Strike Completely Revamps Fox Lineup
November 7, 2007

Fox announced this evening that, partially due to the writer's strike currently in effect, they have been forced to drastically change their lineup, shuffling both premiere dates for new shows and returning shows, along with moving some of their current hits around the dial. Five out of seven nights will change for the network, starting in January. In early 2008, the Fox you know now will look completely different. The biggest news is that the premiere of 24, scheduled for January, has been indefinitely delayed because of the writer's strike. 24 isn't the kind of show that could get started and then have to break should the strike continue and Fox is wise to wait and see what happens with the strike before launching the show and then having to pull it. Consequently, 24 isn't on the schedule in the press release today that claims to be for the entirety of January to May 2008. That means you might not get Jack Bauer at all until at least next summer. Stop crying.

In premiere news, American Idol, which won't be affected by the strike, returns on Tuesday, January 15th, with a two hour premiere. Another two hours of American Idol follow the next night. Additional premiere dates set today by Fox include Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for January 13th and 14th, The Moment of Truth for January 23rd, New Amsterdam for February 22nd, Unhitched for March 2nd, When Women Rule the World for March 3rd, The Return of Jezebel James for March 7th, Hell's Kitchen for April 1st, and Canterbury's Law for April 11th. Fox had a relatively light Fall season with only K-Ville and Back to You premiering. They're having a heavy Spring.

As for the old shows, Fox is having what they're calling a "mix of original and encore episodes" (that's hedging bets in case the strike continues) of Bones, Til Death, and Back to You, but they won't be where you're used to finding them. In a bizarre move, the mega-hit Bones is being moved to the dumping ground of Friday nights starting January 4th, where it will be joined by Til Death on March 7th (before then, repeats of House will air after Bones). Back to You moves to 9:30pm on Wednesdays, getting a coveted post-Idol spot, starting March 12th. Finally, it was announced that Prison Break will go on hiatus after the November 12th episode and return in the 24 slot on January 14th.

In returning series news, presuming there are writers to pen new episodes, Sunday nights will continue with The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy and American Dad. The press release also notes that new episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Don't Forget the Lyrics, Cops, and America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back are all scheduled.

As for the new shows, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles stars 300's Lena Headey as the title character and also stars Firefly's Summer Glau. The Moment of Truth is a game show with a lie detector test involved. Unhitched is a single-camera comedy executive-produced by The Farrelly Brothers and stars Craig Bierko and Rashida Jones. When Women Rule the World is an unscripted series about women ruling unsuspecting men and The Return of Jezebel James is a comedy starring Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose. New Amsterdam stars Nickolaj Coster-Waldau and Canterbury's Law marks the return of Julianna Margulies in a show produced by the folks who made Rescue Me.

Here's the schedule for Fox, all times EST.

Mondays, starting January 14th
8pm Prison Break (When Women Rule the World takes over March 3rd)
9pm Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles