Fox Midseason: ‘Glee’ Returns To Tuesday, ‘Brooklyn’ Moves Behind ‘New Girl’, ‘Mindy’ Takes Hiatus, ‘Following’ Gets NFC Launch

Fox is making some scheduling changes for midseason. The underperforming two-hour Tuesday comedy block will be scaled to an hour beginning February 25, when Glee will return to the Tuesday 8 PM slot where it did pretty well during the 2011-12 season. Fox brass hope that the move would help the show regain some footing, which it has lost airing behind a very weak The X Factor this fall. The hourlong Fox comedy block will consist of New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which will move to the 9:30 slot on February 4. It will replace The Mindy Project, which will go on hiatus after a winter finale on January 28, returning on April 1 after Brooklyn Nine-Nine ends its freshman run. The move comes after the sophomore comedy starring Mindy Kaling hit a new series low (1.2 in 18-49) this week. The show’s crew already has been told of the scheduling change, and Mindy is planning a month-long production hiatus around the holidays which the writers will use to regroup and plot the show’s April re-launch.

Fox also is changing its launch plans for midseason dramas The Following and Rake. Instead of premiering new legal dramedy Rake behind the NFC Championship Game on January 19 as previously announced, Fox will launch the second season of  gritty drama The Following after the big game for a two-night season premiere on Sunday, January 19 and Monday, January 20 when the series will debut in its regular Monday 9 PM slot, following the season finale of Sleepy Hollow. The argument is that the dark, male skewing Following would be more compatible with the football game than the lighter, more female-friendly Rake. The new series starring Greg Kinnear will premiere January 23 in its regular Thursday 9 PM slot, following American Idol. As previously announced, new Fox comedy Enlisted will premiere on Friday, January 10, and original episodes of New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine will air after the Super Bowl on February 2. Remaining unclear if the spring scheduling of comedy Dads, which will air its last originals in its Tuesday February 4 and February 11 before going on hiatus to make room for Glee. It could come back later in the season, a return date is TBD. Here are Fox’s updated winter premiere dates:

SUNDAYS
JANUARY 5
8-8:30 PM – THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9 PM – BOB’S BURGERS
9-9:30 PM – FAMILY GUY
9:30-10 PM – AMERICAN DAD

JANUARY 19
6-10 PM ET – NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (Live)
10-11 PM ET/7-8 PM PT – THE FOLLOWING (Season Premiere, Night One)

JANUARY 26
8-8:30 PM – THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9 PM – BOB’S BURGERS
9-9:30 PM – FAMILY GUY
9:30-10 PM – AMERICAN DAD

FEBRUARY 2
6-10:30 PM – SUPER BOWL XLVIII (Live)
10:30-11 PM ET/7:30-8 PM PT – NEW GIRL
11-11:30 PM PT/7:30-8 PM PT – BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

FEBRUARY 9
8-8:30 PM – THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9 PM – BOB’S BURGERS
9-9:30 PM – FAMILY GUY
9:30-10 PM – AMERICAN DAD

MONDAYS

JANUARY 6
8-9 PM – ALMOST HUMAN
9-10 PM – SLEEPY HOLLOW

JANUARY 20
8-9 PM – SLEEPY HOLLOW (Season Finale; Special Time)
9-10 PM – THE FOLLOWING (Season Premiere, Night Two)

JANUARY 27
8-9 PM – ALMOST HUMAN
9-10 PM – THE FOLLOWING

TUESDAYS

JANUARY 7
8-8:30 PM – DADS
8:30-9 PM – BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 PM – THE MINDY PROJECT

JANUARY 28
8-8:30 PM – DADS
8:30-9 – PM BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 PM – THE MINDY PROJECT (Winter Finale)

FEBRUARY 4
8-8:30 PM – DADS
8:30-9 PM – BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (Encore)
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 – PM BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (Time Period Premiere)

FEBRUARY 11
8-8:30 PM – DADS
8:30-9 PM – DADS
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 PM – BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

FEBRUARY 18
8-10 PM – AMERICAN IDOL (Special Night)

FEBRUARY 25
8-9 PM – GLEE (Spring Premiere)
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 PM – BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

MARCH 25
8-9 PM – GLEE
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 PM – BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (Season Finale)

APRIL 1
8-9 PM – GLEE
9-9:30 PM – THE MINDY PROJECT (Spring Premiere – Part 1)
9:30-10 PM – THE MINDY PROJECT (Spring Premiere – Part 2)

APRIL 8
8-9 PM – GLEE
9-9:30 PM – NEW GIRL
9:30-10 PM – THE MINDY PROJECT (Time Period Premiere)

WEDNESDAYS

JANUARY 15
8-10 PM  – AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part One)

THURSDAYS

JANUARY 16
8-10 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part Two)

JANUARY 23
8-9 PM – AMERICAN IDOL (Time Period Premiere)
9-10 PM – RAKE (Series Premiere)

FRIDAYS

JANUARY 10
8-9 PM – BONES
9-9:30 PM – RAISING HOPE
9:30-10 PM – ENLISTED (Series Premiere)

SATURDAYS

JANUARY 11
11 PM-Midnight – ANIMATION DOMINATION HIGH-DEF