The 20 Biggest Mess-Ups/Mistakes in Fox History

[TMC]

I've been holding off doing one on the Fox network because out of all of the major American broadcast networks, Fox seems to be the one that's most notorious for mistreating/otherwise screwing over shows before their time:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...k/LiveActionTV

Other mistakes that immediately come to mind outside of this notion:
*Fox's late night failures outside of MADtv (i.e. The Late Show w/ Joan Rivers, The Wilton-North Report, and of course, The Chevy Chase Show).

*When they acquired the rights to the National Hockey League in 1994-95, they came up w/ the idea of a glowing hockey puck. I can somewhat understand Fox's rationale behind this, before the advent of HD-TV, the puck could be really hard to follow. It however, also turned the broadcasts into a video game (basically, a case of "style over substance") to the point in which it felt like a mockery. More the point, the novelty/gimmick was due to wear thin after a while.

*Turning the theme music for their NFL broadcasts into the "all purpose/universal" Fox Sports theme (meaning that it was also used for baseball, NASCAR, UFC, soccer, etc.).

*Any one of Fox's trashy, sleazy reality programming from the early 2000s:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...e/LiveActionTV

[icecream]

They had a great Friday night lineup of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and Greed. 2 of the best shows they've ever aired, I think they did well but were cancelled way too soon, especially Greed. Cancelling Back to You instead of Til Death. Moving Touch to Fridays in its 2nd season, it might still be around if it had stayed on a weeknight.

[jimpickens]

Not giving Firefly a chance
Relying too much on animation if they gave nearly the time in live action shows as they do animation they'd have some decent shows
canceling Space Above And Beyond, The Adventures of Brisco County, and Danger Theatre but allowing The Simpsons to continue
not putting out good quality dramas their cable counterpart FX does a better job
Not allowing Married With Children to have a proper finale.

[mr awesome]

Proper or not the episode MWC ended was good enough for me when Kelly got married. IMO shows of a certain age should always treat their season finales as potential season finales and MWC should have seen the writing on the wall the way they were bounced all over the sked that season.

[MrCleveland]

Having FOX just have Prime-Time Animation Lock, Stock, and Barrel!

Now don't get me wrong, I like "Family Guy" and "American Dad"...but with "The Simpsons" being the Cash Cow for FOX meant that they won't go away, even if Judge Doom dipped Springfield, Timbuktu, USA! (I call it Timbuktu since we'll never know what state "The Simpsons" live in)!

"The Simpsons" even drug-down FOX Animated Shows like "The Critic", "Futurama", and "Family Guy" in its 1st-Run. And Animation Domination seems to be the Prime-Time Animation Monopoly since ABC, NBC, and CBS tried Prime-Time Animation...and failed during the time "The Simpsons" have been on!

[mets82]

I think that MWC deserved a better sendoff. I mean it helped the struggling FOX network get out of the box and no ending? Just a simple thank you and thats it??

Also, if you want to cancel The Simpsons, be careful what you wish for because the show that replaces it, could be a lot worse than The Simpsons.

[yankeesrj12]

Originally Posted by catsrule

They had a great Friday night lineup of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and Greed. 2 of the best shows they've ever aired, I think they did well but were cancelled way too soon, especially Greed. Cancelling Back to You instead of Til Death. Moving Touch to Fridays in its 2nd season, it might still be around if it had stayed on a weeknight.

I absolutely LOVED Beyond Belief: Factor or Fiction. One of the few shows I really miss having on television!

[James28]

Originally Posted by mets82

Also, if you want to cancel The Simpsons, be careful what you wish for because the show that replaces it, could be a lot worse than The Simpsons.

Personally, I would view the indefinite (20+ years) original run of an animated floating timeline show with no character development or story arcs as a mistake. The Simpsons being let go as a first-run series would actually be a good thing. Sometines, at the expense of a long-running veteran series, we need to create and build brand-new shows.

[EmoJoe]

Originally Posted by James28

Personally, I would view the indefinite (20+ years) original run of an animated floating timeline show with no character development or story arcs as a mistake. The Simpsons being let go as a first-run series would actually be a good thing. Sometines, at the expense of a long-running veteran series, we need to create and build brand-new shows.

If you think The Simpsons doesn't have character development then you clearly haven't watched it.

Although to be fair, it probably hasn't had it in about 15 years, so maybe you're right.

[James28]

Originally Posted by EmoJoe

If you think The Simpsons doesn't have character development then you clearly haven't watched it.

Although to be fair, it probably hasn't had it in about 15 years, so maybe you're right.

I thought a source said that FOX insisted that all of its animated series lack character development (and story arcs) so its episodes can be shown out of order in syndication.

Actually, I never even bothered to get into The Simpsons when I was younger (and I did get into Family Guy, but my interest in that series is starting to wane in recent months). Most of what I watch today is live-action.

[Yong Fang]

The Simpsons needs to be cancelled because it sucks now. Just end it already.

What could have made it a fresher show was to allow the children to get older. If they did, the Aimpson kids would be in their 30's with kids of their own and a career and whatnot, introduction of spouses, etc.

After 25 years, the formula is stale.

[EmoJoe]

Originally Posted by James28

I thought a source said that FOX insisted that all of its animated series lack character development (and story arcs) so its episodes can be shown out of order in syndication.

Actually, I never even bothered to get into The Simpsons when I was younger (and I did get into Family Guy, but my interest in that series is starting to wane in recent months). Most of what I watch today is live-action.

Classic Simpsons absolutely had character development, as do the best of the other Fox sitcoms like Bob's Burgers, King of the Hill, Futurama. They don't have much in the way of arcs, no, but they all have fully-realized characters that we learn more about the more we watch the show. That's character development, is it not?

[Sal]

Originally Posted by TMC

*When they acquired the rights to the National Hockey League in 1994-95, they came up w/ the idea of a glowing hockey puck. I can somewhat understand Fox's rationale behind this, before the advent of HD-TV, the puck could be really hard to follow. It however, also turned the broadcasts into a video game (basically, a case of "style over substance") to the point in which it felt like a mockery. More the point, the novelty/gimmick was due to wear thin after a while.

Typical American anti-hockey BS!!!

If you can't follow a black puck on a white ice surface, you either need a large pair of glasses or an attitude adjustment.

I will agree that when FOX introduced the "glow puck" it really was the stupidest idea they ever came up with. (Bringing back Family Guy from cancellation would be #2!) When FOX was awarded the NHL US TV rights, it was supposed to be a landmark watershed moment for the league. FOX was then known as a network that was innovative and cutting edge and would introduce new fans to the world's greatest sport by covering it in a newer and more exciting fashion. Then they came up with the glowing puck and their entire credibility disappeared faster than a Brett Hull slapshot. They also had the dumb idea to make the players into cartoonish superheroes. Before each game, you would see a video montage where a player would get hit with a bodycheck and, through animation, his body would explode into a million pieces. At the end, these two giant evil-looking robots would appear and smash into each other before taking a face-off, and then the real game would begin. It was just so idiotic!

To cover the games, FOX hired their top NFL man James Brown and he looked completely lost. It was obvious that he didn't know much about hockey and he just wanted to keep the show moving and get back to the game. The whole TV experience was one big disaster. The NHL then suffered through a long stretch without a major network contract until NBC stepped in a few years ago (naturally, with reluctance). They've done a bit better in covering the game but there's still some room from improvement. I just hope and pray that in the near future if another network wants to try and get the NHL rights from NBC, it won't be FOX!!!

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by mets82

Also, if you want to cancel The Simpsons, be careful what you wish for because the show that replaces it, could be a lot worse than The Simpsons.

I feel IF "The Simpsons" cancel, "Family Guy" will be on for a year or two, but if those two shows bow-out together...then FOX will have a transitional moment which it needs.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Sal

Typical American anti-hockey BS!!!

If you can't follow a black puck on a white ice surface, you either need a large pair of glasses or an attitude adjustment.

I will agree that when FOX introduced the "glow puck" it really was the stupidest idea they ever came up with. (Bringing back Family Guy from cancellation would be #2!) When FOX was awarded the NHL US TV rights, it was supposed to be a landmark watershed moment for the league. FOX was then known as a network that was innovative and cutting edge and would introduce new fans to the world's greatest sport by covering it in a newer and more exciting fashion. Then they came up with the glowing puck and their entire credibility disappeared faster than a Brett Hull slapshot. They also had the dumb idea to make the players into cartoonish superheroes. Before each game, you would see a video montage where a player would get hit with a bodycheck and, through animation, his body would explode into a million pieces. At the end, these two giant evil-looking robots would appear and smash into each other before taking a face-off, and then the real game would begin. It was just so idiotic!

To cover the games, FOX hired their top NFL man James Brown and he looked completely lost. It was obvious that he didn't know much about hockey and he just wanted to keep the show moving and get back to the game. The whole TV experience was one big disaster. The NHL then suffered through a long stretch without a major network contract until NBC stepped in a few years ago (naturally, with reluctance). They've done a bit better in covering the game but there's still some room from improvement. I just hope and pray that in the near future if another network wants to try and get the NHL rights from NBC, it won't be FOX!!!

As bad as Fox may have been w/ their approach to the NHL, ABC was much worse. At least Fox tried to promote the NHL and push it forward:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...edByTheNetwork

ESPN and ABC aren't exactly blameless for losing their NHL TV rights, though. Once they pulled some duplicitous tactics to yank broadcast rights away from FOX, both ESPN and ABC proceeded to ignore the league, giving it absolutely no advertising time on ABC and the bare minimum on ESPN. This behavior accelerated when ESPN and ABC got the rights to broadcast NBA games (coincidentally, the NHL's direct competitor for the winter months), with both networks making it clear they were prioritizing basketball over hockey. Then right as the 2004-05 NHL lockout started, ESPN canceled their NHL recap show NHL2night and refused to revive the show when the League approached them for a new cable deal after the labor dispute ended. With this kind of network screwing over a 6-7 year period, you cannot possibly blame the NHL for jumping to a more caring TV partner in Versus (although going with NBC is still inexcusable, as shown above). This blog entry goes into more detail about how Disney's networks screwed over the NHL, as well as the aforementioned dirty tactics used to screw FOX out of any TV rights.

And low and behold, it was around this time in which Michael Eisner had to middle w/ Disney's NHL coverage (acting like, he knew what was best over people who actually know about the sport):
http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/20...world-of-espn/