FOX has picked up four of its pilots for the 2009-10 season, but only one of them will be on the fall schedule. It is, however, bringing its biggest summer show into the fall.
The comedy Brothers starring Darryl “Chill” Mitchell, CCH Pounder, Carl Weathers and former NFL star Michael Strahan, is the only show from FOX’s current pilot crop to make the cut for fall. It will join previously announced newbies Glee and The Cleveland Show, which were developed before this pilot season, in the fourth-quarter lineup.
The other three shows — dramas Human Target and Past Life and comedy Sons of Tucson — will be held back until midseason, when FOX typically gets a big ratings bump and extra promotional muscle from the return of American Idol.
The network will also unveil a new late-night show starring Wanda Sykes in the fall.
The other big news from FOX’s announcement is a new season of So You Think You Can Dance in the fall. It will follow the same schedule as American Idol does, with performance shows airing from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on Tuesdays and hour-long results shows at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, leading into Glee.
FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says the decision to move SYTYCD into the fall will help give the schedule more stability throughout the season, rather than having to do extensive reworking in January.
Reilly says he’s not concerned that two almost back-to-back cycles of So You Think You Can Dance will hurt the show — its summer season starts this week — noting that multiple cycles per season haven’t hurt shows like The Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars.
Two of FOX’s freshman shows, Lie to Me and Fringe, will get new nights in the fall. Lie to Me will pair with House on Mondays, while Fringe will move to Thursdays at 9 after Bones.
Brothers and the long-dormant ‘Til Death will form a comedy block on Friday nights, leading into Dollhouse. The Cleveland Show will air at 8:30 p.m. Sundays in the fall, then move to 9:30 at midseason when Sons of Tucson moves into the 8:30 spot.
Lie to Me, which got a 13-episode pickup last week, will bow out at midseason to make room for 24 on Mondays. Following a post-NFL playoff launch on Jan. 17, 2010, Human Target — which Reilly says is in the vein of the action-dramas of the ’70s and ’80s — will air on Wednesdays after Idol, while Past Life will get the Tuesday post-Idol slot.
Source: Zap2It
