‘New Girl’ sidelined till November, ‘Terra Nova’ gets a finale date

What sounds like two pieces of bad scheduling news for a pair of FOX series — “New Girl” and “Terra Nova” — might not really be bad news, at least not for either show’s prospects.

Thanks to the baseball postseason and “The X Factor,” “New Girl” won’t be back on the air until Nov. 1. FOX had scheduled new installments of the Zooey Deschanel comedy to air after “The X Factor” on Wednesday (Oct. 12) and Tuesday, Oct. 18, but has instead decided to expand those “X Factor” episodes to two hours apiece.

As fans of the show, we’re bummed that “New Girl” won’t be back till Nov. 1 (another “X Factor” pre-emption on Oct. 25 was already in place). And if it were struggling, we might be concerned.

But the show has already earned a full-season pickup, and you could actually look at its break as a good thing. None of the post-“X Factor” episodes would have aired in the show’s regular timeslot, which can have an adverse effect on ratings (even with a decent lead-in). The break will also let FOX bring back its full Tuesday lineup on Nov. 1 — “Glee” and “Raising Hope” are also off until then — and keep it in originals a little deeper into December if it wants.

As for “Terra Nova,” FOX says the show will have a two-hour season finale on Monday, Dec. 19. The network has said from the outset that it wouldn’t air more than 13 episodes this season (partly because the show’s many special-effects shots make it more labor-intensive than the average drama). Ratings have been decent but not world-beating so far.

“Terra Nova” will be pre-empted for a World Series game on Oct. 24 but otherwise is scheduled to have an uninterrupted run through the finale.

Photo/Video credit: FOX