New Girl

CHICAGO – When so much of your already-limited primetime schedule is devoted to reality singing competitions and animated programming, it gives a network little room to play. FOX only has a few timeslots once one takes “The X Factor”/”American Idol” and “Animation Domination” out of the equation. But play they will.

CHICAGO – FOX announced today that they have renewed their three biggest critical hits, the Tuesday night comedies “New Girl,” “Raising Hope,” and “Glee.” Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, made the announcement via press release, in advance of the company’s official May Fall schedule announcement. The renewals for smash hit “New Girl” and reliable performer “Glee” came as a surprise to no one. “Raising Hope” was closer to the bubble and so the early renewal makes for good news for its fans.

CHICAGO – FOX continues to struggle to produce a new dramatic hit, announcing this week that the highly-promoted “Terra Nova” would not return for another season of dinosaur action. The cancellation combined with Monday night’s truly dismal ratings for “Alcatraz” has given some hope to “Fringe” fans. They can’t cancel everything, can they?

CHICAGO – Networks have long attempted four consecutive comedies on one night but it’s not a common thing to find on FOX (at least not live-action). So when it was announced that FOX would try to replicate what CBS has on Mondays, ABC has on Wednesdays, and NBC has on Thursdays with their own four-in-a-row on Tuesday nights, TV watchers were curious.

CHICAGO – Brian Tallerico appears on Bill Moller’s program on three Saturdays in December 2011 to take listener calls on the best television programs of the year, including “Boss,” “American Horror Story,” “Falling Skies, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Parenthood,” “Justified,” “Southland,” “Prime Suspect,” “The Middle,” “New Girl,” “Community,” and much more!

CHICAGO – FOX just announced their premiere dates for the 2011-2012 midseason including exactly when to tune in for the return of “American Idol,” along with the highly-anticipated premieres of J.J. Abrams’ “Alcatraz,” new mystery “The Finder,” Kiefer Sutherland drama “Touch,” and the animated adaptation of “Napoleon Dynamite.” They also scheduled the return of two nearly-canceled shows — “Breaking In” and “Bob’s Burgers” — along with announcing that “I Hate My Teenage Daughter,” “Glee,” and “Bones” will be taking some time off in the winter, returning with new episodes in the spring.

CHICAGO – It feels like only yesterday that we were naming the most promising shows of 2011 (and would like to point out that our #1 was the first program given a full-season order for just one second).

CHICAGO – NBC continues to be a network in ratings freefall (pretty much since “The Jay Leno Show” debacle) as they can now lay claim to not only the first show canceled in the Fall 2011 season (after axing “The Playboy Club” earlier this week) but the second as well. It was reported this afternoon that after last night’s anemic numbers for the third episode of “Free Agents,” a fourth episode won’t see the air.

CHICAGO – FOX made a lot of TV viewers happy this afternoon when, on the strength of its first two outings, they renewed “New Girl” for a full season. The Zooey Deschanel sitcom will be on until at least Spring of 2012, making it the first new series to get a full-season order from its network. Congratulations to the whole “New Girl” team.

CHICAGO – With new shows, it’s always about week two. How far do you drop from the highly-promoted week one numbers when there aren’t as many ads or reviews to remind viewers you’re on the air? CBS’s “Unforgettable” and FOX’s “New Girl” held strong from their week one numbers while “Glee” continued to slide from year to year.