With two nights of "American Idol" and the novelty hit "Joe Millionaire" ending the season as the only Fox shows in the top 10, it's not surprising that the network has plans to present new versions of both shows, and other reality offshoots, this fall.
Yet in unveiling its 2003-04 TV season plans yesterday, Fox was equally committed to scripted shows, and to revamping its schedule significantly.
Three new dramas and four new sitcoms, five hours in all, will be added to the Fox schedule this fall, along with a rotating wheel of "American Idol" shows and new "Joe Millionaire," with a new bachelor but the same butler.
In addition, so many returning shows will move to new times that only five of the 15 hours Fox programs weekly in prime time will be untouched next season.
Only ABC and the WB are revamping as much, yet Fox executives say they're using their program shifts to take advantage of their reality-show successes.
"We're aiming for our most competitive year ever," Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman told reporters yesterday.
Changes include a new installment of "Joe Millionaire," shown earlier on Monday to anchor the night; "Boston Public," formerly in that time slot, moves to Fridays. The summer show "American Juniors" continues into the fall on Tuesday, holding the space until "American Idol" returns in January (Fox executives hope to have all three judges back).
And while Tuesday's second-season finale of "24" is a mystery at this point, the show will return in the same Tuesday slot in the fall - as will star Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer.
Technically, the only unchanged night is Saturday, with the durable lineup of "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted." On Sundays, "The Simpsons" and "Malcolm in the Middle" stay put, but everything else is moved or canceled.
The unlucky shows include "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" ("a show we really liked," Berman said), "Fastlane," "girls club," "John Doe" and "Firefly," which Berman said creator Joss Whedon was planning to refashion and revive as a movie.
The new shows include "Tru Calling," with Eliza Dushku (a recurring player on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") as a time-traveler able to go back for only a day; "Skin," a drama from Jerry Bruckheimer about efforts to curtail the adult film industry, and "The O.C.," a drama set in Orange County, California, that will get an early launch in summer, much as Fox jumped the gun successfully years ago with "Beverly Hills 90210."
In addition to "Joe Millionaire," freshman shows from the current season to return in the fall are "Cedric the Entertainer Presents," "Oliver Beene" and "Wanda at Large." All four lucky returnees, though, will be moved to new time slots.
Originally published on May 16, 2003
