schedule, and it’s not a huge vote of confidence for comedies The Mindy Project and Dads.
Both series will go on hiatus in early winter, and, beginning Feb. 25, Glee will get an earlier than expected spring premiere in its old time slot of 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. The only series that won’t move in the current two-hour comedy block is New Girl, which will continue to air at 9 p.m.
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As for freshman comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the relatively strong performer will move to the post-New Girl 9:30 p.m. slot starting Feb. 4. The duo have both been outperforming Tuesday neighbors Dads and The Mindy Project considerably. The news comes just a few weeks after Fox announced full-season pick-ups for Brooklyn and Dads.
Mindy will return on April 1 with an hourlong premiere following the end of Brooklyn‘s freshman season. It will return to its 9:30 p.m. time slot the following week. The word is still out on Dads. Seth MacFarlane‘s lackluster foray into live-action comedy has been the lowest performer of Fox’s freshman class, and after Feb. 11, the network has no formal plans for when further episodes will air.
The moves mean nothing for midseason drama Rake, still set to premiere in Glee‘s current Thursday slot on Jan. 23. As for The Following, last season’s strong drama entry gets a tweaked schedule return on Sunday, Jan 19. Like the network just did with Almost Human, it will bank on a post-NFL boost, and the NFC Championship Game should prove as big a lead-in as any the network can offer in the coming months.
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Fox’s comedies have been plagued with ratings woes of late. Despite being one of TV’s biggest DVR growers, flagship New Girl has hit a series low of just a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 during its last two airings. And The Mindy Project pulled just a 1.2 rating in the key demo on Nov. 19.
Glee hasn’t fared particularly well in its Thursday slot this season, either. Barring the 81 percent surge when the Ryan Murphy series paid tribute to late castmember Cory Monteith on Oct. 10, it has also hit series lows — pulling just a 1.4 rating with its most recent airing.
Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly has been vocal about his desire to have the network be a home to a two-hour comedy block, but success has thus far eluded him. New Girl and The Mindy Project were the only carryovers from last year’s Tuesday launch, with Ben & Kate suffering a midseason cancelation and Raising Hope moving off to a new comedy locale on Friday. Initial returns for the latter averaged just a 0.7 rating in the demo.
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