LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- "We've done a good job of avoiding these big decisions," FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly joked during the network's executive session of the TCA Winter Press Tour. Such was the case for many of the hot topics of the day:
-- "I think it's hard to imagine [the] network without 'House,'" Reilly said about their veteran drama, the contract for which is up this season. "This is not going to be like the pink slip goes out and that's the end of 'House'... we kind of agreed mutually to put it off until after the first of the year and then we'll sit down and see where we are. We haven't had that meeting yet." As far as a "House" spin-off, Reilly indicated "that time has come and gone... we just never found something creatively that excited us."
-- "We made money on it, the studio made money on it and the audience enjoyed it," Reilly noted about the much-ballyhooed budget of "Terra Nova." "The show looked fantastic, it's clearly a conceit people wanted to watch, they had ample opportunity to reject it: they didn't." He later admitted that, "There were a lot of chefs in the kitchen going in. That did make for a little bit of a challenge. The show was hunting for itself creatively through the season." Ultimately, he said "we are going to decide very soon because it does need to get back into production over the next month."
-- "I expect 'Idol' will be down this season, but mostly due to the fact it's going to be an 11 year old show." Reilly indicated. "It's going to be a natural life cycle for that show."
-- "I think it's going to be a nice little change in format for that audience," Reilly said about cutting the results show for "So You Think You Can Dance." "It wasn't about reducing hours or cutting costs or anything like that. We wanted to get a few more shows on over the summer. We also wanted to smooth out our summer so we don't stop early and have these dead weeks leading up to the season."
-- "We will not be making any more 'Allen Gregory,'" Reilly admitted, adding that they're still in business with Jonah Hill. "He's got a live-action comedy with us. We're going to be doing more shows with Jonah."
-- "The hesitation in my voice is that it's an expensive show," Reilly said about the future of "Fringe." "We lose a lot of money on the show. At that rate, on that night, it's almost impossible for us to make money off it. That's been the case now over the last season. We're not in the business of losing money. So we really do have to sit down with that entity as well and figure out is there a number in which it makes sense or will this be it." He added that, "Please don't start the letter writing campaign right now everybody. I don't, I can't take it... I'm not now quietly doing a soft cancel here, I'm just telling you where it stands."
-- "There will not be a 'Glee' spin-off," Reilly affirmed. "So those characters will graduate and it's lead to a very interesting idea that I think is going to really give us something cool to dig into next season. That's all I can say about it now. That's all Ryan [Murphy]'s going to say about it until the spring. But I like where it really sets up in that spring batch of episodes and where it's going to set us up for next season." When pressed specifically about Lea Michele, Reilly said that yes she will be a part of the show going forward.
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