11:35AM: Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly kicked off his executive session by addressing the GLEE controversy. Actually, he doesn’t so much address it as avoid it by filibustering for five minutes as to just how phenomenal the creative trifecta of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy are, downplaying the talk of a spin-off (“It’s something that the team plans to revisit at the back half of the year”) and raising expectations with regards to the upcoming third season (“My two cohorts [at the network] were fighting back tears of joy [upon hearing Murphy’s pitch] for the emotional stuff they had in store for fans this season.”
11:40AM: “I think it has taken on a little more heated momentum than it in fact is,” said Reilly when ask about the controversy surrounding the GLEE spin-off that may-or-may-not happen. “There are many successful shows on the air that have genuine controversy and fighting. That has really not been the case. It is a good group of people.”
11:42AM: “If Fox can do half of what we can do in the fall [with X FACTOR] we will be a force to be reckoned with,” said Reilly when asked about the Network’s prospects for this September. “We’re not a one network show, TERRA NOVA isn’t going to come on quietly, it’s going to get sampled and is really different from anything that’s on the air and between RAISING HOPE and THE NEW GIRL we’re [finally, after four years of trying] going to be a force with comedy this year.”
11:45AM: Still scratching your head over the announcement that Fox is teaming up with Seth MacFarlane to launch COSMOS: A SPACE-TIME ODYSSEY in 2013, a part docu-series paying homage to Carl Sagan’s award-winning scientific masterpiece hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Think of it as Fox’s mea-culpa for hoisting reality train-wrecks like JOE MILLIONAIRE and WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE on us! Said Reilly, “Will it be our biggest ratings grabber? Probably not. But we think we can have real success with it both in terms of long tail and cultural impact.”
11:50AM: For all seven of you who are waiting with baited breath as to the fate of last spring’s short-lived laugher BREAKING IN, we’ve got some good and bad news for you. Good News: According to Reilly the show’s talent remains in a holding pattern with a possibility that they might relaunch the series as part of a new four-comedy block in 2012. Bad News: Having heard Reilly’s tone in answering the question about the fate of BREAKING IN, we’re going to go out on a limb and say the possibility of BREAKING IN find its way back on the Networks schedule is slim.
11:51AM: Now far be it from us to accuse Mr. Reilly of downplaying what are being touted as groundbreaking special effects, but when one answers a question about whether or not TERRA NOVA can actually be produced in a timely manner, we’re not quite sure how we feel about an answer that takes the emphasis off the VFX and places it firmly on the actors, “Frankly for all the spectacle the thing that I actually like the best about the show is the cast. It’s a really likeable group of people and I want to watch those actors, which is always the best thing you want with a series.”
11:55AM: “One of the good things about having a strong network is that you can support creative shows that deserves to be on the air,” said Reilly on the future of FRINGE. “These guys have been doing extraordinary work and it really was one of the great victories of last season. As much as we were cheering the rejuvenation of IDOL, we were cheering our Friday night and if FRINGE can do exactly what it did last year we’re going to be really happy with it.”
11:59AM: “We’ve been pretty darn happy with the performance of BONES on Thursday night. As CSI was fading, BONES was looking as resilient as ever. It’s a really valuable show to us,” said Reilly on the future of BONES. “[Despite the fact] our audience profile likes a more adventurous show, we know that a solid relationship show is a staple of TV so God bless BONES because they have delivered this. I like the obtained hour of television and we have nothing coming down the pipe that sort of replaces it.”
12:00PM: “The management is just so professional and they have really stepped it up on that show getting a jump start on the material,” said Reilly on if Ryan Murphy and Co. will have trouble juggling both GLEE and FX’s AMERICAN HORROR STORY. “This is the first year that GLEE will have a staff around them and they’re in a great place. Of all my concerns, that team having two shows at once is the least of my worries.”
12:03PM: GLEE Scoop! The winner of the GLEE project will join the show at some point, and the three actors who are “graduating” will be made clear in the season premiere.
12:05PM: “I can’t confirm that it’s the last season of HOUSE. Both Hugh [Laurie] and the Producers are mulling it over,” explained Reilly on the future of HOUSE. “Unlike may shows where Producers exit after the third season, these are the original team who have been there from the get-go. I don’t want to put words in their mouth, but [I get the feeling that] they want to go out strong so we’re going to revisit it later in the Fall and decide whether it’s going to be the lsat season of the show on Fox. Universal [the Show’s Producer] would like to try if they can to keep the show going on, but my sense is that this is a show that wants to stay creatively vibrant and go out on a high not, rather than limp around for four more years as a mere vestige of what it was.”
12:06PM: MILLION DOLLAR MONEY drop is officially dead.
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