14 DAY TRIAL // Following reports that Fox was doing its best to keep “Glee” star Chris Colfer in the closet under the pretense that it was for the sake of his career, the network is again grabbing headlines, also for a rather poor judgment call. As it is preparing for the return of American Idol, the network has chosen to put “Glee,” the very popular comedy series, on hold in mid-season, as the New York Times can confirm.
The announcement was made just hours ago, with Fox stating clearly that “Glee” wraps on December 9 and will return on Tuesday on April 13. Since “Glee” is only starting to take flight and, to cap it all off, is already enjoying massive ratings and good reviews, Fox’s decision is seen by many media outlets as a bad one because the hiatus will be more than enough to lose touch with the audiences.
Of course, having American Idol is a certain winning situation, as the NY Times also points out, so perhaps Fox feels that this is a risk worth taking. “After a far better fall than the network usually experiences, Fox Broadcasting is gearing up for a number of prime-time schedule changes in January that could pile-drive its competitors into the turf – and Fox doesn’t even have the Super Bowl this season. But it does have the next-best thing: the return of American Idol on Jan. 12,” the aforementioned publication says.
Aside from “Glee,” other shows that will be affected by the return of American Idol are “Human Target,” “Past Life,” “Fringe,” “Sons of Tucson,” “Lie to Me,” which is yet to be allotted timeslot past next week’s episode, and “Til Death.” “Fox will also rest ‘Glee,’ its now-reliable little hit, for several months. It ends its initial run of episodes Dec. 9 but will be back with new episodes starting April 13. Fox is also resting a more challenged series, ‘Fringe,’ taking it off on Feb. 4 to return April 1,” says the NY Times.
Many business insiders are convinced that having “Glee” go off air smack in the middle of the season can’t be a good decision – yet, others fight back, there’s no losing with American Idol. In true, “only time will tell” fashion, the network will probably see how the hiatus affected the former show when it returns in April.