'Fringe' Gets Full Support; 'Do Not Disturb' Is Shown the Door

Fox has picked up half of its new fall scripted series for the rest of the TV season.

Fox has scrapped the other half of its new fall scripted series.

Which is to say Fox has ordered a full season's worth of episodes on its new sci-fi thriller, "Fringe," and canceled "Do Not Disturb."

Nine additional episodes have been ordered on "Fringe," an hour-long series about a hot blond FBI chick who works with this really smart guy with gambling debts and his locked-up, crazy research-scientist dad, investigating unexplained phenomena.

Fox notes that the show, from J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, is the No. 1 new prime-time series among teens and the 18-to-49-year-olds who are the ne plus ultra of broadcast TV. Most recently, it clocked 4.3 percent of the country's 18-49 crowd -- a 4 rating being the new 5 -- and 10.7 million viewers of all ages (actually, of all ages over 2 years).

"Fringe" is the second frosh series to get a full-season order so far this fall. CW already picked up "90210," which it launched way back on Sept. 2.

The pickup and the cancellation leave only Fox's competition show "Hole in the Wall" hanging among new fall shows.

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The brave men and women at NBC are putting Rosie O'Donnell on the air live, in prime time, in a variety special that will open with a topical monologue.

"Rosie's Variety Special" is widely regarded as a so-called back-door pilot for a regular series.

On the other hand, NBC started talking to the comic-actor-talker-host-political-lightning-rod a couple of months ago about giving her her own venue but is waiting until after the presidential election to take her out for a test run. And the network is slapping the special onto its prime-time lineup the night before Thanksgiving, when a lot of people are traveling.

In addition to Rosie, the special will feature musical production numbers, comedy sketches from an in-house acting company, performances from of-the-moment musicians, celebrity guests and what NBC calls a "massive" prime-time giveaway in which viewers at home and the studio audience will have a chance to win stuff or cash -- it wasn't clear in yesterday's announcement.