We’re rapidly approaching a reality in which the company that made The Little Mermaid might also own The Simpsons, a mind-boggling proposition for anyone looking back on the state of animation way back in 1989. But while Disney’s soon-to-be-completed acquisition of 20th Century Fox’s film and TV assets—including the…
Thanks to some interesting choices this spring, the discussion during today’s Fox executive session at the Television Critics Association summer press tour turned to the network’s Last Man Standing revival. There was a certain business sense to the whole deal, given that the Tim Allen-led “comedy” is produced by Fox’s…
Back in May, Fox gutted its comedy lineup by canceling The Mick, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (though it got better), and The Last Man On Earth, all to make room for the glorious right-wing renaissance heralded by Last Man Standing’s triumphant return to the airwaves. Unfortunately, The Last Man On Earth had established a habit…
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 24 creators Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran are working with Fox to develop another revival of their hit torture drama, following 2014's 24: Live Another Day and last year’s 24: Legacy. Unlike those attempts, which focused on an older Jack Bauer and a non-Jack Bauer, this new 24 will…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the critically acclaimed new documentary about Fred Rogers, is routinely reducing its audiences to deep, salty pools of tears. It’s both lovely and bewildering in these mean, divided times to see such a pure portrait of human kindness, the story of a man who still believed in the inherent…
Perhaps the sentiments contained in the above sitcom trailer are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing funny, gives it a superficial appearance of being unfunny, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of a basic sense of humor. But the tumult…
As reported by Deadline, Fox has canceled Ghosted after one, tumultuous season. This news comes just a few weeks after Fox rebooted the show halfway through its season into more of a straightforward, Office-style comedy, thanks to the guiding hand of new showrunner Paul Lieberstein—who played Toby on The Office. The…
While most of the nation is caught up watching the Mexican border with soul-sick revulsion, there’s been another big drama playing out in the papers that you might not have been following as closely: the epic pissing match over which enormous media conglomerate gets the privilege of throwing more money at Fox ruler…
Following the lead of Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane—who followed up his tweet about being “embarrassed” to work for Fox with a $2.5 million donation to NPR and its L.A. affiliate, KPCC, earlier today—a growing chorus of Fox creatives are criticizing the company for its role in such craven lies as “it’s not an…
Over the weekend, Family Guy and The Orville creator Seth MacFarlane decided to take a nice big bite out of the hand that feeds him by saying that he’s “embarrassed” to work for Fox. His comment was a response to a quote from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who recently instructed viewers to ignore everything they hear…
Performing a minor miracle of television redemption, Netflix announced today that it’s saving Lucifer’s soul—or, at least, its chance for a fourth season on TV. Variety reports that the streaming service has resurrected the Tom Ellis-starring Vertigo adaptation for another year, after Fox unceremoniously dumped it…
A few days ago, Disney’s proposed purchase of vast swathes of 21st Century Fox—including its film and TV studios and the X-Men properties, plus FX, National Geographic, and more—seemed like a done deal, just waiting for the cash (a reported $52.4 billion) to be delivered, and the Wolverine-shaped keychain to be handed…
Kelsey Grammer is branching out in his choice of TV acting gigs. Rather than playing an arrogant amoral politician like he did in Boss, or an arrogant amoral studio chief like in The Last Tycoon, or an arrogant amoral lawyer like in Partners, the actor is playing—actually, wait, the last one is pretty identical to his…
The Belchers always stick together. Even though each family member has their turn being irrational, overly ambitious, and putting everyone in their lives in a dangerous situation, they will always get the support of the rest of their family. In the case of the final two episodes of the season, that means standing by…
Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans have accomplished a whole heck of a lot in the last month or so. Not only did our outcry over Fox’s cancellation of the beloved sitcom result in the series returning to its corporate birthplace, NBCUniversal, for a sixth season, but the couple we only recently started ’shipping might become a…
After last week’s cancellations, pickups, and 11th-hour rescues, the broadcast networks are convening in New York this week for the annual TV ritual known as upfront presentations, in which America’s broadcasters announce their fall lineups to potential advertisers. This post will continue to update as those schedules…
Here’s some good news for anyone still working on a shrine dedicated to sitcom hero Winston “Winnie The Bish” Bishop: A bunch of items from the New Girl set are currently being auctioned off, so you can now own one of Winston’s actual bird shirts, a different one of Winston’s actual bird shirts, a third bird shirt, a …
There’s an old saying we like to toss around here at The A.V. Club, and it feels particularly appropriate today: “It’s always Trailer Happy Hour somewhere.” Yes, we already posted a Trailer Happy Hour today, with clips from Nightflyers and Deadly Class, but it’s Monday and some of us work the late shift on Monday, so…
Every spring, TV networks engage in a traditional blood harvest of cancellations in order to ensure a bountiful harvest of press as they present their new fall lineups at their upfront presentations. This year’s ritual sacrifice took place last week, seeing the cancellation of around 20 shows, most traumatic of which…
Despite some appearances, the Belcher family is a matriarchy. Yes, Bob runs the restaurant and is part of making the decisions, but at the end of the day, what Linda says usually goes. So when she decides in “Mo Mommy Mo Problems” that her Mother’s Day gift will be a day of everyone saying “yes” to what she wants to…
