FOX Announces Additional Schedule Changes

There have been a lot of recent schedule changes at FOX, so here's one (hopefully) final little recap of when and where you can see the shows that will air on Rupert Murdoch's network during the spring and summer.

The 13-episode order of the new drama "Drive" which premieres next Sunday at 8pm with a special 2-hour pilot episode and then moves into the Monday at 8 slot the following day (after the conclusion of "Prison Break") will be split into 2 parts (6+7 episodes.)

That means the final 6th episode will air on May 7 and the show will return with the final 7 episodes at a later, as yet unannounced date. Of course, if the show fails to generate the audience that "Prison Break" used to average you may never see it again.

After a repeat of "House" (May 14) and a 2-hour season finale of "24" (May 21,) FOX will air its new Steven Spielberg-produced reality competition "On The Lot" (May 28) looking for the next great filmmaker.

The show however premieres a week earlier after the final live performance show of "American Idol" (Tuesday, May 22 at 9pm). The second episode will air on Thursday, following the season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance" (May 24 at 9pm). "American Idol" of course concludes the 6th cycle with the grand 2-hour season finale on May 23.

Also announced was the return of reality series "Hell's Kitchen" (on Mondays at 9pm following "On The Lot", from June 4), action series "Standoff" (put on hiatus earlier this season, now on Fridays after "Bones" repeats from June 8).

FOX will also air its comedy "Till Death" that has recently seen its ratings triple thanks to "American Idol" lead-in (Tuesday nights at 8:30pm after "On The Lot" results show, from June 5).

As for Sunday night line-up: "War at Home" wraps up its current season on April 22 at 7pm and will be replaced by "King of the Hill" repeats. The repeats of "War" will be back from June 10.

Also on June 10, the network will bring back its comedy "The Loop" which begins a second season at 9:30pm.

The summer schedule will therefore look as follows:

MONDAY:
8pm ON THE LOT
9pm HELL's KITCHEN

TUESDAY:
8pm ON THE LOT RESULTS
8:30 TILL DEATH (Repeats)
9pm HOUSE (Repeats)

WEDNESDAY:
8pm SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

THURSDAYS:
8pm DANCE RESULTS

FRIDAYS:
8pm BONES (Repeats)
9pm STANDOFF

SUNDAY:
7pm WAR AT HOME (Repeats)
7:30 KING OF THE HILL (Repeats)
8pm THE SIMPSONS (Repeats)
8:30 AMERICAN DAD (Repeats)
9pm FAMILY GUY (Repeats)
9:30 THE LOOP (New Season)

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"The Matrix" Star Returns To Television

"The Matrix" star Carrie Ann Moss who previously appeared on FOX's "Melrose Place" spin-off "Models Inc" will return to television after nearly a decade in a new ABC drama pilot directed by Madonna's husband Guy Ritchie.

Moss whose other film credits include "Memento", "Chocolat" and "Disturbia" will play a tough-but-tender police lieutenant in "Suspect, a crime drama that begins with a list of suspects in a case and narrows it down to the actual perpetrator.

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Lucy Liu Joins "Cashmere Mafia"

Ally McBeal vet who currently guest stars on ABC's hit comedy "Ugly Betty" has been cast as one of the series regulars in the new pilot from "Melrose Place" and "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star entitled "Cashmere Mafia".

The ABC pilot produced by Sony TV revolves around four female executives in New York. Lui's co-stars include Frances O'Connor and Miranda Otto. "Cashmere" marks Liu's first full-time series gig since "Ally McBeal."

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ABC Announces "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" TV Pilot

Snap! Just when I thought the network that has already given us the heart-healthy diet of "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", "Grey's Anatomy", "Brothers and Sisters", "Ugly Betty" and has recently announced NFL-based version of British hit "Footballers' Wives" couldn't get any better...

...a press release is issued to prove me wrong.

Variety reported yesterday the network has greenlighted a small-screen take on the infamous Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt feature "Mr. and Mrs. Smith".

The men behind the motion picture version, Doug Liman (The O.C.) and Simon Kinberg (Heist), will reprise their roles as executive producers and writers.

They have both praised the network for giving them plenty of time to develop the project and finish up their current film "Jumper" starring Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen and The O.C.'s Rachel Bilson.

The show is described as "Married with Children" with guns. Action will pick up six months after the events in the movie. Kinberg says: "The show takes all the marital issues a couple has and blows them up to action-genre size."

The tone of the pilot will be more comedic than the feature and possibly even a bit darker.

Casting for the pilot will begin shortly and the shooting is planned for March.
The project is planned for broadcast in the 2007-2008 television season.

Finally, a piece of TV trivia - CBS had already developed a similar project of the same name in 1996, starring Scott Bakula and Maria Bello.

That version was however canceled after 2 months.

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New Courtney Cox Series Premieres January 2

The actress we loved watching on NBC's blockbuster "Friends" is returning to series television for the first time since her award-winning sitcom ended in 2004. The new Courtney Cox series "Dirt" premieres January 2 on the cable network FX.

According to the network press release, Cox will play "Lucy Spiller," the editor-in-chief of two of the country's most widely read tabloid magazines, who controls the fates of the celebrities lining the pages.


Dirt revolves around the dynamic Spiller; a schizophrenic paparazzo uncovering the dirt people love to read; and a struggling actor trying to make a name for himself.



The drama's executive producers are Cox and her husband David Arquette. "Melrose Place" star Grant Show (Jake Hanson) is among the cast members.

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CBS Monday Night Comedy Line-Up Changes

CBS may have picked up "The Class" for a full season, but the freshman comedy will conclude its first year as early as March 5, to make way for the new Adam Sandler produced sitcom.

CBS has announced the premiere of its new comedy 'Rules of Engagement', starring Patrick Warburton and David Spade.

The sitcom will air on Monday nights at 9:30pm, replacing "The New Adventures of Old Christine" which moves to 8:30pm (following "How I Met Your Mother" which stays put at 8pm).

The new comedy premieres February 5, which means "Old Christine" will take a brief hiatus before it returns March 12.

Also, "King of Queens" which airs on CBS Wednesdays at 8pm, will take a break after its January 3 episode and return on April 9 in a new timeslot - Mondays at 9:30, when "Rules of Engagement" ends its mini-season.

Here's what the new CBS Monday line-up will look like:

8pm HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30pm THE CLASS / OLD CHRISTINE (from Mar. 12)
9pm TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30 OLD CHRISTINE / RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (from Feb.5)/ KING OF QUEENS (from Apr. 9)

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Snow And Passion Explode on "Ugly Betty"

As we have already told you earlier this week, Christopher Gorham is coming back to "Ugly Betty" on tonight's Christmas-themed episode of the ABC comedy. Gorham who plays the nerdy, but cute accountant with hots for Betty, may join the series as a regular.

ABC has released several additional images of tonight's holiday-themed episode of their hit comedy series which prominently feature Gorham as Henry, the Mode Magazine accountant.

The actor whose previous credits include Party of Five, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, CSI, Jake 2.0 and a number of other prime-time hits will be a recurring character for the rest of the season and may join the show as a series regular next year.


Similarly to other shows, ABC will not air any new episodes of "Ugly Betty" during the month of December (one notable exception being "Brothers and Sisters"). The network will repeat early episodes of the series starting with the pilot next week.

On December 21, ABC will repeat the episode "Fey's Sleigh Ride" in which Mode Magazine staff run into trouble with their big Christmas photo shoot when another magazine copies their ideas.

Earlier this week, ABC.com began posting episodes of the hilarious telenovela that may be seen in small clips on the actual show. Every week ABC will add a new episode on their website.

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Check out our HOLIDAY TV GUIDE

Read more about UGLY BETTY:
Love Is All Around For "Ugly Betty" At Christmas
"Ugly Betty" Gives Tom Brady a Makeover
Thursdays Are Getting Ugly

"Heroes" Marathon Tonight, Cliffhanger Monday

The hottest new show of the season is NBC's Monday night sci-fi drama "Heroes" that concludes its fall run next Monday with a startling cliffhanger. For those who have missed out on this spectacular new genre series, The Sci-Fi Channel has scheduled a special marathon of reruns beginning at 6 PM tonight.

The cable network which is a part of the NBC Universal family airs reruns of the drama every Friday night at 7/6c. Now, Sci-Fi will give new and casual viewers of the series an opportunity to catch up on the show's first six episodes. The airs from 6 p.m. ET until midnight.


Next Monday on NBC, the drama sets the stage for the second half of the season (scheduled to begin on January 22) with a midseason cliffhanger. According to Dynasty veteran Jack Coleman who plays the mysterious Mr. Benett or H.R.G. (Horned-Rim Glasses), the story gets really big and really expensive with large ramifications for the rest of the season.

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Read more about HEROES
Check out the latest RATINGS
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ABC Pulls "The Nine"

ABC has announced today, in the midst of a holiday weekend, that they are pulling their Wednesday night bank robbery drama "The Nine" effective immediately.

The network has aired only 7 installments of the series which premiered in October (following "Lost") scoring about 13 million viewers for the pilot episode. The drama went on to lose viewers each week it was on the air despite strong critical praise.

After it was reduced to about 8 million viewers, ABC pre-empted the show on November 15 airing the second hour of an extended premiere of the new Taye Diggs series "Day Break" in its place.

Without the strong lead-in of "Dancing with the Stars" and "Lost" the show plummeted even further to catastrophic 4,10 million viewers this week earning instant hiatus.

ABC which, similarly to other networks, is reluctant to use the word "cancellation", will most likely discontinue the production on the series.

Although they have promised to burn off the remaining 6 episodes at some point later in the season (Thursday's "Six Degrees" was given the same treatment) it is not clear when this will happen.

A special edition of "20/20" will take its place on Wednesday, November 29.

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More Questionable Renewals

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Despite the fact that FOX's "Standoff" lost half of its premiere audience and the comedy "Till Death" hit season-low with a recent episode, the network does not have much to choose from.

They have already axed the rookie sitcom "Happy Days" (a sure shot for cancellation from the get-go), as well as the freshman dramas "Vanished" and "Justice". Despite all stubborn reluctance to use the word 'cancellation' and moving the shows around the disintegrating schedule, the plug had to be pulled.

But, there's little left, so the shows whose average numbers normally spell 'axe' on a different network, these days proved to be good enough for FOX. Then again, '24' and 'American Idol' are on the way back and they will be a great re-launching platform for some of these shows. After all, FOX's biggest hit on the current schedule 'House, M.D.' would never have caught on had it not been for those crooning youngsters.

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"Vanished" For Good

Just one day after FOX pulled "Vanished" for the rest of the sweeps promising to bring the TV series back starting December 1, an official press release from the network has made it clear, the execs are now putting the conspiracy drama out of its misery.

Unlike the previous seasons when ratings-challenged serialized dramas had been taken off air before they wrapped up their storylines causing frustration among their small but normally loyal fan base, this year the TV networks in America are increasingly relying on the Internet to not only provide additional promotion, but also a platform to offer the unaired installments without causing any further damage to their prime-time schedules.

That is why the remaining four episodes of "Vanished" will stream on the drama's MySpace page, with a new episode posted every Friday at 12:01 PT, beginning Nov. 17th. Three episodes will be kept up at a time. The series finale will be posted online on Friday, December 8th.

"Justice", which has also been pulled for the rest of the sweeps and was scheduled to return December 11, will now take over the Friday at 8/7c spot in what is the drama's second move. "Justice" is, however, also considered dead as the remaining 5 episodes now scheduled to air December 1-29 are the show's final. FOX has discontinued production on the series. The network hopes the final episodes of "Justice" will bring more viewers than "Vanished" whose most recent telecast pulled in just 2,9 million.

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See also:
No hiatus for "Prison Break"
Taye Diggs' New Show Stumbles
"Friday Night Lights" May Move To Sundays

FOX's "Vanished" Pulled

FOX has decided to pull yet another freshman series from their prime-time schedule making this fall season probably their worst ever.

After scoring season-low 2,9 million viewers last Friday (by comparison even wrestling on The CW posted 4,34 million), FOX's abduction drama "Vanished" will be gone from the schedule for the next two weeks. The drama should return on December 1.

When the Gale Harold-fronted series premiered back in August (on Mondays, following "Prison Break") it attracted almost 9 million viewers. But as the season progressed, the storylines on the show demanded much stronger suspension of disbelief on the part of the viewers and the network lost faith in their leading man, Harold. Following the ridiculous assassination of Harold's character, FOX relaunched the show on Friday nights in November, but the viewers had already abandoned the series.

If FOX honors their commitment to loyal fans of the drama, the remaining four episodes will be burned off by Christmas. The writers have promised to give them a proper conclusion.

"Justice", the series that replaced "Vanished" on Monday nights, has also been pulled earlier this week. "Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy" will take place of "Vanished" this week. Jim Carrey's comedy "Bruce Almighty" airs the following week.

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"Kidnapped" To Be Released On DVD

First NBC announced it would wrap the production on its lackluster abduction drama "Kidnapped", then it moved the show to The Death Zone a.k.a. Saturday night and now the show is gone for good following dismal numbers it posted in two weekend airings. Only 5 of the 13 episodes have aired before the network decided to swing the axe. Still, the fans of the show may see how it all ends after all and the studio that produced it may even come out profitable.

Although Sony Pictures Television shelled out 40 million dollars to produce the series, expensive license fees for NBC as well as aggressive international sales are about to recover the costs. Furthermore, all 13 episodes will be released on a special DVD box set in 2007 making the entire project profitable despite the abrupt network cancellation.

Normally, studios see their return on investment only after 4-5 years of production and 80-100 episodes in the can, which is why this business model may not work for all the expensive series that fail to find an audience. As evident in NBC's recent 8pm strategy, the networks will also be more cautious when greenlighting such costly projects.

'Friday Night Lights' Replaces 'Studio 60'

"Monday Night Football" may be gone from network television (the franchise was moved to ABC's sister cable channel ESPN this season), but football is nevertheless back on Monday nights. At least tonight, that is.

As reported earlier, NBC will try out its struggling freshman drama about people in a small Texas town and their high school football team in a new timeslot benching Aaron Sorkin's flop "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" for a week.

If the experiment succeeds, the drama will stay on Monday nights. The network may then also try to find a new home for "Studio 60", but that course of action now seems highly unlikely. The drama's all-star cast makes it one of the most expensive shows on television and less than 8 million viewers who tune into it regularly at this point (down almost 50% since the premiere) can not support the high production cost. Also, rumours have spread over the past couple of days that it is only a question of time before NBC cans the show for good.

So, what makes NBC think 'Friday Night Lights' might succeed on Monday nights at 10pm? First of all it is a darn good show, one that has not slipped in quality following its excellent pilot episode (as it seems to be the case with writing on 'Studio 60').

Secondly, the show currently starts off Tuesday nights which is a hard task for a new series, especially when facing blockbuster reality competition "Dancing with the Stars" on ABC or being matched with incompatible "Law & Order".

Finally, the show is already the #3 new show among teens, a group that already adores its tonight's lead-in, the hit sci-fi drama "Heroes" (9/8c). That means "Friday Night Lights" may do a much better job of retaining those 15 million viewers who tune into "Heroes".

On tonight's episode, coach clashes with Voodoo as the team prepares for the big game against Arnett Meade. NBC will repeat the episode in "Friday Night Lights" regular timeslot, tomorrow night at 8/7c.

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" To Be Cancelled

FOX News reported today that NBC's Monday night drama may get cancelled.

Although one should always take FOX News with a grain of salt, the fact of the matter is that the show which posted 7,7 million viewers last week premiered to over 13 million back in September and went on to lose almost half that audience. The competing "CSI: Miami" on CBS averages 17,5 million.

That is very bad for almost any show on a big network like NBC. And if it is one of the most highly anticipated and the most expensive shows of the new TV season with an all-star cast - it is tragic.

According to the FOX report the cast members have already confided in their friends that the end is near. Although Rupert Murdoch's news channel is very critical of liberal series creator Aaron Sorkin, the report did praise Matthew Perry for immense growth as an actor since his Chandler Bing days on "Friends".

"ER" EXTENDED, "TRAVELER" SHORTENED

NBC's veteran medical drama "ER" that entered its 13th season this fall has gotten a new lease on life. Although the network had initially anticipated the ratings for the aging series to continue to slide this season, the show bounced back.

Is it the improved writing following a terrible cliffhanger last season; or is it the addition of the star John Stamos (whom ABC was finally kind enough to release from his pointless "Jake In Progress" contract that prevented him from joining the show last season); or is it simply the weak competition over on ABC and CBS ('Six Degrees' and 'Shark' that lose a significant chunk of lead-in audience)?

Whatever the case the network has ditched plans to interrupt the show for the winter (mid-season drama 'The Black Donnellys' are looking for a new home) and now it ordered another episode on top of the original 24 episode order, bringing the total to 25.

thriller series "Traveler" from 13 to only 8 installments. The series stars Steven (Rex Van De In related news, ABC has decreased the order for their excellent new mid-seasonCulpKamp on "Desperate Housewives") and Logan Marshall Green (Ryan's brother Trey on "The O.C.).

"STUDIO 60" GETS A NEW SCRIPT ORDER

NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" as well as three series on ABC ('Men in Trees', "Help Me Help You' and 'The Nine') have all been given additional script orders. NBC has ordered 3 new scripts, while all ABC series got four.

Broadcast networks in the US normally give additional script orders to show faith in quality or potential of a new show which is struggling in the ratings, sending positive signals to their limited fan base and potential new viewers.

With only two new shows officially cancelled (NBC's Kidnapped and CBS' Smith) and several shows on indefinite hiatus (FOX's "Happy Hour" and NBC's "20 Good Years") almost all new shows have either received a new script order or they have been picked up for a full 22-episode season.

"Studio 60" had a solid start back in September (over 13 million viewers), but has lost almost half that audience by now. "Help Me Help You" and "The Nine" scare away half of their lead-in audience ("Dancing with the Stars" and "Lost", respectively).

"Men In Trees" is doing quite poorly on a weak night (Friday, less than 7 million). Some analysts suggest that ABC move the Anne Heche Alaska-based romantic drama to Thursday night after "Grey's Anatomy" as they believe ABC's 10pm drama JJ Abrams' "Six Degrees" may not necessarily be the best fit.

In an apparent lack of confidence for the show, ABC not only failed to give "Six Degrees" a new script order, but also pre-empted the show this week with a "Grey's rerun".

Recently CBS also asked for four additional scripts for its sitcom "The Class".

Although a script order is hardly as good as a full-season pick-up, the networks get to see where the show is headed creatively which helps them make a decision whether they want to continue to support it or not. Also, if the ratings do spike up, the writers are ready to keep the new episodes rolling.

"SHARK", "THE GAME" & "7th HEAVEN" GET FULL SEASONS

A bunch of renewals are in the bag as CBS became the second network to pick-up a second show for a full season.

Thursday night post-CSI legal drama "Shark" starring James Woods made its case as its last episode delivered some of its best ever results in several demos including the advertiser coveted 18-49 category. The drama averages over 14 million viewers, beating ABC's freshman drama "Six Degrees".

Also this week, a couple of renewals from The CW as footballers' wives sitcom "The Game" (spin-off from "Girlfriends") earns its back 9 episodes for retaining 95% of its lead-in.

Earlier this week, The CW cancelled its other new show, family-on-the-run drama "Runaway". The CW has also picked up drama '7th Heaven' about a minister's family for a full 11th season.

Now both ABC and CBS have two new shows picked up for a full season, NBC and The CW have one, while FOX has yet to announce their cancellations and full season pick-ups.

THE COSTLIEST SEASON EVER

The new TV season has already claimed its first casualties. CBS's "Smith" is off the air; NBC's "Kidnapped" has moved to Saturdays; and severals shows are being slaughtered in the ratings (Fox's Vanished; NBC's "Friday Night Lights" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"; ABC's "Six Degrees"; and The CW's "Runaway"). The networks however seem to be more patient with underperforming series this year and the reason is very simple. Money.

A few years ago it cost anywhere between 1,5 and 2 million dollars to produce one episode of a new TV series (older shows are usually more expensive due to salary demands of their popular cast members). Now, the cost has skyrocketed to about 3 million. And that's the standard cost.

Some of the more sophisticated pilots with higher production values cost a lot more. NBC has, for instance, confirmed it spent 7 million dollars to produce pilots for "Kidnapped" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".

And just a couple of years ago, the famous series premiere of "Lost" cost as much as 12 million dollars. If most of the new shows fail, this may be one of the costliest TV seasons in Hollywood, yet.

For this reason, there are fewer midseason replacements (most of the budgets were invested into the fall line-up of shows). And the networks are using other platforms, such as the Internet, to promote their shows and expose them to larger audiences, before they are certain they want to take a show off the air.

Finally, there seems to be saturation in the field of serialized dramas. The viewers are still fully committed to "Lost", "Desperate Housewives", "Prison Break", "Grey's Anatomy" and "24" and there is little space for additional viewer commitment. Self-contained stories such as those told via "CSI" and "Law & Order" franchises are much easier to follow. Despite not seeing the pilot you are still able to enjoy an occasional episode.

The lesson learned is that the viewers want more compelling and original stories. Copying what others have already done, or throwing expensive special effects or celebrity guest stars will simply not do the trick.

BIONIC WOMAN RETURNS

NBC and "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer are developing a new version of the cult series "The Bionic Woman" (Lindsay Wagner starred in the original 70's show).

The network is said to be interested in an entirely new take on the "6 Million Dollar Man" spin-off in which tennis-pro Jamie Sommers (Wagner) becomes a superwoman and kicks some serious terrorist butt.

Staying away from the superhero drama's original military theme, the new show would rather focus on the role of women in contemporary society and what they have to do to juggle many roles in life.

If the "Battlestar" team had turned one cheesy 70's sci-fi show into a critically-acclaimed cult classic, there is no reason why they could not do the same for another one.