Fox is serving up the goods on television this year against strong competition from Hulu and Netflix. The hype is building around their three imminent shows Ghosted, The Orville, and The Gifted.
Ghosted
Ghosted is a supernatural buddy comedy starring two television darlings, Adam Scott and Craig Robinson. While they both have some strong film credits, they’ve proved in The Office and Parks and Recreation that they have the chops to continually deliver on the comedic chemistry that’s needed to sustain an ongoing sitcom.
The Orville
This marks Seth MacFarlane’s return to live action in a Star Trek spoof directed by Jon Favreau of Iron Man and The Jungle Book. From the early trailers, the tone is further from Family Guy and closer to a classic, Mel Brooks vibe. This approach would be spot on for its audience, and after the revamped franchise has hit cinemas these recent years, Fox’s release is well timed to remind us how loveable and successful Star Trek is as an episodic.
The Gifted
Fox is also delivering the latest piece in the X-Men puzzle. In the same vein as the critically successful Legion, The Gifted follows an unwitting boy who wields some scarily powerful mutant abilities. Anything set in an established comic book universe will rake in both newcomers and die-hard fans, so there’s no doubt that we’ll be tuning in to rate The Gifted against its competition. At this point, the outlook is neck-and-neck. While Netflix’s The Defenders boasts Sigourney Weaver, The Gifted brings us True Blood’s Stephen Moyer. With any luck, these networks have uncovered a successful spin-off formula that will spare their latest offerings the same fate as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.