Fox Plays the Waiting Game

If you could just ignore those pesky months between September and December, Fox would be sitting pretty. The challenge each year for this network is how to schedule a fall start that will live up to the blockbuster spring finish provided by late-arriving shows like American Idol and (even a diminished) 24.
In the last of the week's upfront presentations, Fox Entertainment president Peter Ligouri made the curious choice of putting himself in the middle of a 24 parody, trading exchanges on the phone with clips of Jack Bauer ( Kiefer Sutherland, not in attendance in New York this year) from 24, in which Jack addressed "the president." The ticking-clock (ticking bomb?) metaphor isn't the most natural fit for a sales presentation, you'd think. And given that the first thing anyone in Los Angeles (where I've been for the last three weeks) wants to talk to me about is the steep decline in 24's quality this season, is this really putting your best foot forward? ( 24, incidentally, was renewed for two more seasons earlier this week. More reason than ever to reinvent the show from top to bottom next year.)
Ligouri promised his pitch would last exactly an hour (with the 24 digital clock keeping track), and he lived up to his word. Now we'll just have to see if his shows can live up to their hype. - Matt Roush
To read Matt's complete take on Fox's fall lineup, click here.