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Fox honcho Kevin Reilly on the future of Dollhouse, Terminator, Fringe, Virtuality
Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment for Fox, told reporters that Terminator will need to perform, Dollhouse is working well, Fringe has a good shot at a second season and Virtuality needs retooling.
Reilly made his comments in a group interview with reporters following a formal presentation Tuesday at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour in Universal City, Calif.
Fox currently has the most genre programming of any TV network with Fringe, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the upcoming Dollhouse and the developing Virtuality. Fox is also notorious for bailing on beloved shows such as Firefly, while running other series such as The X-Files into the ground.
Following, we run down Reilly's revelations.
•Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is struggling in the ratings in its second season, gets the benefit of the doubt to earn a third season as it moves to a new timeslot, Fridays at 8 p.m., starting Feb. 13. "We'll see where we are in the spring," Reilly said. "If it does a job on Friday night, that would really be very, very helpful. We'd love to have those scripted originals on Friday night, doing a sci-fi little throwback to X-Files."
•Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's new show, has undergone reshoots and rewrites, but Reilly now says the show is where he wants it to be creatively. "Joss has done his thing," he said. "I want him to just do his show. We had a couple of false starts, and then, frankly, we just left him alone."
Early buzz from critics has been lukewarm at best, but Reilly puts it in the eyes of viewers. "You guys should judge for yourself," he said. "Joss is a creative guy, and he does what he believes in. Hopefully you guys believe in it, too." Dollhouse debuts Feb. 13, following Terminator.
•Fringe, one of the few hits of the fall, has not yet been picked up for a second season, but fans should not worry. "I would anticipate it would be," Reilly said. The show has generated good if not stellar ratings but has a loyal cult following. Fringe returns with new episodes on Jan. 20 and will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
•The Friday Night Death Slot. Reilly acknowledges that Terminator and Dollhouse have a curse to break on Friday nights, the slot that killed shows such as Firefly and Freakylinks. "Well, that's been the case for a lot of shows, but there've also been a lot of shows that were kind of buried there for a reason," Reilly said. "I think these are two worthy shows, so we'll see what happens."
•Virtuality is a two-hour pilot for a proposed new sci-fi series that Peter Berg directed and Battlestar Galactica's Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor wrote and produced, which Fox is going to retool before making a series commitment. The pilot centers on the crew of an interstellar ship who immerse themselves in virtual worlds as a way to pass the time, until a flaw emerges in the system.
"It could air as is, and there's a certain segment of the audience that would flip over it, but it is, I think, right now a little bit too dense," Reilly said. "They shot a two-hour pilot, and I think the storytelling probably would have been served as a one-hour, so they're going in, and they're recutting, and we're going to look at it. It's pretty cool."
By Vincentw56 at 4:08 PM ON 01/13/09
Well, Fox is known for killing good shows while keeping cr@py shows like American Idol on the air for ever. I guess we will see. I always start new shows on Fox with much reservation, knowing that some day it will be canceled. I think Fox is so money driven that if a show doesn't make them a few million dollars a season, they just give up.
By Anachronite at 4:34 PM ON 01/13/09
Well Fox is in business to make money, can;t blame them for going for the $. That being said, they give up on shows way to fast, and friday night is a death for live ratings. I am guessing they don't count DVR recorded shows in the ratings. If that is true, They miss most of their audience. Most everyone I know DVR's a show and watches it when it is convienient, not when it actually airs.
By AdmNaismith at 4:49 PM ON 01/13/09
Science Fiction shows have the chance to make Networks the most money int he long run. No one wants to see paes eps od American Idol, but fans will buy and rebuy eps of their favorite SF shows (plus all the licensed merchandise). It's like no one remembers that NBC lost a lot of money on Star Trek when it fiorst ran, but more than made up for it almost immediately.
By rafe at 6:28 PM ON 01/13/09
AdmNaismith,
NBC does not own Star Trek; therefore, it did not make money from re-runs, movies, etc. Paramount Studios owns Star Trek.
By jpl1976 at 12:36 AM ON 01/14/09
Ah typical FOX, let shows that have gone past their prime and ride them into the ground and shows that dont take off immediatly you behead. Just imagine if X-Files came out today, they wouldn't last a season!
By albegao at 5:40 AM ON 01/14/09
Kiss "Terminator" good bye! Just hope they can rap it up properly!.
I will be extremely surprise if "Fringe", ( which is 20 times better than "Lost"), Last 3 seasons.
Like they said above good sci-fi show are now treated like prostitutes: MONEY NOW! OR YOU DEAD!
. . . A no! DVR's don't count. Also i don't watch " American IDOL", but don't say is not a good show. If it wasn't it would not still be running, and whit a more expanded budget each year!
By Deadpool at 7:29 AM ON 01/14/09
DVR DVR DVR... count the dang DVR taped shows and u might not have had to cancel certain shows.. life is busy and we can't be planted in front of the tv 24/7 or be there for then the show is slated to come on just so you can count it. DVR is the way things are so count them
By Wanker at 7:34 AM ON 01/14/09
DVR its whats for dinner!!
DVR the other white meat!
TV people get with it DVR is the way of the future!! watching a program on our time not your time. if we even have the time we still have it to watch. so someone smart should be able to figure out how to count DVRs everyone has one and if they don't then they need to get one.
By TomKo44 at 8:47 AM ON 01/14/09
Unfortunately they insist on putting SciFi on Friday, which many of us SciFi devotees spend watching "SciFriday" shows on the SciFi Channel. My Fridays are booked! So I expect those two shows will be rating failures. Fox Execs really are dumb-asses! :)
By Shawn at 9:36 AM ON 01/14/09
Including DVR numbers in the ratings doesn't do the networks any good. The purpose of the ratings system is to help determine ad rates. Since most people with DVRs skip commercials the advertisers don't care about DVRs, they want to know how many people will actually be exposed to their commercials. As DVRs and web content increase the networks are going to have to figure out a new way to make money from shows.
By Craig Ranapia at 6:00 AM ON 01/15/09
So "there's a certain segment of the audience that would flip over" 'Virtuality' as it now stands. Is Kevin Reilly trying to find a polite way of saying that the characters played by Jose Pablo Cantillo and Gene Farber are going to get divorced (and de-gayed) in the editing bay? Jus' saying folks...
By Chris K at 12:53 PM ON 01/18/09
I guess that's good news on Terminator. It's my favorite show right now, and a third season would seem like a logical length if it had to end there. Ending this season would be too soon. I hope all the viewers follow it to the new night.
By Regrix at 10:37 AM ON 01/21/09
Terminator is the best show on FOX or any other network, anyone who can't see that is blind...
Fox would be doing an incredible disservice to the show, the fans, and even themselves by giving it the axe because it had a rough second season, many shows have that problem, be it second or third or what ever...
It's got a strong cast, and good writers on whole.. and has the potential to be a leading show for FOX given time.
FOX screwed the pooch when it canceled Firefly, hopefully they won't be so short sighted this time.
By boycott at 6:08 PM ON 05/25/09
if you people have any balls you will boycott fox if they cancel TSCC its the only good show out there
By borg at 3:36 PM ON 12/03/09
TERMINATOR SCC must go on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By jimster2112 at 8:25 PM ON 12/20/09
The Heads of Fox Televison Should be ashamed of themselves. Furthermore they all should be Cancelled!!!
Terminator- Sarah Conner Cronicles was and IS the Best show on Television. Period!!
Especially now that SciFi Ch. BattleStar is over!
I agree, Boycott Fox if thy don't have the guts or integrity to air the Third and Even Fourth Season of Terminator - SCC.
Finally in regards to the producer of the show who on his blog told fans of the show to quit whining. I say to him SHUT UP you WIMP!!
And to Kevin Reilly - I say; Have some guts and some Spine!
Keep Terminator - SCC on TV and give it its Third and Four Seasons. Because IT IS the only worthwhile that FOX TV HAS !!!
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jimster2112:
The Heads of Fox Televison Should be ashamed of themselves. Furthermore they all should be Cancelled!!! Terminato...More »