Fox at TCA: Mariah Joins Idol and News on The Mindy Project, Glee, and Fringe!
FOX brought its new fall programming slate to Beverly Hills today so the media could soak in all of the new stars and sights. But above and beyond getting a taste of The Mob Doctor, Ben and Kate, The Mindy Project, Hotel Hell, and the newly revamped The X Factor, the network also provided one final Fringe presentation and a short slew of news and announcements overall. Here were Snakkle’s highlights: By Danielle TurchianoSo You Think You Can Dance expands its global reach. Though the Canadian version of So You Think You Can Dance was canceled earlier this year, series judge and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe pointed out that there is now an installment of the “entertainment show that just happens to be about dance” in Vietnam. He hoped that the show would continue to be introduced to new countries as the years went on, even if it were a “one in, one out” situation.
Fringe sets an end date, sort of. Though Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment for the network, didn’t commit to a hard date, he did let it slip that Fringe’s final episode would be airing in January 2013, which, when you do the math on 13 episodes, means the fifth and final season won’t be running uninterrupted when it premieres at the end of September.
The first three episodes of Glee are in to the network, and they cut back and forth between New York and Ohio. Ryan Murphy was not on hand to discuss his musical, but Reilly said that he and the network have read the first three episodes of the fourth season, and they will please the longtime fans—even those who worried their favorite characters may be fewer and farther between this season. Time will be split evenly between the two cities as beloved characters struggle to find their way post-high school.
Additionally, Glee sees two new characters in Jacob Artist and Dean Geyer. Geyer, who you may recognize from Fox’s Terra Nova, comes in as an upperclassman at NYADA who has his eye on Rachel, while Jacob Artist is Puck’s little brother, who has more attitude than the mohawked tough guy but is also potentially an even bigger talent.
The Mindy Project will see an Office reunion. While the pilot episode sees Ed Helms as a potential suitor to Mindy Kaling’s titular character, a behind-the-scenes reunion will take place when Greg Daniels comes to direct an early episode in the season. Kaling joked that she plans to welcome him by yelling “Who’s the boss now!?”
Inarguably the biggest news to come out of the Fox TCA presentation today, though, was that a new American Idol judge has finally officially been signed. Mariah Carey is joining Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, and others to be announced on Idol in the winter. Her deal, which is reportedly for $17 million, just closed, prior to Lythgoe’s own EP deal being updated and without the network making an official comment on Jennifer Lopez.