With spring just catapulting towards summer, it’s a little difficult to look past the months ahead to the time of pumpkin spice lattes (cough, everything) and falling leaves. Unless, of course, you’re a network television company; then, the fall is high school dance you just can’t wait for, the oasis in the desert, the light at the end of the tunnel.
In preparation for the faraway 2016-17 fall season, Fox went ahead and dropped not one, not two, but ten trailers and teasers today for its upcoming and growing collection of new shows, Variety reports. While some of the freshman series are completely novel, with new characters, plot, setting, etcetera, some of the shows might be a little familiar, especially to anyone born before the 1980s took off.
Lethal Weapon is exactly one of those shows. Inspired by the original movie–which came out in 1987–this incarnation features the same characters, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, two Los Angeles police detectives partnered together despite the clear tension between the two. In the initial franchise, Riggs (Mel Gibson) becomes daredevil and impulsive after the death of his wife, a trend that doesn’t stop when he’s matched with the more senior Murtaugh (Danny Glover), but together, the two take on a perilous LA drug trafficking circle and succeed.
In this version, Riggs (Clayne Crawford) is just as wild, and Murtaugh (Damon Wayans Sr.) is a bit younger but nonetheless, Riggs is not his cup of tea. Despite their differences, the two wrap up a case together and continue their partnership; that is, if they don’t die trying first.
The Exorcist is another Fox throwback remake, except the original movie reaches all the way back to 1973. The horror quickly became one of the most successful movies in that genre of all time, frightening a global audience as a town priest attempts to exorcise–spiritually remove, for those who don’t know–a demon from a young girl. And Fox, of course, couldn’t just redo the worldwide classic; it had to add another sinister layer of terror to the whole thing. Two priests, a loner (Ben Daniels, Flesh and Bone) and a man of the community (Alfonso Herrera, Sense8), try to solve a demonic crisis that’s plagued a mother (Geena Davis, Thelma and Louise) and her family before it’s too late for everyone.
And what would a fall schedule be without a treat for Halloween? Fox also released not a trailer but a miniature teaser for its upcoming two-hour special event, a TV remake of the cult hit Rocky Horror Picture Show. Since its release four decades ago, the unusual musical has drawn passionate fans in full costume to movie theatre replays around the nation–replays during which some fans come on stage and act out the film as it happens behind them. The clip for the remake features Brad and Janet (Ryan McCartan, Liv and Maddie, and Victoria Justice, Victorious) knocking on the door of the promiscuous Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Laverne Cox, Orange is the New Black), only to be drawn into the scientists’ mad Transylvanian science festival.
Son of Zorn breaks the throwback trend, as it’s an entirely new concept from the mind of SNL grad Jason Sudeikis. The story follows an animated soldier named Zorn returning from his adventures to reconnect with his Californian-based wife (Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and son (Jeffrey Pemberton, 21 Jump Street). The show follows the style of the drier, reality-driven-yet-wacky comedies of the day (ie, Bojack Horseman), but there’s a catch–Zorn (voiced by Sudeikis) is the only cartoon character in the show.
After the holidays, Fox is set to drop the rest of its new series, beginning with the much anticipated 24: Legacy, which will air directly following next year’s Super Bowl. The show, from the minds of the exact same cast of people who created the original 24, will follow the same time-restrictive style, but that’s where the similarities stop. Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) battles time as he attempts to stop a terrorist strike in the US.
Another familiar name will return immediately after the winter break, but this time, even the actors haven’t changed. Prison Break, popular back in its day, is coming back for a sequel-like series, as the characters in the original series must plan to escape Fox River Penitentiary as their need to escape justice takes them around the world. Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Sarah Wayne Callies, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Rockmond Dunbar and Paul Adelstein all reprise their roles.
Shots Fired, which was picked up during pilot season earlier this year, follows the aftermath of a racially-charged police shooting in a small town. Sanaa Lathan (The Perfect Guy) stars, alongside Helen Hunt, Richard Dreyfuss, and Stephen Moyer.
The Mick was bought from own of Fox’s own. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Kaitlin Olson takes the lead on this comedy, creating and acting at the same time. Her character Mickey discovers the perils and rewards of raising three kids; her sister’s, after she takes an unexpected leave.
Making History adds to Fox’s new cache of comedies. Starring Leighton Meester, (Gossip Girl), Yassir Lester (Key and Peele), and Adam Pally (The Mindy Project), the show follows three men who accidentally discover a time machine and take trips across borders of geography and time while realizing things about themselves and their relationships they never would have before.
APB is a new police-based drama that abandons the norm. Based on real events, a billionaire by the name of Gideon Reeves (Justin Kirk, Tyrant) takes control of Chicago’s crime-plagued 13th District after his closest friend is murdered. Reeves, as an outsider, decides to use that fact and run with it; he reorganizes the police unit into thinking about crime differently than they ever have before, so that they can maybe see a difference in the troubled community.
Pitch, though taking the field in the dead of January, has a summer flair about it. It tells the story of Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury, Under the Dome), who breaks down the gender barrier in Major League Baseball as she becomes the first ever woman to play for the Show, on the San Diego Padres. Like Jackie Robinson back in the day, the transition won’t be easy for her; not from fans or the media.
Lee Daniels makes another musical splash in his new show Star, a series about unknown yet talented female artists making their way in the perilous music business. True to the theme of the show, Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady–complete freshman to the acting world–star, along with Queen Latifah and Lenny Kravitz.
With its onslaught of new dramas, musicals, and comedies, Fox is putting on its armor for the fall, as both NBC and CBS do the same. It’s going to be a summer of some heavy advertising.