Loyalty, thy name is not Fox.
The network, which for a decade now has benefited greatly from its animated hit "The Simpsons," has chosen not to reward the man who created the show -- by stiffing his new series.Instead of giving Matt Groening's "Futurama" the post-"Simpsons" time slot on Sundays, Fox Entertainment President Doug Herzog has handed that plum to "The Family Guy." "Futurama" will be relegated to the far-less-favorable post-"King of the Hill" slot on Tuesdays.
Nobody ever said network TV was fair, but this is a slap in Groening's face. You'd think that making the network hundreds of millions of dollars (through advertising and merchandising) would count for something.
"Futurama" is about a guy who is accidentally frozen and awakes on the eve of the millennium -- the third millennium. His adventures in the year 3000 include Leela (a beautiful one-eyed alien) and Bender (a neurotic robot). And Groening was obviously expecting to see "Futurama" paired with "The Simpsons."
"Well, we think that any programming genius would figure out that a show like 'Futurama' -- which is part 'Simpsons,' part 'X-Files' -- could go Sunday at (7):30," Groening quipped. "But I think every single prospective show on Fox wants to be Sunday at (7):30. We'll probably have to wrestle for it."
But not every single producer is owed what Fox owes Groening.
"I do not understand the mysteries of TV scheduling," he said.
Herzog did toss Groening a couple of bones. "Futurama's" first two episodes will air on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. -- on March 28 and April 4 -- before the show moves to its regular time slot on Tuesday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m.
But then "Family Guy" takes over Sundays at 7:30 p.m. beginning April 11.
OK, so "Guy" got really great ratings when it aired after the Super Bowl in January. But everything that airs after the Super Bowl gets really great ratings.
Critics have yet to see a completed episode of "Futurama," but clips make it appear very much in the same vein as "The Simpsons" -- witty, clever and funny. "Family Guy," on the other hand, is crude, vulgar and lame.
Hmmmm . . . Herzog recently came to Fox from Comedy Central -- home of "South Park" -- which may explain his preference for "Family Guy."
RENEWED: "That '70s Show" will disappear after its Sunday, March 14, airing, but only temporarily. Fox has ordered 25 episodes of the sitcom for next season. (Which is a vote of confidence -- that's three more than the normal 22-episode season order.)
"That '70s Show" will return in June as part of Fox's plan to put some original programming on during the summer.
MOVING: As of Tuesday, April 6, the "foamated" comedy "The PJs" will move back a half hour on the Fox schedule to 8 p.m. The network will fill the 8:30 p.m. time slot with reruns of various animated series (including "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill," "Family Guy" and "Futurama").
As for "Guinness Book of World Records," it will also get a new time slot -- although exactly when that will be is yet to be determined. (Don't be surprised if it shows up on Thursdays.)
UPN RENEWAL: At UPN, success is relative. But the numbers for the animated series "Dilbert" are good enough to win that show renewal for next season.
(And the quality of the show seems to be improving every week.)
"Dilbert" is doing 83 percent better in its time slot than what UPN had been running on Mondays at 7 p.m. -- which looks darn good at a network whose overall numbers are down 37 percent from a year ago.