As we get closer to the end of the year, networks are getting ready to set their mid-season slate and FOX has announced where their schedule is headed as we reach that period.
Following the December 13 end of Thursday Night Football on FOX, the network will bring back its fall 2017 Thursday lineup of Gotham and The Orville starting January 3. It will be the fifth and final season of the Batman-themed drama and second for MacFarlane’s space dramedy. Like with series premiere for the latter series, which aired on Sunday behind an NFL doubleheader, the series’ sophomore installment will also get a Sunday launch, on December 30, following an NFL doubleheader.
Sophomore medical drama The Resident, which has a full-season order, will have its winter premiere on January 14. It will be used to launch the new vampire thriller drama The Passage. The serialized newcomer will take over the 9 PM slot while procedural 9-1-1, which has a shortened order of 18 episodes, will return in the spring.
FOX’s Wednesday dramas Empire and Star also have limited 18-episode runs, and the network is making the night unscripted while they are on a break. Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back will debut its second season at 8 PM January 2, followed by the series premiere of celebrity competition series The Masked Singer at 9 PM.
The Emmy- and Peabody-winning Cosmos returns for its third installment on March 3 in its old Sunday 9 PM slot. It again will air as a global event on Fox and National Geographic in 172 countries and 43 languages. To make room for the limited series, FOX is reshuffling its Sunday lineup, with Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy changing slots and freshman Rel getting off the schedule (although the ratings for Rel are slim, it doesn’t mean it’s officially canceled, it’s just reaching the end of its order).
Check out FOX’s midseason schedule below:
FOX MIDSEASON 2018-2019 PREMIERE DATES
Sunday, Dec. 30:
8-9 PM ET/5-6 PM PT THE ORVILLE (Special Premiere) Live to all time zones
9-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY (encore)
9:30-10 PM REL (encore)
Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 1:
8-9 PM THE GIFTED (Winter Premiere)
9-10 PM LETHAL WEAPON (Winter Premiere)
Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 2:
8-9 PM GORDON RAMSAY’S 24 HOURS TO HELL AND BACK (Season 2 Premiere)
9-10 PM THE MASKED SINGER (Series Premiere)
Thursdays, beginning Jan. 3:
8-9 PM GOTHAM (Season 5 Premiere)
9-10 PM THE ORVILLE (Time Period Premiere)
Mondays, beginning Jan. 14:
8-9 PM THE RESIDENT (Winter Premiere)
9-10 PM THE PASSAGE (Series Premiere)
Sunday, Jan. 27:
7-10 PM ET live / RENT (Live Musical Event) PT tape-delayed
Fridays, beginning Feb. 15:
8-8:30 PM LAST MAN STANDING
8:30-9 PM THE COOL KIDS
9-10:00 PM PROVEN INNOCENT (Series Premiere)
Sundays, beginning March 3:
7:30-8 PM BOB’S BURGERS (Time Period Premiere)
8-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9 PM FAMILY GUY (Time Period Premiere)
9-10 PM COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS (Premiere)
