Fox's New Shows Include Rick And Morty Creator's Krapopolis, Country Music Drama Monarch, Jon Hamm's Grimsburg & More
Did you know there are these things called "network TV shows" that are still being made in the era of Too Much Streaming Content™? It's true! A series like "Young Sheldon" on CBS is not only a thing that I definitely hadn't forgotten exists, it's just about to wrap its fifth season and has already been renewed for (at least) two more seasons. Elsewhere, NBC only just put in a season 3 order for "Young Rock," another sitcom centered on the young version of a fictional character (what do you mean Dwayne Johnson is a real person?) that will continue to air until at least 2023.
Fox will similarly double its efforts to draw in new viewers with a whole new slate of series in the 2022-2023 TV season. Their ranks include the musical drama "Monarch," crime show "Accused," police procedural "Alert," and a pair of animated comedy series in the forms of "Grimsburg" from Don Draper himself, Jon Hamm, and "Krapopolis," the latest creation from "Community" creator and "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon.There's a lot to unpack here, so let's take it one show at a time, shall we?
Monarch
MONARCH is a Texas-sized, multi-generational musical drama about America's first family of country music. In MONARCH, the Romans are headed by the insanely talented, but tough as nails Queen of Country Music DOTTIE CANTRELL ROMAN (Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon, "Feud," "Thelma & Louise") and her beloved husband, "Texas Truthteller" ALBIE ROMAN (multi-Platinum country music star and three-time Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award winner Trace Adkins, "Old Henry"). Dottie and Albie have created a country music dynasty. But even though the Roman name is synonymous with authenticity, the very foundation of their success is a lie. And when their reign as country royalty is put in jeopardy, heir to the crown NICOLETTE "NICKY" ROMAN (Golden Globe nominee Anna Friel, "Pushing Daisies") will stop at nothing to protect her family's legacy, while ensuring her own quest for stardom. MONARCH is owned and produced by Fox Entertainment. Screenwriter Melissa London Hilfers serves as creator, writer and executive producer. Jon Feldman ("Designated Survivor") serves as showrunner and executive producer. Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady (The Jackal Group), Jason Owen (Sandbox Entertainment) and Michael Rauch ("Royal Pains") are executive producers.
A show about a powerful family threatening to tear itself apart as old secrets are brought to light, with the children doing all they can to protect their parents' legacy while also carving out their own? That description makes my brain immediately leap to "Succession," though I'm guessing Susan Sarandon isn't going to running around telling people to "F** off" whichever way she turns, as much as I am here for that. "Monarch" could also be a bit like a cross between "Nashville" and "Dynasty," which makes it all the more convent that The CW only just canceled its reboot of the latter series during a recent Red Wedding-style massacre of its weekly programming lineup.
Accused
Based on the BBC's BAFTA-winning British crime anthology, comes a provocative series that takes you on the journey of the defendant. Each episode opens in a courtroom on the accused, with viewers knowing nothing about their crime or how they ended up on trial. Told from the defendant's point of view through flashbacks, ACCUSED holds a mirror up to the current times with evocative and emotional stories. In ACCUSED, viewers discover how an ordinary person gets caught up in an extraordinary situation, ultimately revealing how one wrong turn leads to another, until it's too late to turn back. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Michael Chiklis ("The Shield") guest-stars in the premiere episode, as Dr. Scott Corbett, a successful brain surgeon with a seemingly perfect family. He faces the limits of unconditional love when he discovers his teenage son may be planning a violent attack at school. Later in the season, Marlee Matlin, Billy Porter and Michael Chiklis each direct episodes of the anthology crime drama. ACCUSED is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment. The series is executive-produced by Howard Gordon ("24," "Homeland"), Alex Gansa ("24," "Homeland") and David Shore ("The Good Doctor," "House"). Emmy Award winner Michael Cuesta ("Homeland") will direct the program's premiere episode, reuniting with "Homeland" executive producers Gordon and Gansa.
It seems like the big takeaway here is "Accused" reunites three of the main creative forces behind "Homeland," a show that was also based on a non-U.S. series (in that case, the Israeli TV drama "Prisoners of War"). And while "Homeland" would go on to run a whole eight seasons, it went through a lot of ups and downs over that time, often struggling to justify its existence far beyond the limited concept that inspired it. Anthology shows are an even dicier prospect, although it's best to wait and see if "Accused" can actually sustain its conceit across a single season before we get ahead of ourselves speculating about its future.
Alert
ALERT is a character-driven police procedural about the LAMPU — the Los Angeles Police Department's missing person's unit. When police officer Nikki Parker's son goes missing, she joins the LAPD's Missing Person's Unit to help other people find their loved ones, even as she searches for her own. Six years later, her world is turned upside-down when her ex-husband, Devon Zoellner, shows up with a proof-of-life photo of their missing boy. Or is it? ALERT is a procedural drama with a heart-pounding, life-or-death search for a missing person in each episode, that runs alongside Nikki and Devon's quest to find out the truth about the person claiming to be their long-lost son. It's a case-of-the-week show with a case-of-a-lifetime story running through it — a story that alternately brings our two main characters gut-wrenching heartache and heart-pounding joy. ALERT is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment. John Eisendrath ("The Blacklist") serves as showrunner and executive producer. Jamie Foxx and Datari Turner are executive producers.
Launching a new police procedural in 2022 is, um, certainly a bold strategy, and we'll see if it pays off for Fox. But if "Alert" doesn't sound like your cup of tea, yet you find yourself intrigued by the idea of a mystery where someone claims to be a long-long person, might I suggest Bart Layton's 2012 documentary "The Imposter?" It's a lesser-known work /Film's Valerie Ettenhoffer heralded as a "shock-a-minute" true story thriller that surpasses any true crime doc you could find on Netflix, and it's available for streaming on a handful of different platforms.
Grimsburg
All-new animated comedy GRIMSBURG stars Emmy Award winner Jon Hamm ("Mad Men," "Top Gun: Maverick"), who also serves as an executive producer on the series. In GRIMSBURG, Marvin Flute (Hamm) may be the greatest detective ever to catch a cannibal clown or correctly identify a mid-century modern armoire. But there's one mystery he still can't crack — his family. Now that he's back in Grimsburg, a town where everyone has a secret or three, Flute will follow every lead he's got to redeem himself with the ex-wife he never stopped loving, even if it means hanging out with the son he never bothered to get to know. GRIMSBURG is owned by Fox Entertainment, and produced by Bento Box Entertainment. Catlan McClelland and Matthew Schlissel created the series and serve as co-executive producers. Gail Berman, Hend Baghdady, Connie Tavel, Chadd Gindin and Jon Hamm serve as executive producers.
After starring in seven seasons of one of the most critically-acclaimed shows of all time, "Mad Men" alum Jon Hamm seems content to do whatever strikes his fancy, be it playing Gabriel, leader of the forces of Heaven, on "Good Omens" or voicing Iron Man on the recently-canceled Marvel animated comedy series "M.O.D.O.K." That trend looks to carry on with "Grimsburg," which reminds me a bit of "M.O.D.O.K." in that it, too, centers on a genre archetype (in this case, the noir detective) who tries to rekindle ties with his estranged family while also existing in a parody version of the genre that inspired them.
Krapopolis
From Emmy Award-winning creator Dan Harmon ("Rick and Morty," "Community") comes KRAPOPOLIS, an animated series like no other. Set in mythical Ancient Greece, the series centers on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world's first cities without killing each other. The series' voice cast features Emmy Award winner Hannah Waddingham ("Ted Lasso"), Richard Ayoade ("The IT Crowd"), Matt Berry ("What We Do in The Shadows"), Pam Murphy ("Mapleworth Murders") and Duncan Trussell ("The Midnight Gospel"). In the series, Ayoade voices "Tyrannis", the mortal son of a goddess. He's the benevolent King of Krapopolis trying to make do in a city that lives up to its name. Waddingham plays "Deliria," Tyrannis' mother, goddess of self-destruction and questionable choices. Within her extended Olympian family –- forged in patricide and infidelity –- she's known as the trashy one. Berry is "Shlub," Tyrannis' father, a mantitaur (half centaur [horse + human], half manticore [lion + human + scorpion]). He is oversexed and underemployed, claims to be an artist and has literally never paid for anything, in any sense of that word, for his entire life. Murphy voices "Stupendous," Tyrannis' half-sister, daughter of Deliria and a cyclops. Trussell plays "Hippocampus," Tyrannis' half-brother, offspring of Shlub and a mermaid, and, obviously, a hot mess, biologically speaking. KRAPOPOLIS is owned by Fox Entertainment, and produced by Fox's Emmy Award-winning animation studio, Bento Box Entertainment. The series is an outgrowth of the direct animation deal Harmon and Fox Entertainment unveiled in 2020.
Are you ready for another off-beat Dan Harmon project? "Krapopolis" sounds a bit like a cross between elements of "Rick and Morty" and "Community," its fantasy setting aside. Really, though, any show that pairs Hannah Waddingham with Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry is certainly making an effort to be funny, however the series' blend of character-driven comedy and political satire turns out. Less encouraging are those reports that "Krapopolis" is the "first-ever animated series curated entirely on the Blockchain," with plans to "curate and sell digital goods," including NFTs of character and background art. Gross.