LOS ANGELES — Fox has only two new programs for fall. And it is in better shape than some networks. The joke is making the rounds: This year, television’s fall season will be moved to January.
Post-strike, things in Hollywood are “still a little odd,” Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly told critics here. With little product in hand, thanks to the writers strike, much of the new programming won’t be ready until after the first of the year.
Fox executives downplay the meager offerings for fall, claiming it wouldn’t do much differently even if there had been no strike. Fox aims to save itself for the big January push, when “24” and “American Idol” return. It’s a good argument; we’ll hear how the other networks defend their sketchy fall slates.
For the industry as a whole, the strike “was obviously damaging,” Reilly said. “I don’t think you’ve seen as much product as you normally would.”
Fox has a new J.J. Abrams drama, however, that’s already garnering the biggest buzz of the season. Abrams’ “Fringe” explores pseudo- science and paranormal weirdness. A geek-pleasing cross between “Lost,” “The X-Files” and “Altered States,” it debuts Sept. 9. Abrams promises it will be easier to follow than his earlier hits “Lost” and “Alias.” He admitted that even he sometimes found “Alias” indecipherable.
Also for fall, a workplace comedy, “Do Not Disturb,” seeks laughs upstairs/downstairs at a hotel, starring Niecy Nash (“Reno 911”).
Among Fox’s eight new projects: “Boldly Going Nowhere,” a half-hour from Rob McElhenney, described as “The Office” in space.
As Fox unleashes a flood of programming in January, the competition will be in the position of introducing untested product against established hits.
And what about Fox’s least- admired, most-derided reality series, “Moment of Truth”?
Reilly is a pragmatist. The former NBC chief knows better than to try to spin critics on a low-end reality show that is based on humiliation.
“I’ll just say this about ‘Moment of Truth.’ This is Fox. Fox is free to do these kinds of things.”
Fox executives give themselves a free pass to be revolting. Some things never change.
A bigger problem going forward is the lack of good comedy scripts in circulation. Talk to comedy writers, and you hear the same thing: Everyone is running scared, unsure what the other guy wants.
“A lot of confidence has left the creative space,” Reilly said. Writers don’t know what to pitch, programmers don’t know what they want. One Fox innovation involves shaking up the usual pitch meeting. Going forward, Fox won’t invite writers to pitch in their sterile network offices, they’ll take meetings on the writers’ home turf. Right, that should fix everything.
Prequel to “24.”
On Nov. 23, a self-contained two-hour prequel to “24,” called “Exile” and set on Inauguration Day, will bridge the strike-induced gap between the sixth and seventh seasons.
“Exile” will feature Robert Carlyle (“The Full Monty”) and Jon Voight as the villain. Set in Africa, where Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) happens to be, the story centers on children recruited to fight a war. There will, of course, be a mole — an element producer Howard Gordon said is “a narrative requirement.”
Gordon noted the disappointments of last season, saying that CTU as an institution got tired after six years. The season had an existential premise, rather than a personal one, he said.
“It was easier to write the show when Jack aspired to getting his family together again. Jack came back from a Chinese prison last year wanting to die. That’s a very challenging place to begin a season.”
That said, Gordon added, “I don’t think it was as bad as some people said it was.”
Joanne Ostrow’s column appears Tuesday, Friday and Sunday: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
