It was a bloody Wednesday at FOX, which canceled freshman comedies “Enlisted,” “Surviving Jack” and “Dads.” (First-year legal drama “Rake” has also reportedly gotten the final nail in the coffin, but FOX would not confirm this. Either way, it's not coming back.)
“Enlisted” was one of this season's best new comedies, but the network dumped it on Fridays, then left it without any support after moving “Bones” back to Monday nights. “Surviving Jack,” which also turned out to be quite a good little show in time, got better treatment by airing after the “American Idol” results show (though “Idol” was never a good comedy lead-in even before the ratings cratered this year). The writing's unfortunately been on the wall for both of them for a while, though FOX still has four “Enlisted” episodes that will allegedly air at some point over the summer, and the studio will try to shop it elsewhere.
Somewhat surprising is “Dads,” which critics hated, but which in some weeks was the highest-rated of FOX's many struggling Tuesday comedies, which comes from FOX superstar Seth MacFarlane, and which signaled FOX's attempt to get back into the multi-camera comedy business. Depending what other new shows get picked up, its cancellation could leave the upcoming “Mulaney” as FOX's only multi-cam next season.
I'd lament the poor treatment the Hill brothers, Dobkiss, JaMort, Dark Park and the rest of the “Enlisted” crew got, but I've already done that. This is the time of year where lots of shows get bad news. (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is now FOX's only surviving freshman comedy.) Still have several days to go before the upfronts themselves begin. Buckle up, folks.