Fox Sets Up for '24,' 'Idol'
Posted on: Thursday, 15 May 2008, 06:00 CDT
By Gary Levin
NEW YORK -- Fox next week will finish the season with its first win among total viewers and its fourth straight victory among young adults. With a slipping but still-dominant American Idol in its pocket and fewer hours to program, the network also has fewer trouble spots.
Instead, it will focus once again on shoring up fall's pre-Idol lineup when it presents its schedule for next season to advertisers today.
Preparing for the return of 24 next January after a 20-month break, the network in November will air a two-hour, stand-alone 24 movie. Shot partly in South Africa, it takes place on Inauguration Day for the next U.S. president (Cherry Jones), setting up the show's seventh season.
Like other networks in this strike-shortened year, Fox is adding fewer shows. But two new dramas, one for fall and one for midseason, embrace its sci-fi X-Files legacy after two seasons of trying more traditional law and cop shows.
The top draw for fall is Fringe, from J.J. Abrams (Lost), about a female FBI agent, a scientist and his bad-boy genius son who stop unexplained phenomena.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer producer Joss Whedon is back on Fox with Dollhouse, about a team "imprinted" with personalities to solve secret missions, only to have their memories wiped clean in a high-tech lab/dorm. Buffy's Eliza Dushku is among the stars. Dollhouse is expected to be paired with 24 on Mondays in January.
Prison Break and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are likely to return on Mondays in fall. House, back on Tuesdays, and Bones flesh out Fox's drama lineup.
Also new for fall: The Inn, a comedy about guests and the hired help at a hip New York hotel. It stars Niecy Nash and Jerry O'Connell and will likely be paired with the returning Brad Garrett comedy 'Til Death. (Death's current companion, Back to You, has been canceled).
In midseason, the network will add Secret Millionaires, a new reality series about rich folks who go "undercover" in poor neighborhoods under the pretense of filming a documentary, and ultimately hand out cash to those they help.
And Fox has two new animated series for next spring. Class Dismissed, about the dysfunctional faculty at a public high school, is based on a live-action Australian comedy and re-teams Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz with that cult comedy's Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler as voice talent. There's also The Cleveland Show, a Family Guy spinoff about the Griffins' neighbors.
The two shows will fill in for King of the Hill and American Dad on Sundays starting in March.
Source: USA TODAY
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