The Fox network is turning to two of television's more familiar sitcom faces and a futuristic drama inspired by the Terminator movies in a bid to fortify a prime-time lineup dominated by American Idol.
The 2007-2008 Fox schedule, which was to be officially unveiled for advertisers yesterday, consists of three new comedies and four dramas in all, one of them a sci-fi thriller called The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a spinoff from the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The series follows the title character as she fights to protect herself and her son from a new onslaught of robotic enemies.
The Fox comedy roster includes Back to You, starring Kelsey Grammer, the fussy radio psychiatrist from the 11-year NBC hit Frasier, as a newscaster trying to rebuild his career. He co-stars with Patricia Heaton, the tart-tongued wife from Everybody Loves Raymond.
Another familiar TV face coming to Fox is Julianna Margulies, a veteran of the NBC hospital drama ER and the HBO mob saga Sopranos, who will star in a new courtroom drama, Canterbury's Law, as a rebellious attorney.
American Idol and two other key Fox hits - spy thriller 24 and medical drama House - begin airing as midseason programs in January.
Fox announced Wednesday, ahead of its presentation to advertisers, that 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland as globe-trotting agent Jack Bauer, would be extended for two additional seasons.
Fox usually counts on a ratings boost from its baseball playoff broadcasts every October and November, though the resulting interruption of regular programming has made it hard to successfully launch new shows in the fall. This year, Fox has scaled back its post-season baseball coverage by about half, meaning fewer pre-emptions than in the past.
Fox's lineup for the new season includes two new police dramas with a twist - K-Ville, set in the post-Katrina chaos of New Orleans, and New Amsterdam, centring on a New York homicide detective who happens to be immortal.
Rounding out its comedy roster are two relationship sitcoms - The Rules of Starting Over, about the dating game played by men and women of a certain age, and The Return of Jezebel James, centring on two sisters, pregnancy, and a children's book based on a one-time imaginary friend.