FOX-Y UPFRONTS

This is the week of "Upfronts", one of the Holy Weeks of O'Bligation in Televisiology, when each day a network steps up to the plate to announce its plans for the coming season - which shows stay, which are goners, and which pilots got picked up to be offered in sacrifice to the Powers That Be (Nielsen families).

Here's the proposed fall schedule for the final network weighing in for the Upfronts, FOX:

Mondays
8 pm Prison Break
9 pm K-Ville

Tuesdays
8 pm New Amsterdam
9 pm House

Wednesdays
8 pm Back to You
8:30 pm 'Til Death
9 pm Bones

Thursdays
8 pm Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9 pm Kitchen Nightmares

Fridays
8 pm The Search for the Next Great American Band
9 pm Nashville

Saturdays
8 pm Cops
8:30 pm Cops
9 pm America's Most Wanted

Sundays
7 pm Football post-game
8 pm The Simpsons
8:30 pm King of the Hill
9 pm Family Guy
9:30 pm American Dad

FOX is the network that first recognized the strength in dividing up their full season into the fall and spring halves. Powerhouse shows like '24' and 'American Idol' don't start up until after the holidays and run uninterrupted into the May Sweeps. And considering that the fall has the baseball playoffs eating a big chunk of prime-time, that's a smart move.

Here's what's remaining on the sked come fall:

'Til Death, House, Bones, The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, American Dad, America's Most Wanted, Cops, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, American Idol, 24, Prison Break

But being shown the door are the following shows:

The Winner, Standoff, Drive, The War at Home, The O.C., Justice, Happy Hour, The Rich List, Vanished, The Wedding Bells, The Loop

Of those, I enjoyed 'Standoff' the few times I watched; definitely liked 'Justice' (especially Victor Garber's character), but really loved 'The Loop'. Oh well, there's still a summer season to go for the show and there'll always be the DVDs.

Here are the new shows FOX will be presenting, some this fall, others in the spring:

K-Ville, New Amsterdam, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Back to You, Return of Jezebel James, Rules for Starting Over, Kitchen Nightmares, Canterbury's Law, Nashville

'K-Ville': Cops working in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Tele-historically, this show will have 'Bourbon Street Beat' as part of its lineage.

'New Amsterdam': About a homicide cop who is secretly hundreds of years old because of a spell cast back in the 1640s. In much the same way as the original proposal of 'Jericho' grabbed me, this is the one new proposed series that most excites me. I just hope the detective's ennui with immortal life doesn't drag the tone down for the show.

'The Sarah Connor Chronicles': Lena Headey takes over the Linda Hamilton role of 'Sarah Connor' from the "Terminator" movies as she tries to prevent the Terminator robots from killing her son. I'm thinking it takes place soon after the second movie.

'Back to You': A sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, and Fred Willard. Grammer and Heaton are reunited as anchors on a Buffalo, NY news desk. I wonder if their personal political leanings will influence the tone of the show, especially since it's on FOX. But wouldn't it be great if they could get an appearance by Dabney Coleman as 'Buffalo Bill'?

'Return of Jezebel James': Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose team up as sisters in this new series by the creator of 'Gilmore Girls', so expect a lot of fast talking. Basic plotline to get them started: one sister asks the other to give birth to her child. Sorry, I can't figure out exactly how that should be phrased.....

'Rules for Starting Over': The announcement of this series probably was a good sign that we wouldn't be seeing Karen on 'The Office' next season, since Rashida Jones will be starring in this Farrelly Brothers comedy. However, now I'm hearing that she'll be able to juggle both for a little while anyway, especially since 'Rules For Starting Over' (too long a title, guys!) won't be arriving on the air until the spring.

'Canterbury's Law': Stars Julianna Margulies as an aggressive defense attorney who "is willing to bend the law in order to protect the wrongfully accused." Denis Leary is one of the executive producers, so maybe it'll have the grittier flavor of 'Rescue Me' or maybe it'll be more along the lines of 'The Job' when it comes to the humor found in the situations.

As for Round Two for the FOX schedule, here's the proposed line-up:

Mondays
8 pm K-Ville (January)/Prison Break(spring)
9 pm 24

Tuesdays
8 pm American Idol
9 pm House

Wednesdays (January)
8 pm Back to You
8:30 pm 'Til Death
9 pm American Idol

Wednesdays (Spring)
8 pm Back to You
8:30 pm The Return of Jezebel James
9 pm American Idol results show
9:30 pm 'Til Death

Thursdays
8 pm Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
9 pm Canterbury's Law

Fridays (Spring)
8 pm Bones
9 pm New Amsterdam

Saturdays
8 pm Cops
8:30 pm Cops
9 pm America's Most Wanted

Sundays (Spring)
7 pm King of the Hill
7:30 pm American Dad
8 pm The Simpsons
8:30 pm Family Guy
9 pm The Sarah Connor Chronicles

BCnU!
Toby OB