This season, Fox has added a couple of brand new comedies to the lineup. Recently, one of the new comedies, The Grinder, got some incredibly good news. Fox has made the decision to extend the episode order of the Rob Lowe and Fred Savage starrer to 22 episodes. That means the show earned its full season order, and may mean good news for other new comedy Grandfathered down the line.
The Grinder hasn’t been a huge ratings success story like some of the other shows this fall that have earned full season orders (e.g. Blindspot). However, Fox’s announcement notes that the show is doing 70% better on average in the timeslot than whatever was airing on Tuesday nights last year. (I just checked; the network has to be referring to the combination of the now-defunct reality series, Utopia and the animation repeats that came after its inevitable cancellation.) While the numbers haven’t been great, with just a few million tuning in, the show is owned by Fox and clearly seems to be an improvement in the Tuesday timeslot.
The Grinder does have the distinction of being only the second freshman comedy this fall to earn its back nine order. The Fox comedy was beat out to the number one slot fairly recently when ABC announced its newest Friday night comedy Dr. Ken, has earned a full season. The only difference? The Grinder earned great reviews for its characters and fresh premise, which follows a successful actor who decides to join his family’s law firm, believing his TV work on a law-based show gives him the expertise needed (although he may not be ready for the paperwork).
So, how does Grandfathered factor in? The show is Fox’s other Tuesday night drama. While it is not running quite as positively with critics as The Grinder is, it is doing a bit better in the ratings. Provided Stamos’ DUI charges don’t end up being a problem (which they hopefully won't), Grandfathered should be in a pretty good position to earn its back nine order, too. We’ll let you know if that happens.
While a full season order doesn’t confirm that a show will return for a second season, it’s certainly way better news than hearing your show’s episode order has been cut, as Fox’s own Minority Report heard just a few weeks ago. Hopefully, a few more people will tune in to both comedies as they move forward, allowing them to set themselves up for Season 2. We’ll keep you updated as we get later into the 2015-2016 TV season. For now, here’s what has yet to premiere this fall.
New episodes of The Grinder air on Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET.
