Archive for March, 2010

Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks in "The Good Guys"

On Tuesday morning Fox released its summer line-up, and it includes a few mixed blessings.

First things first: among the announcements was news that “Glee’s” season finale will air on June 8 at 9PM ET/PT — a great way to kick off the summer, don’t you think? “Glee” will air in repeats at 8 PM Wednesdays starting on June 16.

Summer stalwart “So You Think You Can Dance” returns to the schedule with a two-hour premiere on May 27, and “Hell Kitchen” begins its off-season cycle with a two-hour premiere on June 10.

Here’s where things get interesting. Remember when Fox confused viewers with its wan commitment to “Lie to Me” by ordering more episodes right before disappearing it from the midseason schedule?  The network was saving it for a summertime run, it seems.  “Lie to Me” will be paired with the new hour-long comedy from “Burn Notice” creator Matt Nix, “The Good Guys,” on Mondays starting June 7.

Audiences will have an opportunity to see a preview of “The Good Guys” (formerly known as “Code 58“) on Wednesday, May 19, which is smack dab in the middle of sweeps and the final rounds of “American Idol.”  You may recall that Fox reaped huge rewards by using the same strategy to introduce us to “Glee.”

But this is why we mentioned “mixed blessings” in that first paragraph — that preview is in the 8 o’clock slot, which means it won’t be getting any benefit of an “Idol” lead-in. (Not that having “Idol” as a lead-in guarantees success anyway; it worked for “Glee,” a musical comedy, for obvious reasons. It has not worked for a number of canceled Fox experiments, including this one. )

That means “The Good Guys” and “Lie to Me” must succeed or fail pretty much on their own, which is a difficult enough task during the regular season. During the summer, when viewership is lower?…Well, we’re just glad Shawn Ryan,  “Lie to Me’s” incredibly talented showrunner (who previously executive produced “The Shield” and “The Unit“) has another cop series in the pipeline called “Ridealong.”

On paper, summertime has the benefit of lower competition. Reality series thrive during the warmest months, largely due to their relatively lower production costs. But it’s still a tough place for scripted programs to find a foothold. Even if networks and audiences are changing their attitudes about summer scheduling, it is still the season for burning off episodes of  series that didn’t work during the regular season.  That’s why a handful of “Past Life” episodes are being dumped on to Fridays starting May 28.

Keep reading for the full schedule, as listed on the official press release.

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