Did FOX Make the Grade? We Hand Out its End of Season Report Card!

The Good: After seasons of trying, Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly finally made good on his promise to get back into the [successful] scripted comedy business with a little help from everybody’s favorite NEW GIRL Zooey Deschanel. Equally exciting was that other Deschanel’s new girl, whose real-life baby bump came along just in time to help BONES creator Hart Hanson navigate the often rocky waters that follows the end of a fan favorite couple’s will-they-or-won’t-they. On the animated comedy front, FOX Sunday night Animation Domination lineup continued to live up to its namesake (with an assist from Sunday afternoon NFL football), while GLEE’s healthy 2.5-3 million viewers in the highly-coveted 18-49 demographic remained music to the Network’s ears. And since we’re on the subject of music, both THE X FACTOR and AMERICAN IDOL served as a fantastic mid-week anchor for the Network. Which brings us to…

The Bad: Thanks to increased competition from the likes of NBC’s THE VOICE, AMERICAN IDOL is no longer the unstoppable juggernaut that it once was, while Simon Cowell’s THE X FACTOR failed to live up to the [over] hype. Also failing to live up to the hype, TERRA NOVA, ALCATRAZ, THE FINDER and Kiefer Sutherland’s 24-follow-up TOUCH. The latter of which survived to see another season on… wait for it… Friday night, which as FRINGE fans can attest is TV-speak for having one foot in the grave. A grave that has the dubious distinction of also being littered with the rest of Kevin Reilly’s attempt to get back into the scripted comedy business (See: BREAKING IN and I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER).

Prognosis for the Coming Season: Solid. After-all, despite their somewhat disappointing seasons, AMERICAN IDOL and THE X FACTOR continue to serve as fantastically popular platforms from which Fox can promote the rest of their primetime schedule. A stable, dare we say CBS-esque style lineup filled with very few holes that afforded Fox the opportunity to pick and choose their pilots this development season. Pilots such as THE MINDY PROJECT, THE MOB DOCTOR and THE FOLLOWING that, if all goes according to plan, should fit seamlessly into the Network’s 2012-13 schedule.

Grade: A-