At its upfront presentation today, Fox unveiled their plans for the so-called “New Fox,†their vision for the company in the wake of the big Disney-Fox merger. As Fox’s schedule for the next season attests, that New Fox features a lot of multi-camera comedies, a lot of football, and some old favorites they hope people still like (including their own shows like Empire and new revivals like Last Man Standing). As part of their presentation, the network premiered trailers for their new pickups. Get a look at how the Fox of the future is shaping up below.
Comedies
The Cool Kids
This is a Charlie Day–produced take on life in a retirement community that leans decidedly more to gross-out gags than Golden Girls. The clique of cool kids is made up of big names David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, and Leslie Jordan, with Vicki Lawrence as the new girl (RIP New Girl) who mixes up the group.
Rel
Lil Rel Howery, of Get Out and the late Carmichael Show, gets his own starring vehicle in a sitcom about himself. He’s “a loving husband and father living in Chicago, who finds out his wife is having an affair, and must rebuild his life as a single father.†Sinbad, Jess “Hilarious†Moore, and Jordan L. Jones also star as characters that are not Rel.
Last Man Standing
Tim Allen’s Mike Baxter is back and as resentful of the women in his life as ever, as the former ABC sitcom returns to life on a new network. Expect lots of think pieces about Mike Baxter as a stand-in for the working-class Trump voter à la Roseanne, even though that might not be the case.
Dramas
The Passage
Based on Justin Cronin’s book trilogy, The Passage focuses on a secret medical-research facility that’s trying to find a cure for a terrible virus, and for a young girl (Saniyya Sidney) some of the scientists decided to use as a test subject. Mark-Paul Gosselaar plays a federal agent who takes a liking to the girl and tries to save her. Also, because this seems notable, he’s really committing to the scruff.
Proven Innocent
America’s true-crime podcasting obsession comes to TV in Danny Strong’s Proven Innocent, a show about a lawyer (Rachelle Lefevre) who is trying to prove another woman’s innocence (and once had to do the same for herself). There’s also a podcast being produced about her case, seemingly run by Nikki M. James, while she faces off against an evil prosecutor played by Brian d’Arcy James. Expect lots of fiery speeches.
Limited Series
Cosmos: Possible Worlds
Neil DeGrasse Tyson returns for a third season of explaining the wonders of space to you. The coming episodes will “reveal previously uncharted realms, including lost worlds and worlds to come, and those that we may one day inhabit in a thrilling future we can still have.†Adventure is out there.