The Fox Broadcasting Co. is making some major changes in its prime-time schedule in the fall, shaking up every night but one and adding seven new series.
Not only is Fox adding six new hours of programming (40 percent of its schedule), but several of the fourth network's most popular shows are switching nights."Melrose Place" goes to Mondays. "The Simpsons" returns to Sundays after four years on Thursdays. "Martin" and "Living Single" go to Thursdays. And Fox's movie will switch to Tuesdays.
Here are Fox's new dramas:
- Fortune Hunter (Sundays, 7 p.m.) is a spy adventure "rich in the tradition of James Bond."
- Party of Five (Mondays, 8 p.m.) is a "heartwarming twist on the traditional family drama" from the producers of "Sisters." It revolves around five brothers and sisters - ranging in age from 25 to newborn - who must deal with the sudden deaths of their parents.
- Models Inc. (Wednesdays, 8 p.m.) is the spinoff of "Melrose Place," headlined by Linda Gray, centered on a Los Angeles modeling firm. It debuts in June.
- Uptown Undercover (Thursdays, 8 p.m.), is a police drama from the producer of "Law & Order" that will focus on two young New York undercover cops, one black and one Hispanic, "set to the hottest contemporary music.
- Mantis (Fridays, 7 p.m.), which premiered as a TV movie earlier this year, is about a black, paraplegic biophysicist (Carl Lumbly) who transforms himself into a super hero with technical wizardry.
And here are the new comedies:
- Hardball (Sundays, 7:30 p.m.) is a "rowdy half-hour that takes a locker-room look at America's favorite pastime - baseball."
- Wild Oats (Sundays, 8:30 p.m.) is aimed at Generation X - it's about "a group of out-all-night 20-somethings in search of romance and friendship."
Fox also announced several midseason replacement series, including "The George Carlin Show," a holdover from this season.
Other back-up comedy series are "Get Smart," an updated version of the '60s series; "House of Buggin'," a sketch comedy headlined by comedian John Leguizamo; "The Critic," the animated series that aired on ABC; and "Something's Gotta Give," about "a real mom for the '90s."
Fox also has a pair of dramas in the bullpen - "Avenging Angel," an action series from the producer of "China Beach" about a young woman (Lori Singer) who experiences adventures in virtual reality; and "Medicine Ball," an ensemble show set in a teaching hospital.
Among the series Fox canceled are one of its first big hits, "In Living Color," and the critically acclaimed but low-rated "Ad-ven-tures of Brisco County Jr."
Other series that got the ax include Fox's only news magazine, "Front Page," "Bakersfield P.D.," "Daddy Dearest," "Herman's Head," "Roc," "Sinbad," "Monty," "South Central" and "Code 3."
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Also this week, Fox made a deal that set the TV world on its ear.
By investing $500 million in New World Communications Group Inc., Fox owner Rupert Murdoch has engineered the switch of a dozen affiliates - eight from CBS, three from ABC and one from NBC - to Fox. And most are in big television markets.
It's a huge coup - brought about in part by Fox wresting the NFL contract from CBS - that should go a long way toward strengthening the fourth network. Fox has always been handicapped by weak, UHF affiliates, but these are all strong VHF stations.
This fall, New World's CBS affiliates in Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta, Tampa and Milwaukee switch to Fox. And New World is in the process of buying four stations - the NBC affiliate in Kansas City, ABC affiliates in St. Louis, Birmingham, Ala., and Greensboro, N.C., and the CBS affiliates in Dallas, Austin, Texas, and Phoenix - which will also switch over.
Fox will sell its own stations in Dallas and Atlanta - making Salt Lake City's KSTU-Ch. 13 a sure bet to remain under Fox ownership for the foreseeable future.
And former KSTU news director Lisa Gregorisch, who went to the Fox-owned station in Dallas to start a newscast, will be reassigned. Just weeks before the newscast was set to begin, Fox canceled those plans so as not to create a competitor for its soon-to-be new affiliate in that city.