Fox has made an early decision about shows for its 2011-2012 season. Five existing shows — dramas Human Target, The Chicago Code, and Lie to Me, and comedies Traffic Light and Breaking In — will not be returning in the fall. Taking their place will be two new dramas, The Finder and Alcatraz, as well as two comedies, I Hate My Teenage Daughter and The New Girl.
Deadline.com reported the new series’ pickups on Tuesday evening. The New Girl, a comedy starring Zooey Deschanel as a schoolteacher who moves in with three guys, was the first new show to get an order. This was followed by announcements about The Finder, a spinoff of Fox’s successful Bones series, and Alcatraz, a time-travel/crime drama from J.J. Abrams (with a cast that includes Lost‘s Jorge Garcia). The final pickup was I Hate My Teenage Daughter, a sitcom set to star Jaime Pressly (formerly on My Name Is Earl).
Of the four new shows, only The Finder has been seen outside of the studios. A pilot for the series aired in April as an episode of Bones. The new series will star Geoff Stults as Walter Sherman, a kind-of-crazy guy who can find anything and anyone, along with Michael Clarke Duncan and Saffron Burrows as his sidekicks. The Finder comes from Hart Hanson, who also created Bones.
Click here for BuddyTV’s review of The Finder.
Unfortunately, these new pilots need room, leading to Fox’s four cancelations. TVLine reported that Breaking In, Traffic Light and Human Target were doomed, while HitFix.com broke the bad news about The Chicago Code.
The cancelations come as bad news to the critics and fans who had hoped for salvation when it came to these bubble shows. While none of the canceled programs were ratings hits, each had solid-enough numbers to warrant the possibility of future seasons. Human Target had two seasons, and Lie to Me managed three before losing out this spring. The other three shows, meanwhile, debuted at midseason during this past year. Despite cancelation, the shows are expected to air their remaining episodes.
The Fox decisions mark the first choices by a major network for the 2011-2012 season. Other than early renewals of successful shows, we do not yet know what to expect from the fall TV scene.
Are you excited about the pilots ordered by Fox? Do any of the cancelations upset you? What other shows do you expect to see renewed or canceled in the next few weeks? Leave a comment to let us know!
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
