Is Fox on the chopping block?
PASADENA, Calif. — Usually the top question for any broadcast network is whether particular shows will exist a year from now. But at this moment for Fox, the question is whether the network itself will exist in its current form going forward.
Last month the news broke that Fox impresario Rupert Murdoch had sold large chunks of his entertainment empire to the Walt Disney Co., including the Fox studio that has provided the bulk of Fox Broadcasting Company’s prime-time programming. Mr. Murdoch’s slimmeddown, so-called New Fox, including Fox News Channel and Fox Sports, will keep Fox Broadcasting, separating the network from its sister studio.
That blows up the financial balance that in the current media climate insists on vertical integration to allow a network and studio, as part of the same conglomerate, to be profitable.
Speculation is that without a conjoined broadcast network and studio, the Fox network may drop its expensive scripted series in favor of a mix of less expensive reality shows and news programs. Goodbye, “Lucifer.” Hello, more Sean Hannity. (Bad example: Some viewers may consider that an even exchange.)
The potential downsizing of Fox was foremost in the minds of TV critics on the first day of the Television Critics Association 2018 winter press tour. Dana Walden and Gary Newman, co-chairs and co-CEOs of Fox Television Group, which currently includes both the studio and Fox network, said whatever happens as a result of the Fox-Disney deal, it may not become apparent until the deal clears government regulatory approval.
“I would be lying if I didn’t say there was anxiety the week the deal was announced,” Mr.
Newman said, noting conversations with Fox show producers. “We assured them it was going to be business as usual because it’s going to take no less than 12 to 18 months to work out everything.”
That will include where Mr. Newman and Ms. Walden end up, whether they stay together as a team, go to Disney, stay at New Fox, etc.
Ms. Walden disputed the notion that Fox will become just a venue of unscripted programming.
“Rupert sees this as an enormous opportunity for the broadcast network,” she said. “We have certainly been on the inside of being a vertically integrated company that is always advantaged at our network. But that leaves independents — Warner Bros., Sony, Lionsgate, MGM — always on the outside never having a leg up getting onto a broadcast network. In his view, this is a great opportunity for companies with tremendous rosters to be advantaged at a network.”
Mr. Newman also speculated that New Fox could form a new Fox studio to supply Fox Broadcasting with scripted programming in the future.
Mr. Newman said he does not think Disney is acquiring the Fox studio and its dealswith producers of adult material, like Ryan Murphy (”American Horror Story”), to Disneyfy it.
“I’m concerned I’m going to have to put Mickey Mouse in ‘American Horror Story,’” Mr. Murphy acknowledged in his first response to the deal when speaking to Disney boss Bob Iger. “He was very sweet and kind and said, no, the reason Disney was interested in buying Fox [studio] was because they believe in its assets and executives and creators. And I think Mr. Iger has done a tremendous job of taking over communities and keeping those families intact, like Pixar, like Marvel, so I am interested to see what the company will look like before I make a decision about where I am going to go.”
Fox shows
On the programming side, this week Fox rolled out the latest return of “The XFiles” and a promising new Ryan Murphy-produced procedural drama, “9-1-1.” Later this month Fox debuts a new medical show, “The Resident” (10 p.m. Jan. 21), a blah pilot that feels overly familiar and ridiculous.
“9-1-1” has some obvious elements, too, including the hot shot young firefighter (Oliver Stark, “Into the Badlands”) who needs to curb his selfish impulses, but the cast is top-notch and the onthe-job cases play as fastpaced and mesmerizing distractions from the show’s more pedestrian elements.
Angela Bassett stars as a police officer with a meaty home story (her husband of many years has just come out as gay), but Connie Britton’s 911 operator does a lot of staring at computer screens to the point that one has to wonder, if she was creatively dissatisfied enough to leave “Nashville,” is this really an improvement?
But the emergency cases themselves are compelling and based on true stories, according to executive producer Mr. Murphy. He was inspired to create the show after making a 911 call when his 11-month-old son stopped breathing in the middle of the night. (It turned out his son had an undetected tracheal blockage that was repaired, andthe boy recovered.)
“We had four responders show up at 2 in the morning, and they were incredibly calm and nurturing, and they brought [our son] back to life,” Mr. Murphy said. “I had the experience of sitting with them, talking with them and they really talked me off a ledge, and I was very struck by what great people they were and how strong they were. From that moment on I was interested in the inner lives of these people.”
As for the timing, Mr. Murphy sees “9-1-1” as an antidote to Trumpian anxieties.
“I was longing for something blue sky,” he said. “It’s people who get up every day and do good deeds while battling their own demons and creating a community and family when they could, and that’s what this show is about.”
‘The Chi’
A rolling tragedy, Showtime’s heartbreaking “The Chi” (10 p.m. Sunday) elicits a bit of a vibe of “The Wire” minus the institutional introspection (”Wire” actress Sonja Sohn has a recurring role in “The Chi”). It’s a story of multiple AfricanAmerican Chicago families connected through the tragedy of murders of the city’s young people.
Revenge, recrimination and attempts to improve one’s lot in life all play a role in the series, which juggles multiple stories, including gang disputes, relationships rekindled, a chef trying to get ahead and a trio of elementary school friends.
Created and written by Emmy winner Lena Waithe (”Master of None”), “The Chi” isn’t always an easy show to watch, but it imbues its characters with a humanity and complexity that makes the series commendable.
Kept/canceled/rebooted
Netflix renewed the “She’s Gotta Have It” reboot for a second season; Fox did the same for “The Gifted.”
Freeform’s “The Fosters” will end this summer with a three-night limited series finale with plans for a spinoff following Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez).
Showtime canceled “White Famous,” starring Jay Pharoah and 1997 CAPA grad Jacob Ming-Trent, after just one season.
Channel surfing
“Game of Thrones” will return for its six-episode, eighth and final season on HBO in 2019. … A new season of the political docuseries “The Circus” debuts on Showtime at 8 p.m. April 15 without disgraced-by-sexual-harrassment-allegations former host Mark Halperin. … Fox’s “New Girl” begins its final season at 9:30 p.m. April 10 with the one-hour series finale set for 9 p.m. May 15.