Upfronts: No. 1 Fox posts its lineup with ‘Fringe’ and ‘Dollhouse’
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Fox, the ‘American Idol’ network, announced its new schedule on Thursday of this upfronts week.
The network comes from a position of strength: It will once again win the season in viewers ages 18 to 49, and, in what could represent a sea change in broadcast television, Fox has also wrested the most-watched title away from CBS, as our columnist Scott Collins anticipated in March.
Its two most high-profile new projects are ‘Fringe,’ from Team J.J. Abrams, and Joss Whedon’s ‘Dollhouse.’ ‘Fringe,’ and indeed the entire Fox ‘fall’ lineup, will make its debut in late August. (‘Prison Break’ will kick off the Fox season Aug. 25; a two-hour ‘Fringe’ will premiere the next night.)
As usual, Fox announced its schedule in two separate parts because of ‘Idol.’ What will be different in this coming season, assuming there are no strike disruptions or other disasters, will be the return of ‘24’ -- the Kiefer Sutherland-led adventure series will come back to the airwaves for the first time since spring of 2007. On Thursday, the network announced the airdate of the two-hour ‘24’ prequel: Sunday, Nov. 23.
And ‘Day 7’ of the veteran show, which suffered a creative downturn in its sixth season after an Emmy-winning run in its fifth, will come back to Fox in January. It will be in its regular 9 p.m. Monday slot, with ‘Dollhouse’ as its lead-in.
Other notes: ‘Back to You,’ ‘Canterbury’s Law,’ ‘New Amsterdam’ and ‘The Return of Jezebel James’ have indeed been canceled, as we previously reported. ‘Unhitched,’ the Farrelly brothers comedy, can now be added to that list as well.
And also check out below that the ‘Idol’ results show is, at least for now, going back to a half-hour after a season in which viewers seemed to begin tiring of the singing competition for the first time.
The schedule is after the jump, with new shows in bold.
-- Kate Aurthur
FOX PRIME-TIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2008
(All times Eastern/Pacific)
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
9-10 p.m. PRISON BREAK
TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. HOUSE
9-10 p.m. FRINGE
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. BONES
9-9:30 p.m. ‘TIL DEATH
9:30-10 p.m. DO NOT DISTURB (working title, formerly ‘The Inn’)
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m. THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
9-10 p.m. KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?
9-10 p.m. DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!
SATURDAY
8-8:30 p.m. COPS
8:30-9 p.m. COPS
9-10 p.m. AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
11 p.m.-midnight MADtv
Midnight-12:30 a.m. TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. THE OT (NFL post-game)
8-8:30 p.m. THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9 p.m. KING OF THE HILL
9-9:30 p.m. FAMILY GUY
9:30-10 p.m. AMERICAN DAD
FOX PRIME-TIME SCHEDULE: BEGINNING JANUARY 2009
(All times Eastern/Pacific)
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. DOLLHOUSE
9-10 p.m. 24
TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. AMERICAN IDOL
9-10 p.m. FRINGE
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. HOUSE
9-9:30 p.m. AMERICAN IDOL Results Show
9:30-10 p.m. TBA Comedy
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m. HELL’S KITCHEN
9-10 p.m. SECRET MILLIONAIRE
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. BONES
9-9:30 p.m. ‘TIL DEATH
9:30-10 p.m. DO NOT DISTURB (wt)
SATURDAY
8-8:30 p.m. COPS
8:30-9 p.m. COPS
9-10 p.m. AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
11 p.m.-midnight MADtv
Midnight-12:30 a.m. TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN
SUNDAY
7-7:30 p.m. COMEDY ENCORES
7:30-8 p.m. COMEDY ENCORES
8-8:30 p.m. THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9 p.m. KING OF THE HILL (January) / SIT DOWN, SHUT UP (wt) (spring)
9-9:30 p.m. FAMILY GUY
9:30-10 p.m. AMERICAN DAD (January) / THE CLEVELAND SHOW (wt) (spring)