Fox Renews Two Hit Series for New Seasons
Two freshmen series are both being renewed for second seasons on FOX. The crime anthology Accused and procedural Alert: Missing Persons Unit were both mid-season additions to FOX's lineup, but have overperformed for the network. In particular, FOX Entertainment calls Accused the #1 new series and #1 new drama of the season with 14.6 million multi-platform viewers during its January 22nd debut, while Alert: Missing Persons Unit had 8.5 million multi-platform viewers on January 8th when it debuted. Season 2 of Accused and Alert are scheduled to air during Fox's 2023-2024 schedule.
"Accused and Alert stand out as two of this season's new broadcast and multi-platform success stories," Michael Thorn, President, Scripted Programming, of FOX Entertainment, said in a statement. "Looking to 2023-24, we'll continue to deliver on the powerful storytelling coming from both series, building on our incredible partnership with Sony and further solidifying FOX's strong slate of dramas, giving our schedule tremendous season-to-season stability."
Alert: Missing Persons Unit stars Scott Caan, Dania Ramirez, Adeola Role and Ryan Broussard, and comes from co-creators and executive producers John Eisendrath and Academy and Golden Globe-winning actor, singer and comedian Jamie Foxx. Carla Kettner (Panhandle, The Blacklist, Bones) will serve as showrunner of Alert's second season, with Eisendrath and Foxx executive producing. Accused comes from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Howard Gordon.
"With Accused, Howard Gordon has taken the crime anthology to new heights and acclaim, featuring an all-star roster of directors and talent headlining gripping episodes that entertain viewers with a provocative, fresh take on many of the most relevant, timely issues of our day," added Thorn. "Scott, Dania, John and Jamie have done an incredible job launching Alert and bringing its story into heart-pounding focus, giving us an emotionally intense procedural drama that's primed for even more success as Carla takes the day-to-day reins, continuing the great work we've seen this season."
"We are excited to continue our long partnership with FOX to bring more Accused and Alert to audiences around the world," said Katherine Pope, President, Sony Pictures Television. "It's wonderful to see these timely, poignant stories resonating with viewers, and we want to congratulate the writers, producers, cast and crew on their success. We are incredibly proud of their collective work and look forward to seeing where these series go next!"
Accused is based on the BBC's BAFTA-winning crime anthology and stars Michael Chiklis, Abigail Breslin, Whitney Cummings, Margo Martindale, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Wendell Pierce, Rachel Bilson, Jack Davenport, Molly Parker, Rhea Perlman, Betsy Brandt, Keith Carradine, Aisha Dee, Jason Ritter and directors Billy Porter, Marlee Matlin, Tazbah Chavez and Michael Chiklis.
Set in the Philadelphia Police Department's Missing Persons Unit, each episode of Alert: Missing Persons Unit features a heart-pounding, life-or-death search for a missing person driven by police officers Jason Grant (Caan) and Nikki Batista's (Ramirez), whose complicated personal lives are evolving after the loss of their son.