Fox takes action, scrambles fall lineup

Fox is going the sci-fi/genre route this fall with the network’s first Marvel series and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s long-planned homage to Star Trek.

Marvel’s The Gifted stars Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker as a couple on the run after discovering their kids possess mutant powers, while The Orville stars MacFarlane as the captain of a spaceship 400 years in the future and Adrianne Palicki as his ex-wife and first officer.

Joining other guy-friendly action series including Lethal Weapon and DC’s Gotham and Lucifer, those are two of just three new series planned for fall, along with Sunday comedy Ghosted, starring Craig Robinson and Adam Scott as a pair of supernatural sleuths. Midseason shows include

The Resident, a medical drama starring Matt Czuchry; 9-1-1, an ER drama starring Angela Bassett; a final season of New Girl; the return of X-Files; and LA to Vegas, about a weekend gambling shuttle flight. And Fox will mount two live musicals, A Christmas Story and Rent. Despite solid newcomers including The Mick and Lethal Weapon, reboots 24: Legacy and Prison Break proved critical disappointments. Empire lost its perch as the top-rated youngadult draw, but remains a big (if declining) draw. A major shakeup in the fall schedule will see Gotham and Weapon switch nights and several other shows move to new time periods.