FOX Holy prequel, Batman! 'Gotham' castmembers, from lef: Robin Lord Taylor, Jada Pinkett Smith, guest star Cory Michael Smith, guest star Clare Foley, Donal Logue, Ben McKenzie, Camren Bicondova, David Mazouz and Sean Pertwee. Fox is betting big on the "Batman" prequel "Gotham" for next season while doing a little judicious downsizing on sitcoms a! nd "American Idol."
Coming off a season that Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly acknowledged Monday was "a tough one for us," Fox unveiled a fall schedule that includes new shows every night.
With familiar cornerstones "Glee" and "The Following" as well as "Idol" scheduled for early 2015, the fall Fox lineup offers a lot of fresh blood.
Even the Sunday night animation bloc, long one of Fox's signatures, will have a different look, with returning real-people sitcom "Brooklyn Nine Nine" and new sitcom "Mulaney" joining the animated "Bob's Burgers," "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy."
"Mulaney" stars John Mulaney from "Saturday Night Live."
The network's highest hope, Reilly suggested, rides on "Gotham," for which he said 16 episodes have been ordered.
He noted that ABC struggled somewhat this season with "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D," but said the strong established characters of "Gotham" make it a "rock-solid" script.
Reilly said the network is also betting big on "Utopia," a reality series in which 15 strangers are moved to a remote location for a year and must create their own new society.
Based on a hit Dutch series, "Utopia" will start earlier than other premieres and for its first six weeks will air on both Tuesday and Friday.
Reilly says he expects "Utopia" will become a new buzz show.
Inserting "Utopia" at 8 p.m. Tuesdays means Fox is dropping its all-sitcom Tuesday programming. "New Girl" and "The Mindy Project" will be slotted after "Utopia."
Reilly spoke delicately about comedies, saying Fox is still committed to them, but that they need to be "protected" by having strong shows around them and good lead-ins.
"Very few comedies" can build an audience on their own, he said.
Ed Araquel/FOX 'Gracepoint,' a 10-episode event series based the British drama 'Broadchurch,' stars David Tennant ('Doctor Who') and Anna Gunn ('Breaking Bad'). 
Chuck Hodes/FOX Terrence Howard and producer Lee Daniels are teaming up for music drama 'Empire.' 
Matthias Clamer/FOX 'Saturday Night Live' alum John Mulaney, third from right, is the title star of his own sitcom. 
Frank Micelotta/Fox/PictureGroup Fox also announced that Pitbull will have his own New Year's Eve special."Gotham" will be paired Monday night with Fox's biggest drama hit of the past season, "Sleepy Hollow."
Reilly said "Sleepy Hollow" would have more episodes next season, with 18 ordered. He acknowledged some fans wanted more episodes last season, but said, "I like the way it ended, not teasing it for more episodes."
"Hell's Kitchen" will return Wednesdays, leading into the new dramedy "The Red Band Society," starring Octavia Spencer.
"Red Band," based on a Spanish series, follows a group of high school students who meet in a pediatric ward.
Reilly said it fits into "the next generation of young-appeal soaps."
Thursday has "Bones" leading into the new "Gracepoint," which is a remake of the BBC series "Broadchurch."
While "Broadchurch" just aired this season, Fox is confident there's room for an American remake. Like "Broadchurch," "Gracepoint" will be a closed-end series and Reilly said it will have a different ending than the BBC version.
It will, however, have the same star as the BBC version, David Tennant, alongside Anna Gunn.
In general, said Reilly, Fox is moving toward becoming a network without seasons, presenting original programming "24/7/365."
He noted three "event" specials planned for the upcoming months: "Jump of the Century," with two cyclists trying to jump the Grand Canyon; a New Year's Eve music special with Pitbull; and a live production of "Grease."
He says Fox will do more closed-end "event" series, which by early 2015 will include hip hop drama "Empire," Egypt-based fantasy "Hieroglyph" and horror series "Wayward Pines" from M. Night Shyamalan.
Reilly said "Idol," whose ratings declined this year even as its intra-show drama simmered down, would be "streamlined" next season, with 36-37 hours instead of more than 50.
Alex Martinez / FOX Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, left, provides some adult guidance to the teen cast of 'Red Band Society.' He says that after the auditions, it is "likely" it will shrink to one two-hour show a week.
He also said it was likely the judging panel of Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban would return.
Next year's final season of "Glee," which suffered serious viewer erosion this season, will run in the winter and spring on consecutive weeks without breaks, Reilly said.
He said 22 episodes have been ordered, but left open the possibility that would be negotiated down.
"We will be sitting down with (creator) Ryan Murphy to determine just how the show should end," Reilly said.
Fox's fall lineup:
MONDAY
8 p.m.: Gotham
9 p.m.: Sleepy Hollow
TUESDAY
8 p.m.: Utopia
9 p.m.: New Girl
9:30 p.m.: The Mindy Project
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m.: Hell's Kitchen
9 p.m.: Red Band Society
THURSDAY
8 p.m.: Bones
9 p.m.: Gracepoint
FRIDAY:
8 p.m.: Master Chef Junior
9 p.m.: Utopia
SATURDAY:
College football
SUNDAY:
7:30 p.m.: Bob's Burgers
8 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30 p.m.: Brooklyn Nine Nine
9 p.m.: Family Guy
9:30 p.m.: Mulaney
Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/batman-prequel-save-fox-2014-15-schedule-article-1.1788902
