Fox midseason schedule: ‘Sleepy Hollow’ to Fridays; ‘Empire’ season 2, ‘Gotham’ return dates and more

For has just made their 2016 midseason schedule very clear, and upon immediately looking at it, there are many reasons to have your head spin. There’s a heck of a lot going on here! There are new shows, shows returning on new nights, and ones that are left off altogether. (Sorry, “The Last Man on Earth” and “Bones.”)

We’ll do our best to simplify this as best we can by saying that unless otherwise noted, the schedule for each night should be identical to what it was the week before.

Sunday, January 3

8:00 – 8:30: “The Simpsons”

8:30-9:00: “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life” (new series)

9:00-9:30: “Family Guy”

9:30-10:00: “Bordertown” (new series)

Tuesday, January 5

8:00-8:30: “New Girl” (premiere)

8:30-9:00: “Grandfathered” (new time)

9:00-9:30: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (new night and time)

9:30-10:00: “The Grinder” (new time)

Wednesday, January 6

8:00-10:00: “American Idol” (premiere)

Thursday, January 7

8:00-10:00: “American Idol” (Thursday premiere)

Friday, January 8

8:00-10:00: “MasterChef Junior” (two-hour episode)

Sunday, January 10

7:30-8:00: “Bob’s Burgers”

Wednesday, January 13

9:00-10:00: “Second Chance” (new series)

Friday, January 15

8:00-9:00: “MasterChef Junior”

9:00-10:00: “Hell’s Kitchen” (premiere)

Sunday, January 24

10:00-11:00 (tentative): “The X-Files” (premiere)

Monday, January 25

8:00-9:00: “The X Files” (time slot premiere)

9:00-10:00: “Lucifer” (new series)

Sunday, January 31

7:00-10:00: “Grease” (live, one-time airing, tape-delayed on West Coast)

Friday, February 5

8:00-9:00: “Sleepy Hollow” (new night)

Monday, February 29

8:00-9:00: “Gotham”

Wednesday, March 2

8:00-9:00: “Rosewood”

Wednesday, March 30

9:00-10:00: “Empire”

The biggest surprise here is seeing “Sleepy Hollow” on Fridays, but that’s probably not even that much of a shock when you sit for a minute and consider the fact that its ratings have been far from great as of late. Also, “Rosewood” is going to be tested without “Empire,” and “Lucifer” is going to get a great chance to launch with a following provided that the hype for “The X-Files” is justified with its ratings.

Ultimately, can it really be any worse for Fox given how they got off to such a bad start this season outside of “Empire”? We’ll see.