Fox is launching two nights of reality programming for fall and will continue to save its biggest guns for midseason — including its much-anticipated action drama “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” For the fall, new dramas include post-hurricane New Orleans cop series “K-Ville” and “New Amsterdam,” about an immortal detective.
New buzz-heavy comedy “Back to You,” starring Kelsey Grammer as a TV news anchor, also joins the lineup.
Unscripted fall efforts include “The Search for the Next Great American Band,” from the producers of “American Idol”; “Nashville,” a docu-soap in the vein of “Laguna Beach”; and “Hell’s Kitchen Nightmares,” with chef Gordon Ramsay trying to turn around failing restaurants.
“We’re not scheduling shows we just think are just OK. We’re only doing shows we’re excited about,” said Peter Liguori, president of entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Co. “We’re not satisfied with just winning, we want to invest in our schedule … invest in the broadcast business.”
As promised, Fox kept its upfront presentation to about an hour, bracketing the show with clips of Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer advising “the president” — in this case, Mr. Liguori — how to keep the proceedings brief.
With Fox landing the Super Bowl next year, most of the advertising pitch from head of sales John Nesvig emphasized the network’s sports franchises, which include college football’s Bowl Championship Series, Major League Baseball and NASCAR.
Mr. Liguori noted Fox will air fewer MLB post-season games, which traditionally get in the way of the traditional fall season launch.
“We’re going to be able to build a schedule with strength and stability across the board,” he said. “We’re going to decrease [baseball] from 26 nights to 14 and with fewer preemptions.”
Mr. Liguori also surprised buyers by announcing which series gets the coveted post-Bowl time slot: Medical drama “House,” which in recent weeks has surpassed ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” as the top scripted drama.
On the schedule next fall, Fox did make one unique move, slating reality series for Thursday and Friday. Mr. Liguori described the reality nights as counter programming against largely scripted competitors.
Splitting its top pickups between fall and spring, Fox’s schedule otherwise took few risks with the network’s current formula.
Some expected Fox to move “24,” after it was regularly beaten this season by NBC’s “Heroes,” but the drama will stay at Mondays at 9 p.m. “Connor” will launch at 9 p.m. Sundays, which Mr. Liguori called the time slot that helped make “The X-Files” a hit, and will run straight through.
Following are the Fox primetime schedules for 2007-08.
New shows are in capital letters.
MONDAY
8-9 p.m.: Prison Break
9-10 p.m. K-VILLE
TUESDAY
8-9 p.m.: NEW AMSTERDAM
9-10 p.m.: House
WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m.: BACK TO YOU
8:30-9 p.m.: ‘Til Death
9-10 p.m.: Bones
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m.: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9-10 p.m.: KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m.: THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND (working title)
9-10 p.m.: NASHVILLE (working title)
SATURDAY
8-8:30 p.m.: Cops
8:30-9 p.m.: Cops
9-10 p.m.: America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back
11 p.m.-12 a.m.: MADtv
12-12:30 a.m.: Talk Show With Spike Feresten
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m.: The OT (NFL post-game)
8-8:30 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30-9 p.m.: King of the Hill
9-9:30 p.m.: Family Guy
9:30-10 p.m.: American Dad
BEGINNING JANUARY 2008
MONDAY
8-9 p.m.: K-VILLE (January)/Prison Break (Spring)
9-10 p.m.: 24
TUESDAY
8-9 p.m.: American Idol
9-10 p.m.: House
WEDNESDAY (January)
8-8:30 p.m.: BACK TO YOU
8:30-9 p.m.:’Til Death
9-10 p.m.: American Idol
WEDNESDAY (Spring)
8-8:30 p.m.: BACK TO YOU
8:30-9 p.m.: THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (working title)
9-9:30 p.m.: American Idol: Results Show
9:30-10 p.m.:’Til Death
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m.: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9-10 p.m.: CANTERBURY’S LAW
FRIDAY (Spring)
8-9 p.m.: Bones
9-10 p.m.: NEW AMSTERDAM
SATURDAY
8-8:30 p.m.: Cops
8:30-9 p.m.: Cops
9-10 p.m.: America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back
11 p.m.-12 a.m.: MADtv
12-12:30 a.m.: Talkshow With Spike Feresten
SUNDAY (Spring)
7-7:30 p.m.: King of the Hill
7:30-8 p.m.: American Dad
8-8:30 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30-9 p.m.: Family Guy
9-10 p.m.: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES