Fox pulls ‘Utopia’ off of Tuesdays, will use night to launch ‘MasterChef Junior’
Sooner or later, we knew this was coming for “Utopia,” and the show’s not going to get a chance to make a “brand new start” like the theme song suggests. Instead, it will be heading permanently to the sometimes-TV graveyard known as Friday nights.
It has been confirmed now that moving forward, the series about 15 “pioneers” working to create a new society will no longer air on Tuesday nights, and Fox will use this timeslot instead to launch “MasterChef Junior” season 2 on Tuesday, November 4. The chances are better for this series to succeed in the ratings, and be a better launchpad for its struggling comedies “New Girl” and “The Mindy Project.” Originally, “Utopia” was going to eventually lose its Friday timeslot, and only air once a week on Tuesdays.
We continue to believe that “Utopia” was a fun concept, and that the live feeds for the show have been a trainwreck in all of the right ways. The reason why this show to us hasn’t quite worked, though, is because there are not even people for the viewing public to really relate to. People who just want to watch crazy people screaming at each other typically watch Bravo or VH1; network audiences want some characters who are a little more normal, and are not just causing drama most of the time.
While the ratings on Fridays are not great, we’re not willing to put the nail in the coffin for “Utopia” just yet. If it can find a crowd on Fridays and get the rating up closer to a 1.0, we’re not sure Fox really has anything else that they can even replace it with and draw better numbers on the night. They’ve already invested so much money into the experiment that they may be better off seeing it through, and hoping that it produces something great on the other side. If they do cancel it, then we imagine that it will be gone completely before the new year.
What do you think about this not-so-stunning news? Share below, and click here to get some further TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: Fox