Fox Announces Premiere Dates for The Following, Glee's Friday-Bound Final Season, and Lots More

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Ready for Fox's latest round of scheduling announcements? Well settle in, because this one's a biggie.

First things first, it's officially the beginning of the end for Glee, which is moving to Fridays for its swan song.

The network announced Thursday that the shortened sixth and final season of Ryan Murphy's musical comedy will kick off with a two-hour premiere on Friday, January 9 at 8pm. The show will move to its regular (new) timeslot on Fridays at 9pm the following week and wrap its run with a two-hour series finale on Friday, March 20 at 8pm.

Elsewhere in the network's midseason lineup:

– As previously announced, American Idol and new hip-hop drama Empire will premiere on Wednesday, January 7 at 8pm and 9pm, respectively.

– The Following will return for Season 3 with a two-hour premiere on Monday, March 2 at 8pm before moving to 9pm the following week.

– Also back for Season 3 is reality hit MasterChef Junior, which returns to the kitchen on Tuesday, January 6 at 8pm.

– Once the kid chefs polish off dessert, that other Gordon Ramsay cooking show, Hell's Kitchen, will begin its 14th season in MasterChef Junior's old spot, on Tuesday, March 3 at 8pm.

– New crime drama Backstrom, which stars The Office alum Rainn Wilson, gets the plum post-American Idol spot when it premieres on Thursday, January 22 at 9pm.

– Following a four-month Idol-induced hiatus, Bones will return with new episodes and precede Backstrom on Thursdays at 8pm beginning March 26.

– SNL alum Will Forte's new comedy The Last Man on Earth will premiere with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, March 1 at 9pm. One week later, the show will move to its 9:30pm timeslot.

– New comedy Weird Loners, which stars Happy Endings' Zachary Knighton and Ugly Betty's Becki Newton, will take over The Mindy Project's spot beginning Tuesday, March 31 at 9:30pm. (If we've done our math correctly, Mindy will wrap things up relatively early in 2015, finishing its newly expanded 21-episode third season in mid-March.)

– Additionally, Fox also announced Thursday that it has ordered a new unscripted reality series called World's Funniest Fails, which is exactly what you think it is. Based on the YouTube channel FailArmy, the show is slated to premiere on Friday, January 16 at 8pm.


Now here's all of that info in a handy chronological list!


Tuesdays beginning January 6

8–9pm – MasterChef Junior (Season 3 premiere)

9–9:30pm – New Girl

9:30–10pm – The Mindy Project


Wednesdays beginning January 7

8–9pm – American Idol (Season 14 premiere, Part 1)

9–10pm – Empire (Series premiere)


Thursday, January 8

8–10pm – American Idol (Season 14 premiere, Part 2)


Friday, January 9

8–10pm – Glee (Two-hour Season 6 premiere)


Thursday, January 15

8–10pm – American Idol


Fridays beginning January 16

8–9pm – World's Funniest Fails (Series premiere)

9–10pm – Glee (Time period premiere)


Thursdays beginning January 22

8–9pm – American Idol (Time period premiere)

9–10pm – Backstrom (Series premiere)


Sunday, March 1

7:30–8pm – Bob's Burgers (Time period premiere)

8–8:30pm – The Simpsons

8:30–9pm – Brooklyn Nine-Nine

9–10pm – The Last Man on Earth (One-hour series premiere)


Monday, March 2

8–10pm – The Following (Two-hour Season 3 premiere)


Tuesdays beginning March 3

8–9pm – Hell's Kitchen (Season 14 premiere)

9–9:30pm – New Girl

9:30–10pm – The Mindy Project


Sundays beginning March 8

7:30–8pm – Bob's Burgers (Time period premiere)

8–8:30pm – The Simpsons

8:30–9pm – Brooklyn Nine-Nine

9-9:30pm – Family Guy

9:30–10pm – The Last Man on Earth (Time period premiere)


Mondays beginning March 9

8–9pm – Gotham

9–10pm – The Following (Time period premiere)


Friday, March 20

8–10pm – Glee (Two-hour series finale)


Thursday, March 26:

8–9pm – Bones (Spring premiere)

9–10pm – Backstrom


Tuesdays beginning March 31:

8–9pm – Hell's Kitchen

9–9:30pm – New Girl

9:30–10pm – Weird Loners (Series premiere)


What here looks good to you?