Fox announced Monday that it will add four new comedies and three dramas to its schedule next season, revamp "American Idol" and give "Glee" the coveted post-Super Bowl slot.
As usual, the No. 1 network leaves some questions lingering in the air. For starters, Simon Cowell must be replaced on "Idol" - so auditions for hopeful and deluded singers won't begin until September. And if the network has anyone in mind to replace Cowell, it's not saying. The Tuesday performance nights of "Idol" will be 90 minutes and the Wednesday results shows will be 30 minutes - of course you'll believe that when you see it - ostensibly because people complained so much about bloated advertising and promotional inserts taking away from the enjoyment of the series and bleeding over into other shows.
Of Fox's dramas, the biggest deal is probably "Terra Nova," a "let's go back in time to the dinosaur age" thriller from Steven Spielberg, which will be heavy on computer-generated graphics and thus has no firm timetable as to when it will appear on the schedule. Those familiar with Fox announcing shows that don't end up making the air might snicker, but if you've got Spielberg attached and the entire support of Fox, odds are that it will makes a splash sometime in 2011.
Because Fox has an early-season commitment to baseball and historically makes its biggest ratings push in January, only four shows are scheduled for fall, including "The Good Guys," a comedy-drama that starts on Wednesday (and thus is not considered a new show for next season).
Since "The Good Guys" is unproven, ratings-wise, and viewers have yet to trust or adjust to summer scheduling, you might want to take a wait-and-see approach to whether that show returns in the fall.
Fox's dramas are:
"Lonestar" is about a man in Texas married to the daughter of an oil baron (played by Jon Voight), but who is also shacking up with a woman elsewhere in the state. If you're thinking "Dallas" meets "Big Love," well, maybe.
"Ride-Along" is a midseason drama from Shawn Ryan ("The Shield," "The Unit") about Chicago cops (it's shot on location, too). It stars Jason Clarke, Jennifer Beals and Delroy Lindo.
"Terra Nova," the Spielberg epic, is also a midseason series and is being billed by Fox as "an epic family adventure" that "follows an ordinary family on an extraordinary journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a part of a massive expedition to save the human race."
Fox's comedies are:
"Running Wilde," the much-anticipated new fall comedy from "Arrested Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz and writer Jim Vallely, stars Will Arnett, also from "Arrested Development," and Keri Russell ("Waitress," "Felicity"). He's rich, immature and obnoxious, she's his childhood sweetheart whom he's now trying to romance.
"Raising Hope" is a fall comedy from Greg Garcia ("My Name Is Earl"), starring Lucas Neff ("The Beast") as a single guy without much motivation who gets a woman pregnant - and that woman is going to be in prison. So he raises the baby with his dysfunctional family. Also starring Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman.
"Bob's Burgers" is an animated series that is remarkably not from Seth MacFarlane, slated to air in midseason. It's from Loren Bouchard ("Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist," etc.) and revolves around a family that runs a burger restaurant. Again, don't judge a series on paper.
"Mixed Signals" is an ensemble comedy also penciled in for midseason. It's about what almost every other comedy is about these days - single people trying to navigate relationships.
Fox had already renewed "Lie to Me" and "Human Target" - the latter moving to Fridays. The network canceled "Til Death," "Sons of Tucson," "24" and "Past Life."
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