Fox’s new fall dramas Pitch and The Exorcist launched as two of fall’s best reviewed new series but failed to draw broad audiences. There was no back order for eiither and, with their freshman 10-episode runs completed, both are in for a long wait to learn their ultimate fate.
FOX
While both Pitch and The Exorcist are facing an uphill battle to justify a renewal, no final decisions will be made until May, Fox chairman Gary Newman and entertainment president David Madden said during the network’s TCA executive session, the only such Q&A for a Big 4 network this January.
“We’re proud of it,” Newman said of Pitch, created by Dan Fogelman. “Dan and his team did a great job. We’d love to have seen a bigger audience but it had a loyal core fan base, and there was a lot of delayed viewing. The show is specific, it’s about something.”
While “I don’t think the performance level enabled us to make an early decision, as we get to May, we’ll consider it. Do we have a place for it on our schedule where wee can grow it?”
Added Madden, “The same is true of The Exorcist. We are having conversions with producers about what we can do in second season. But like with Pitch, we can’ t make a decision yet.”
Same goes for sophomore comedy Scream Queens, whose linear ratings have been very soft but has done better in multi-platform viewing and is reaching the hard-to-get young viewership.