In a big surprise (given it's so atypical for how network TV operates), Sleepy Hollow has been renewed for Season 2, just three weeks after its debut. The show has been a clear success for FOX and held up well against the competition, but what most were expecting was a back-nine order to extend the season to a full 22 episodes, not a quick renewal. This sort of "renew right away" move is usually reserved for cable, with HBO among those who do it often.

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Sleepy Hollow in fact won't have a back-nine order and will keep its season set at 13 episodes, with 13 episodes also ordered for Season 2 - another way in which FOX is now following a more cable-type model.Said FOX's president, Kevin Reilly, "The show has proven to be a risk well worth taking – it’s a conceptual blast unlike anything else on television and it all holds together with inventive writing and a fantastic cast. I can’t wait for fans to experience what else is in store for this fall and even more of this wild ride into Season 2.”So can we finally lay to rest the "FOX just orders genre series so they can maliciously cancel them?" go-to statement? We're a long way from the days of Firefly and the regime at FOX who were in charge at the time, that's for sure...It's also interesting to note how early FOX are setting up their schedule for the 2014-2015 TV season. The network have already bypassed the pilot stage and given straight-to-series orders for the DC Comics-based Gotham and a new comedy, Mulaney (starring John Mulaney), and have the "limited" series (as in miniseries) Broadchurch and Wayward Pines set to debut sometime in the next year, with 24: Live Another Day running over the summer.