While its competitors have been preaching stability and making relatively few changes, Fox has made some major adjustments to its fall schedule. Eight new shows will join 11 returning series -- five of which are shifting to new time slots.
And, in perhaps the year's weirdest move, the network is adding a second weekly edition of "Ally McBeal." The 30-minute version, which will be seen Tuesdays at 7 p.m., will consist of single storylines culled from past episodes and will contain previously unseen footage.Fox left just one night -- Saturdays -- alone, making changes on all the others. Among the more notable moves are challenging NBC's "Frasier" by moving "Family Guy" to Thursday; shifting "Party of Five" from Wednesdays to Tuesdays; and putting both "King of the Hill" and "Futurama" on Sundays.
Fox's new dramas are:
"Get Real" (Wednesdays, 8 p.m.), an "irreverent" family drama about a mom, dad, grandma and three teenage children.
"Harsh Realm" (Fridays, 8 p.m.), from "X-Files" creator Chris Carter, about a man (D.B. Sweeney) who finds himself trapped in a virtual reality world. It's loosely based on the comic books of the same name.
"Manchester Prep" (Thursdays, 7 p.m.), an updating of "Dangerous Liaisons" that takes place at a New York prep school, which provides "the backdrop to sex, scandal and betrayal among the Upper East Side's teenage elite."
"Ryan Caulfield" (Fridays, 7 p.m.), about a 19-year-old who joins the Philadelphia police.
"Time of Your Life" (Mondays, 7 p.m.), a spinoff from "Party of Five," in which Jennifer Love Hewitt reprises her role as Sarah. She moves to New York City and sets out to find her biological father and build a new life.
Fox's new comedies are:
"Action" (Thursdays, 8:30 p.m.), which stars Jay Mohr as an egomaniacal film producer in this satire about Hollywood.
"Malcolm in the Middle" (Sundays, 6 p.m.), about a 9-year-old boy -- a genius -- who's the middle child in a rambunctious family.
While neither is on the fall schedule, Fox has ordered both "The PJs" and the newsmagazine "The Fox Files" as midseason replacement shows.
Others include:
"Dark Angel," a futuristic drama from "Titanic" director James Cameron about a genetically enhanced human hunted by her former military handlers through the underground street life of 21st century San Francisco.
"The Opposite Sex," an hourlong comedy/drama about a 15-year-old boy who finds himself one of three males at a former all-girls prep school.
"Titus," a sitcom based on star Chris Titus' dysfunctional family.
Among the shows Fox canceled are "Brimstone," "Costello," "Getting Personal," "Guinness World Records," "Holding the Baby," "Living in Captivity," "Melrose Place," "Millennium," "The World's Funniest" and "World's Wildest Police Videos."