Five Things that Kevin Reilly Did Wrong for Animation Domination

 

Kevin Reilly has stepped down as FOX’s Entertainment President which is a rather big deal. The former Prez is certainly responsible for turning FOX into a constant also-ran for broadcast television, to that of a premier titan in the business. However, there were a lot of decisions Kevin made wrong for Animation Domination and we look through them to see which ones had us scratching our heads the most:

 

5) Cancelling King of the Hill 

One of the first things Kevin did when he became FOX’s Entertainment President was that he cancelled King of the Hill after 13 seasons on air (he also cancelled St Down, Shut Up pretty much around the same time). At the time, Kevin’s intentions were to reinvigorate the Animation Domination lineup, he did so by picking up a spin-off of Family Guy called The Cleveland Show. So kids, tell us in the comments below, if you could have that one back, would you take it?

 

4) Picking up Allen Gregory and Napoleon Dynamite

 

Bob’s Burgers already had one season in when FOX picked up both of these shows in an effort to try and find a fifth animated series, preferably one that was a bit different than the family- centric animated fare we already had. As a result, we get Allen Gregory and Napoleon Dynamite, two shows that didn’t stand a fart’s chance in the wind in keeping anyone’s attention. Bob’s Burgers then closed that season with just under a full-season order, and the rest was history.

 

3) NASCAR on FOX

No, Kevin wasn’t responsible for putting NASCAR on FOX. But, MAYBE he could’ve helped in making sure that NASCAR didn’t interrupt Animation Domination. Eventually, that did start to change with FOX putting longer races on FOX Sports 1, but I remember a lot of weeks having to purchase episodes on Amazon because of a NASCAR-rain delay.

 

2) Picking up then cancelling FOX’s ADHD

When FOX picked up Animation Domination Hi-Def, it was to help bring back the ”hip crowd” on Saturday Nights on FOX that the network used to get with MADtv and In Living Colour. Then when FOX cancelled the Saturday Night version of ADHD, he said ”The programming was TOO edgy for our viewers.” WHAT???? Kevin, what did you think was going to happen when you picked up shows called AXE COP or GOLAN THE INSATIABLE. Did you watch ANY of the pilots before green-lighting? The wrong thing to do, is to pick up TV shows, have audiences fall in love with them, then let them disappear. Because I know one thing, Axe Cop would be a hit show on Adult Swim as would Lucas Bros., so the fact that FOX mis-managed the audiences for these shows tells me that they should not have even bothered picking up FOX ADHD in the first place.

1) Not extending the Animation Domination lineup

 

This has me the most pissed off. The network constantly wonders why the hell the ratings for The Simpsons, American Dad, and Family Guy have dropped every year the last five years. Welp, there are two reasons: 1) Overnight ratings are in fact over-rated nowadays and 2) Most TV networks have brand-new programming on 50 weeks out of the year. So, if The Simpsons rerun this weekend, I’m certainly not going to tune in because I can literally watch Sunday’s episode in the next 30 seconds. Show me the value of tuning in on Sunday Nights, and I’ll show you an uptick in the overnight ratings. What should have happened is that Animation Domination should have had MORE shows green-lighted from the get-go and keep their viewers locked in during the late-Spring and Summer months. Doing this would not have me looking elsewhere for new content to watch, rather I would be sure to tune in every Sunday Night regardless of what’s on other networks. Then, when September rolls around, you can start hamming up about new episodes of Family Guy and The Simpsons returning to a much wider viewing audience.

And don’t tell me there isn’t a BUNCH of shit that FOX could pick up that would bring us in on Sunday Nights. How about old favorites like Futurama? How about new shows that never got a chance on other networks like Out There?  There’s really no excuse, and who knows? Maybe FOX discovers that new show that EVERYONE wants to get in on.