Skip to main content

FOX Slows "Drive" to Six-Episode Initial Run

FOX continued to tweak its late spring/early summer schedule today, with a number of scheduling-related announcements that would seem to confuse even the most seasoned TV viewer.

But the most, er, intriguing development has to be that the network has opted to split the 13-episode run of upcoming drama Drive, starring a slew of familiar faces including Nathan Fillion and Amy Acker, into two sections.

Drive kicks off on April 15th but, due to the series' "tight production schedule," FOX will only air the first six episodes of Drive for now, wrapping its five week run on May 7th. Subsequent episodes will then air at a to-be-determined date later in the season. (Read: summer burnoff.)

Due to the fact that On the Lot, Steven Spielberg's reality series ode to student filmmakers, is set to inherit the series' Mondays at 8 pm timeslot on May 28th (following a repeat of House on May 14 and the second half of 24's 2-hr finale on May 21st), some sort of arrangement was bound to occur. But is splitting Drive's freshman season in half really the best option? (It certainly doesn't belie any confidence from FOX in the series.)

Meanwhile, FOX has also announced that The War at Home will end its second season on April 22nd. That night, the lineup will shift around considerably, with King of the Hill moving to 7:30 pm in order to accommodate double episodes of The Simpsons and, starting April 29th, a repeat airing of King of the Hill at 7 pm.

But hold your horses! On June 10th, the network will again rejigger its Sunday night lineup, this time moving The War at Home to 7 pm, followed by King of the Hill. 8 pm brings The Simpsons and Amercan Dad, while at 9 pm, we've got Family Guy and Season Two of The Loop. Riiiight.

Comments

I don't really get this series. It has an amazing cast but the concept just seems so one-note. I saw an old version of the pilot, before they recast it. It might be better now but, from your post, looks like this pilot is going nowhere fast.
Unknown said…
C'mon Danielle, it's Minear - I've got faith that there's more than meets the eye.
Anonymous said…
This sounded like it might have potential however the split season and FOX's history of not given shows a chance makes me question if it is even worth tuning into the first episode.
The CineManiac said…
So once again Tim Minear puts his trust in Fox and already they are screwing him over. Maybe this time we'll at least get all 13 episodes on DVD like Firefly and Wonderfalls before it, and unlike The Inside, which I'm still waiting for.
But from what I hear, Minear made a pretty penny either way.
Stupid Fox!!!
Unknown said…
The way I see it, DRIVE is like The Amazing Race meets Lost. Keep it coming!!!!!
Anonymous said…
WHEN WILL DRIVE BE RETURNING. WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE SHOW AGAIN. LOVE THE CHARACTERS IN IT. WATCHED IT AFTER I WATCHED PRISON BREAK. COULD NOT GO TO SLEEP UNTIL DRIVE WAS OVER. LOVED THE SHOW SO MUCH. PLEASE BRING IT BACK................

Popular posts from this blog

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj