This is the time of year that television networks figure out their schedule for the next season, which involves doing some Spring cleaning and killing dozens of under-performing series to make room for new ones.
So far, Fox has gotten rid of five one-hour dramas (APB, Bones, Pitch, Rosewood, Sleepy Hollow) and picked up three new ones to replace them (The Gifted, The Orville, The Resident). According to Deadline, Fox is expected to announce a 13 episode straight-to-series order for a new midseason drama from Ryan Murphy on Monday, so that would be four.
At this point, Fox has decided on almost their entire lineup, with just a few existing shows (Legacy, The Exorcist, Scream Queens) and two pilots still awaiting their fate. One of those pilots comes from Legacy writer and producer Nikki Toscano. Update: Fox just renewed The Exorcist which means yet another hour on their schedule is accounted for, and this decreases the chance of a 24 renewal even further.
As for what the reputable sites are saying, TVLine believes Legacy is “a long-shot” while Deadline refers to it as a “tossup.” And Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd is hearing the decision is so tough that it might not be made in time for Fox’s Upfront Presentation on May 15th.
@MOVIESTVMAD Decision on 24: Legacy getting pushed until after upfronts, I hear…it’s a toughie…
— James Hibberd (@JamesHibberd) May 10, 2017
But why the holdup? Legacy finished airing nearly a month ago, so Fox already has all of the data they need to make an informed decision. They’ve had plenty of time to analyze ratings and crunch the numbers, and the writers have already pitched a second season to them. Fox also owns the “24” franchise, so it’s not like they have to negotiate with an external studio.
The only reason such a delay would make sense is if Fox wanted a massive creative overhaul (likely another reboot) that would require additional time to figure out. Hibberd addressed this in a followup tweet:
@JU2419922 Sometime before actor contracts expire later in summer…trying to figure out if there’s a creative plan that will work since this one did not
— James Hibberd (@JamesHibberd) May 10, 2017
But the longer this takes to figure out, the less likely there will be room on the schedule for it. If the show does get picked up, it might have to air during the Summer months.
This is a very fluid situation – things change quickly and a decision can be made literally any minute. Even if no decision is made by Monday, we’ll probably get some kind of update on the show. But if we don’t hear anything, the next most likely date would be FOX’s TCA Summer 2017 Press Tour on Tuesday August 8th.
And for those wondering, Kiefer Sutherland’s new series Designated Survivor was renewed for a second season by ABC, so there’s absolutely no chance of Jack Bauer returning to 24 any time soon.