Fox at TCA: New Adventures in Late Night; Big Questions About "House," "Fringe," "Glee" and Ryan Seacrest

Ed Martin Live from the 2012 Winter Television Critics Association TourFox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly39s session at the 2012 Winter Television Critics Association tour Sunday could have been a disaster given the fact that he had no substantial answers to most of the questions critics and reporters had for him many of them about the fates of several Fox series and personalities But he pulled it off engaging the room with the same kind of candor honesty and good humor that worked for NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt earlier in the tourAt one point Reilly had to laughingly admit quotWe39ve done a good job of avoiding some of these big decisions until after this sessionquotReilly did have some news to announce primarily about an upcoming animated programming block that will run in latenight on Saturdays and on digital platforms to be determined quotPrimetime animation has been an enormous part of our legacy our brand our identity and our businessquot he said quotOne of the high class problems of that is amp8230 there has been a lot of talent and a lot of product that we39ve wanted to pursue over the years that just doesn39t quite fit the primetime moldquotThere was some interest in this but most of the reporters in the room were bursting with questions about three high profile Fox series the longrunning but fastfading House said to be in its last season fall success Terra Nova said to be dead and cult favorite Fringe said to be hanging by a threadAsked about the future of House Reilly replied quotI think we have just been avoiding it to be honest with you It39s hard to imagine the network without House This is not going to be like the pink slip goes out and that39s the end Series creator David Shore star Hugh Laurie and Fox kind of agreed mutually to put it off until after the first of the year and then we39ll sit down and see where we are We haven39t had that big meeting about 39what do we want to do39 Should it be the last season it39s not going to be an unceremonious finish I can tell you thatquotReilly suggested that Fox is somewhat conflicted about the future of the bigbudget Terra Nova which was he noted quotthe secondhighestratedquot new drama of the fall quotThere is a distinct audience that has stuck with it The perception of it kind of got away from us at a certain point Everyone kept saying 39Doesn39t it have to do huge ratings39 The fact is we made money on it the studio made money on it the audience enjoyed it It seems to have resonated particularly with the family audience We39ve heard a lot of evidence in focus groups and anecdotally that the family audience really feels they can sit down and watch it together If we had more holes on our network we39d be thrilled to just lock it right in We are going to decide very soon because it does need to get back into production over the next month We won39t be able to drag our feet on it for too much longerquotMoving on to Fringe a show with a small but ferociously loyal and vocal fan base Reilly said quotI love that fans stuck with it and went to Friday night with us It39s vastly improved our Friday night The hesitation in my voice is that it39s an expensive show We lose a lot of money on it We39re not in the business of losing money So we really do have to sit down and figure out if there is a number at which it makes sense or will this be it I do not want to drop the ball at the end and let the fans downquotquotPlease don39t start the letter writing campaign right nowquot he laughed quotI can39t take itquotIn other revealing nonnews Reilly said that certain characters on Glee would indeed graduate from William McKinley High School at season39s end but would not be spunoff into a series of their own as has long been expected He said those characters would remain on the show39s canvas but wouldn39t offer detailsReilly also expressed great satisfaction with Fox39 leastexciting success story in years The XFactor which he credited with giving Fox one of the strongest falls in its history He would not comment on industry speculation that wooden host Steve Jones would be replaced next season But he did offer this spectacular tease as if to suggest that he understood the complaints about the show quotEverybody has now come to appreciate the value of a Ryan Seacrestquot Then he added quotWhether Steve39s the guy or not you know some of it comes under the heading of growth in general There will be some tweaks to the showquotQuestions about Seacrest39s future with American Idol brought a similarly engaging nonanswer quotIt39s very hard to imagine the show without Ryanquot Reilly admitted quotWe certainly want to keep him There39s no creative discussion there whatsoever It is a deal issue It39s a tough negotiation and one that will come to its conclusion I think pretty quicklyquotFox39s day at TCA also included panels for two highconcept midseason series that will certainly be generating much media buzz during the next few weeks Touch an emotiondriven drama starring Kiefer Sutherland and Alcatraz a dark thriller from executive producer JJ Abrams On the lighter side Fox also presented The Finder a spirited procedural crime drama featuring characters first seen on Bones

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Fox at TCA: New Adventures in Late Night; Big Questions About "House," "Fringe," "Glee" and Ryan Seacrest

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