Four New Comedies, Two New Dramas for FOX

NEW YORK: FOX kicked off the network Upfront presentations today, announcing two new dramas, Human Target and Past Life, for the fall season, along with four comedies and one late-night show.

Announcing the 2009-2010 season, Peter Rice, the chairman of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company, noted: "As the number one network for the last five years, FOX is the first place viewers go to connect with the stories and characters they love. With next year’s slate of distinctive shows, we’re continuing to invest in creativity to give viewers the rich, emotional experience they can only get on television."

Kevin Reilly, the president of entertainment, added: "The strategic moves we made last year to build off of our biggest assets are paying off. We’ve created stability and consistently strong performance across the week. Next season, we’re bringing back two top-rated sophomore dramas and using our hits to introduce a broad and compelling slate of new shows that will make our air even more vibrant and alive."

In the fall, prime-time Mondays kick off with the returning medical drama House, leading into Lie to Me, which returns for a second season. Tuesdays will feature two hours of So You Think You Can Dance, with the results show on Wednesday, leading into the new series Glee at 9 p.m. FOX is previewing the show, from Nip/Tuck‘s Ryan Murphy, tomorrow following American Idol. Thursdays on FOX will be home to Bones at 8 p.m. and then the returning J.J. Abrams series Fringe at 9 p.m. Fridays kick off with the new comedy Brothers, about a former big-city NFL hot shot who returns home to his family and his mother’s house to get his life back on track. That leads into the returning ‘Til Death, while Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse comes back to the 9 p.m. slot for its second season. Dropped from the schedule was the struggling Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. On Saturday nights, after two hours of Cops and America’s Most Wanted, FOX will introduce a new late-night series, at 11 p.m., with Wanda Sykes. Sundays remain home to the animated series The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad, with the new introduction The Cleveland Show, from the producers of Family Guy.

In January 2010, 24 comes back to fill the 9 p.m. slot on Mondays, with its eighth season set in New York, while ratings juggernaut American Idol returns to its 8 p.m. slot on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays, Idol will lead into Past Life, a new drama, inspired by the book The Reincarnationist, about as a gifted psychologist and a former NYPD detective who work together to explore and unravel mysteries that must be solved in both the past and the present. On Wednesdays, 9 p.m. will feature Human Target, from executive producers McG (Terminator Salvation) and Simon West (Con Air), based on the popular DC Comics graphic novel and starring Mark Valley as a unique private contractor who will stop at nothing even if it means becoming a human target to keep his clients alive. It will be replaced by Glee in the spring. The Thursday, Friday and Saturday schedules remain unchanged in midseason. Sundays, meanwhile, will see the introduction of a new series, Sons of Tuscon.