An hour after ordering a quartet of dramas, FOX has picked up five comedies, all male-driven, a seemingly large deviation from the network’s previous recent approach to comedy.
The comedies include Seth MacFarlane’s previously ordered “Dads,” the foregone conclusion “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” starring Andy Samberg, and offerings from “Cougar Town” veterans Kevin Biegel and Justin Halpern.
FOX won’t officially announce its schedule until Monday, but for now, here are the five pickups as reported basically everywhere (including The Hollywood Reporter):
* “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is the far superior new title for what was previously known as “the untitled Dan Goor/Mike Schur comedy.” The “Parks and Recreation” veterans look at the detectives in a New York precinct. In addition to Samberg, the star-studded cast also includes Andre Braugher and Terry Crews,” while “21 Jump Street” directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller directed the pilot.
* “Dads” comes from MacFarlane and “Family Guy” veterans Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild and stars Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi as two guys whose lives are turned upside down when their dads (Martin Mull and Peter Riegert) move in with them. Brenda Song and Vanessa Lachey co-star.
* “Enlisted” is Biegel’s semi-autobiographical story about his relationship with his siblings, looking at three brothers working at an Army base in Florida. Geoff Stults, Chris Lowell, Parker Young and Keith David star, with “Everybody Loves Raymond” veteran Mike Royce serving as executive producer.
* “Surviving Jack” is what FOX seems to be calling Halpern’s adaptation of his book “I Suck at Girls,” a coming-of-age story about a boy and his father in ’90s Southern California. Christopher Meloni stars (as the father, not the boy), while “Scrubs” and “Cougar Town” favorite Bill Lawrence is on-board as executive producer.
*** “Us and Them” is what FOX is now calling the comedy formerly know as “Friends and Family,” which is based on the BBC favorite “Gavin and Stacey.” It stars Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel as a couple in a long-distance relationship with close ties to their best friends. Jane Kaczmarek, Kurt Fuller, Kerri Kenney, Dustin Ybarra and Ashlie Atkinson co-star.
Stay tuned to HitFix for oodles more FOX upfronts coverage, including pictures from all of these darned shows, on Monday.