Originally Posted by little-monster:
“Gotham has been given six extra episodes. The show had already been given 15 and will now have a total of 22 episodes.
I am shocked at this as i read an interview with the producer not long after FOX picked it up that they only specifically wanted 15 episodes for season 1.”
I think Fox need a show that's going to run for the full 22 episodes, and Gotham is the most likely candidate given it's had such a strong start. There's very few on that network that are currently scheduled for that - Glee is just 13 episodes, The Mindy Project 15, Sleepy Hollow 18, Gracepoint 10, Empire and Wayward Pines also both due to be limited series - there's actually very few that have the 'full' season order. That leaves gaps in the schedule, especially when you consider the likely cancellations that will be happening sooner rather than later.
The problems come if the decision adversely affects the season plans the writers had - and they need to stretch the story that would have run over 16 episodes, and eke out another 6 episodes without losing any of the pace they had. Tough ask, especially if the Gotham producers were pretty adamant that they wanted to tell the season's story in 16 episodes originally. I'm guessing everyone's getting a very nice bonus for the extra work!