Predictions for 11/25/23
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| Photo Credit: Fox |
Bob's Burgers: Fox recently unveiled its midseason schedule, and Bob's Burgers is notoriously missing from the lineup. It appears that Bob's will be taking the spring off this time around, possibly due to the WGA strike leaving the series with fewer scripts than previous seasons. Bob's has already been renewed for the 2024-25 television season, so there is no real cause for alarm, but its midseason omission still comes as a shock. To put things into perspective, this will serve as the first time in the 14-season run of Bob's that the comedy will not be airing in the spring months. The only silver lining here is that the cartoon's ratings average will benefit greatly from not having to tough it out during the stretch when football inflation is absent. Expect the sitcom's year-to-year trend to look quite favorable as a result. As for its latest episode, Bob's put up a satisfactory 0.24 rating and improved on Krapopolis by 0.04. The series is clearly not getting any stronger, but Fox can at least count on it to build on the 8:30 p.m. freeloader.
The Great North: The Great North is returning to the Fox network in the new year. After a January 7th premiere, the series will be placed in the 9 p.m. time slot starting on February 18. The animated comedy will be sandwiched between Krapopolis and Grimsburg, meaning it will be forced to fend for itself after spending most of its run in the cushiony, post-Simpsons slot. It is hard to feel confident about the program's chances since it has yet to score a 5th season renewal and will have to air the majority of its season without football help. The Great North was, at best, a passable player in the 8:30 p.m. time slot, but it is clearly not anchor material. Fox is likely betting that fans missing Bob's Burgers will still tune in at 9 o'clock for a show that shares an executive producer and is very similar in tone. Perhaps that will be the case, but it's unlikely that this modest performer will grow an audience overnight, especially when it has a dud like Krapopolis for a lead-in.
Family Guy: Family Guy will be moving to Wednesdays in March, a night it has not aired on in over twenty years. This series has been a Sunday staple for so long that it's hard not to be stunned by Fox's decision to place it on a different night. It will be interesting to see if Fox continues to pair it up with Animal Control in fall 2024 or if it will find its way back to Sunday nights. This move makes it clear that Fox does not value the strength of the series. They may even be doing this out of spite due to Seth MacFarlane's dealings with rival company NBCUniversal. In the end, Fox is only doing themselves a disservice by treating their strongest animated series as an afterthought.
Special Forces: Special Forces fell to a new series low on November 20th, sinking to a mere 0.19 in the Adults 18-49 demographic. With just one episode left in its order, there's really not much this series can do to make a case for renewal.
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