BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

The Fox Broadcasting Network Turns 33

Following
This article is more than 3 years old.

Once upon a time there were three broadcast networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, and a typical market across the country also had access to PBS and two or three local stations. While there was only this “Big 3,” there never seemed to be a shortage of quality content. But when 20th Century Fox in October 1985 announced its intentions to form a fourth television network, this opened the door to more original programming options. Yet, at the time, many wondered if the arrival of a fourth network would find an audience.

Approximately 18 months after the news of the formation of this fourth network came the Fox Broadcasting outlet on this day, April 5, in 1987.

Technically, the first program to launch on Fox was late night talker The Joan Rivers Show, which was designed to compete with NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It’s arrival on Thursday, October 9, 1986 was in a soft launch in a select number of markets at 11 p.m. ET. While the audience sampling was significant, proving the potential value of this fourth network, Joan Rivers against Johnny Carson ultimately could not compete.

Since the “meat and potatoes” of any broadcast platform is the primetime programming block, Fox was intent on populating its line-up with series that dared to be different. The plan was to eventually program a seven-night schedule (Monday through Saturday from 8-10 p.m.; Sunday 7-10 p.m.), with the 10 p.m. hour remaining with the local affiliate stations. First up, in the Sunday 8 p.m. ET hour on April 5, 1987 was sitcom Married...With Children and sketch comedy The Tracey Ullman Show.

Fox added one new show per week over the next several weeks, with the young adult-targeted crime drama 21 Jump Street up the following week, followed by comedies Mr. President (with Oscar winner George C. Scott) and Duet.

On July 11, 1987, the network expanded to a second night, Saturday, care of supernatural drama Werewolf and sitcoms The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, Karen’s Song, and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (the later based on the theatrical of the same name).

Ultimately, Fox’s inaugural Saturday line-up was a wash, with early failures Karen’s Song and Down and Out in Beverly Hills replaced by the equally uneventful comedy combination of Second Chance and Women in Prison. But Married...With Children ran for 11 seasons, while The Tracey Ullman Show introduced the animated family called Simpson via a series of shorts. Duet, meanwhile, spun-off a one season comedy called Open House in the summer of 1989, which featured a then young unknown comedian named Ellen DeGeneres. And 21 Jump Street introduced the masses to a young Johnny Depp and it became a pop culture favorite (morphing into two theatricals to-date, with a planned third one on the way).

Now in season 31, The Simpsons will surpass 700 episodes in the 2020-21 TV season.

Fox Over the Years

Public service hour America’s Most Wanted, hosted by John Walsh, arrived on Sunday in April 1988. At the start of the 1989-90 season, Fox expanded to a third night, Monday, which featured short-lived science fiction drama Alien Nation. The Simpsons debuted Sunday, December 17, 1989, and ultimately moved to the Thursday 8 p.m. anchor spot where it dethroned the then number one series in all of primetime, NBC’s The Cosby Show. And Cops, the police documentary, opened on Saturday in March 1989, where it was eventually paired with America’s Most Wanted.

Keeping its promise to program outside of the box, sketch comedy In Living Color, which debuted in April 1990, launched the careers of names in the caliber of Jim Carrey, Jamie Fox, Damon Wayans and Jennifer Lopez (the latter of whom was a member of the show's dance troupe, the "Fly Girls"). And teen-populated drama Beverly Hills, 90210, effective in October, 1990, began a 10-season run and led to similar appeal trendy drama entries like spin-off Melrose Place and Party of Five.

Within a few short years, Fox, the fourth broadcast network, was a bona fide platform to reckon with (for the young demographics, in particular). And its next long-term success was drama The X-Files, effective in September 1993.

While not every new show the network offered was a hit (think duds like comedies Daddy Dearest, The George Carlin Show and the revival of Get Smart; dramas Medicine Ball, Lawless and 413 Hope Street; and newsmagazine The Front Page), Ally McBeal from producer David E. Kelley in September 1997 opened to great success, both critically and by the ratings. Sitcom Living Single, headlined by Queen Latifah, one month earlier found an immediate five season home. Animated comedies like King of the Hill and Family Guy gave the network at foothold on Sunday. And then the network reached its zenith in June 2002 care of talent competition American Idol.

At its peak, twice-weekly American Idol was bringing in approximately 30-million viewers.

At the dawn of the 2010s, musical comedy Glee proved Fox was still an innovator, as did comedies like New Girl and Raising Hope (which, unfortunately, were never hits via the traditional Nielsen ratings). But American Idol and The Simpsons, among other series, began to lose steam. There were more new failures than hits. Former upstart network The WB became the new destination for trendy dramas. And the network that once seemed to program by its own rules became far more cook-cutter by nature.

While the arrival of serialized drama Empire in January 2015 meant Fox still had the ability to standout, particularly in a growing crowd of competitors, the once destination for edgy and unqiue series continued to trend downward.

The New Fox

Now referred to as the “New Fox” following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century, today’s Fox is home to oddly addictive The Masked Singer, which only accentuates that original theme of daring to be different. But the overall line-up is more of a safer combination of former ABC comedy Last Man Standing, dramas like The Resident and Prodigal Son, the deteriorating Sunday animated comedy slate, soon-to-conclude Empire, and football and wrestling. While Thursday Night Football, in particular, has given the network a much needed boost by the traditional ratings, that “rebel” mentality at its inception is no longer that visible.

Even so, the arrival of Fox 33 years ago today accomplished what it was hoping to do. And the list of notable programs, as highlighted here, only accentuates its overall impact.

Happy Birthday Fox!



 



Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn