FOX announces its 2009-2010 primetime schedule

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Eliza Dushku of 'Dollhouse'

Credit: Miranda Penn Turin/FOX

FOX announced its 2009-2010 schedule on Monday (May 18) morning, basing its fall programming lineup around a season of "So You Think You Can Dance" and its spring around a little show called "American Idol."

The new schedule includes four new comedies and two new dramas, with "Glee," "Brothers" and "The Cleveland Show" premiering in the fall and the "Human Target" and "Past Life" coming in at midseason along with the single-camera sitcom "Sons of Tucson."

As expected, the FOX announcement features the return of "Dollhouse," which will be back on Fridays in the fall, plus the unfortunate demise of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."

"As the No.1 network for the last five years, FOX is the first place viewers go to connect with the stories and characters they love," says new FOX Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice in the morning press release. "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."

Looking at the scheduling the most notable step for is taking is the quick turnaround of Season Six for "So You Think You Can Dance," which is premiering its fifth installment later this week. In the fall, "So You Think You Can Dance" will air two-hour episodes on Tuesday nights, with an Wednesday results show leading into "Glee," which gets a special sneak screening this week after "American Idol."

"Bones" will return to Thursday night, setting up "Fringe," which begins its second season in a new time period presumably opposite "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." 

FOX's fall Friday will be the new comedy "Brothers" paired with the long-awaited (by somebody, perhaps) return of "'Til Death," making for a very strange lead-in to "Dollhouse." 

Saturday remains unchanged on FOX, with "COPS" and "America's Most Wanted" in primetime and the tentatively titled "The Wanda Sykes Show" debuting in the 11 p.m. hour on November 7. 

Sundays will be Animation Domination, with "The Simpsons," "The Cleveland Show," "Family Guy" and "American Dad" airing from 8-10 p.m. ET after NFL postgame and overrun.

Mondays in the fall will be "House" and the second season of "Lie to Me."

Come January, of course, FOX gets to load up on "American Idol," which remains TV's most-watched show. "Idol" will be used as a springboard for the reincarnation investigation drama "Past Life" on Tuesdays and the action-drama "Human Target" on Wednesdays (at least until a late-spring return of "Glee"). "Human Target" stars Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley, while Emmy winner Richard Schiff is joined by Kelli Giddish and Nicholas Bishop in "Past Life."

"Human Target" and "24" will both have special premieres on Sunday, January 17, airing after the NFC Divisional Playoff Game. After that premiere, "24" will return to its familiar Monday 9 p.m. timeslot after "House."

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are all scheduled to remain the same in the spring, but FOX will stir things up on Sunday. Animation domination encores will lead things off at 7 p.m. followed by "American Dad" (separated from its "Family Guy" teat) and "The Simpsons" leading into the live-action "Sons of Tucson," taking what FOX is thinking of as the "Malcolm in the Middle" slot. "Family Guy" will air at 9 p.m. and will be reunited with spinoff "The Cleveland Show" at 9:30 p.m.

"The strategic moves we made last year to build off of our biggest assets are paying off," says FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly. "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."

We can't emphasize enough how subject-to-change FOX's double-schedules tend to be. Stay tuned to HitFix for the inevitable changes once FOX makes them.

Assuming that the formatting holds up, here's the official 2009-10 schedule announced by FOX on Monday:

MONDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    HOUSE   
9:00-10:00 PM   LIE TO ME      

TUESDAY 
8:00-10:00 PM   SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Performance Show

WEDNESDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Results Show         
9:00-10:00 PM   GLEE         

THURSDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    BONES   
9:00-10:00 PM   FRINGE         

FRIDAY 
8:00-8:30 PM    BROTHERS 
8:30-9:00 PM    ‘TIL DEATH 
9:00-10:00 PM   DOLLHOUSE              

SATURDAY 
8:00-8:30 PM    COPS    
8:30-9:00 PM    COPS    
9:00-10:00 PM   AMERICA’S MOST WANTED   
11:00 PM-Midnight       THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title) 
Midnight-12:30 AM       ; ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES   

SUNDAY 
7:00-8:00 PM    THE OT (NFL post-game)  
8:00-8:30 PM    THE SIMPSONS    
8:30-9:00 PM    THE CLEVELAND SHOW      
9:00-9:30 PM    FAMILY GUY      
9:30-10:00 PM   AMERICAN DAD           

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: MIDSEASON 2010

(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    HOUSE   
9:00-10:00 PM   24             

TUESDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    AMERICAN IDOL Performance Show 
9:00-10:00 PM   PAST LIFE

WEDNESDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    AMERICAN IDOL Results Show              
9:00-10:00 PM   HUMAN TARGET (January) / GLEE (spring)         

THURSDAY 
8:00-9:00 PM    BONES 
9:00-10:00 PM   FRINGE

FRIDAY 
8:00-8:30 PM    BROTHERS 
8:30-9:00 PM    ‘TIL DEATH 
9:00-10:00 PM   DOLLHOUSE              

SATURDAY 
8:00-8:30 PM    COPS    
8:30-9:00 PM    COPS    
9:00-10:00 PM   AMERICA’S MOST WANTED   
11:00 PM-Midnight       THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title) 
Midnight-12:30 AM       ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES   

SUNDAY 
7:00-7:30 PM    ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES 
7:30-8:00 PM    AMERICAN DAD 
8:00-8:30 PM    THE SIMPSONS    
8:30-9:00 PM    SONS OF TUCSON 
9:00-9:30 PM    FAMILY GUY      
9:30-10:00 PM   THE CLEVELAND SHOW 

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.