Upfrontsgasm: Fox - 
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By Umnata
Last week, the networks revealed and previewed their fall schedules in what's called "the upfronts." Here is a look at Fox's slate.
Fox is really going with an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude for its upcoming season. The new dramas they greenlit are primarily dramas that will fit in quite nicely with hits like 24, Bones and Prison Break. Not that I’m complaining, since I love all three of those shows. Fox did have a few surprises up it’s sleeve however. Well not a few, but one big one: the midseason return of The Loop, one of the big surprise renewals of the season. They are also giving the scripted sitcom a whirl, with the inclusion of two new comedies, one of which looks promising, the other of which does not (and both of which will get crushed on Thursdays at 8:00).
Sunday:
Animation Domination will continue as Sundays will be a safe haven for Fox’s animated hits. For much of the fall the 7 – 8 hour will be allotted for football game overruns, and/or comedy reruns. After that, we’ll get the 18th (!) season of The Simpsons. You realize that if The Simpsons actually aged, Maggie would be the hottest piece of legal tail this side of the Olsens. Except a cartoon. The two worst shows on the lineup (making this a so-so night until King of the Hill comes back in January at 7:30 pm), American Dad and The War at Home are switching timeslots to 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm respectively. Personally, I think that a) people should stop hiring Michael Rappaport because his show is so bad it’s actually insulting, and b) Fox should cancel American Dad because although that show has its moments, I think this attention to it has taken away from The Family Guy (9:00 pm). After Family Guy, was miractualously saved from a lifetime of AdultSwim reruns and brought back to Fox, it has yet to live up the promise of its earlier episodes. And thanks to a South Park parody this season, I can’t watch it without laughing AT it. Damn you, Cartman!
Monday:
Please don’t go… Please don’t go… Don’t GOOOOO… I’m begging you to stay
Mondays are one of those nights that Fox is really playing with in the Fall/Winter season changes. Like last year, they are going to give Prison Break, a jump on the competition by premiering it in the late summer, a great idea because I need to find out if Dr. Sara Tencredi really OD’d or not (word on the street, and by street I mean my cubicle, is that she was supposed to die, but Fox higher-ups want her to have a last minute reprieve and live on…I never thought I’d say this but… Thank you Rupert Murdoch). At 9:00 pm, Fox will premiere another serialized mystery with Vanished. The trailer of this show leans on a lot of borrowed material from both 24 and the ccccccraptacular Da Vinci Code. The story centers around the year long search for a senator’s (John Allen Nelson, President Logan’s scapegoat, Walt Cummings, in this past season of 24) wife who has gone missing. The team that is searching for her is led by Gale Harold of Queer as Folk fame and includes Noxzema girl (and Dylan McKay slain wife) Rebecca Gayheart and Ming Na (I. Hate. Mulan.). The words “centuries old mystery” were strewn about, and I think it would’ve played a lot better before 34,724,370,283 billion people either saw or read The Da Vinci Code. All that being said, Fox seems to be riding high on this show, which means very little, but might equal an early season viewing.
Oddly, in the winter both of these shows disappear off the schedule. Prison Break had this happen to it (for 4 months) this year and for better or worse was just fine. I’m wondering about what will happen to Vanished if Fox does end up with a hit on their hands. Regardless, Vanished is gone from at least the 9:00 pm timeslot to make way for Jack Bauer and company on 24. Let’s just hope that the rumors are false that the next season will kickoff on the next hour right after this season ends because I’m pretty sure that it would take about a season and a half for Jack to get to China on the freight ship. Anchoring the evening will be Standoff, (which will premiere in the fall Tuesdays at 8 PM) starring Ron Livingston, aka Berger from Sex in the City (a show I honestly never watched, except for the episode after Berger breaks up with Carrie on a PostIt note. Genius!). The show is basically about a team of hostage negotiators who are all sleeping together. Think Grey’s Anatomy meets Bones. The cast is pretty good (it also includes Gina Torres and Rosemarie DeWitt), and the promo looks fun (if not familiar), so it sounds like it’s worth a look.
Tuesday:
In the fall Standoff will show at 8:00 pm, moving to Mondays at 8:00 PM in the winter, if it makes it that far. Followed by the #1 show on television that I have to make room for on my DVR, House. Tuesdays at 9:00 are just a really bad time for me, and don’t look like they are getting any better. But House is supposedly coming off of an even better sophomore year, and I need to catch up on DVD this summer. Tell me if I’m wrong!
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