FOX Preview Party at The Paley Center for Media

This past Tuesday night I had the opportunity to attend the FOX Preview Party at The Paley Center for Media in the heart of Beverly Hills.

It was a big night with screenings of the new sitcoms Grandfathered and The Grinder, which star John Stamos and Rob Lowe respectively, as well as the first hour of the two-hour series debut of the much buzzed about Ryan Murphy thriller Scream Queens.

Following those three screenings were moderated panels by TV Guide writer Michael Schneider with John Stamos and Grandfathered executive producer Danny Chun and then Rob Lowe was joined on stage by his co-star Fred Savage as well as The Grinder executive producers Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul.

Regretfully, a panel wasn’t held with the cast and creative minds of Scream Queens, but where I’m concerned, I was relieved because – sadly – that show is simply a disaster. It’s a really bad combination of Glee and American Horror Story with Emma Roberts’ character being an evil, teenage version of a really bad Sue Sylvester. I am sure there will be plenty of viewers who will love the wildly inappropriate dialogue and the grim storylines; but I did not enjoy it at all.

Thankfully, the night was somewhat saved with the screenings of the new futuristic drama Minority Report – based on the Tom Cruise film – and the buddy medical-cop show Rosewood. FOX made an attempt last season with the futuristic series Almost Human that, unfortunately, failed after one season. I have a feeling that Minority Report will run in the same direction despite the real cool technology that is used in the series.

As for Rosewood, the new show will succeed only because of the charm of series lead Morris Chestnut, who is playing a preeminent pathologist in Miami, who is partnered with a kick-ass cop. Think of the show as a bit like Castle except replace the mystery novelist with a renowned doctor and add in a lot more sun and sand.

Grandfathered will debut on FOX on September 29 at 8 PM followed that same night by the debut of The Grinder at 8:30 PM. Scream Queens will debut for two hours on September 22 at 8 PM. Minority Report will air its series premiere on September 21 at 9 PM while Rosewood will debut on September 23 at 8 PM.