Finally, Fox Trots Out 'Dance' for a Fall Run Following in 'Idol's' Footsteps

NEW YORK

Fox is launching just three new series in the fall, one of which actually debuts tonight; another of which was ordered last season and has been sitting around so long you probably thought it was already on the air; and the third of which is being scheduled on Fridays, which screams, "Got it cheap and expectations low."

And yet, Fox's 2009-10 TV season plans are not entirely lacking in excitement and drama.

For instance, you know how you have always wondered why Fox's fall schedule doesn't look more like its January schedule -- the one with "American Idol" on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and millions more viewers? Turns out, the very same thing occurred to Fox suits.

But though they've worked so hard to gum up "Idol" this season -- Kara DioGuardi being just the tip of that iceberg -- they're not yet ready to commit the ultimate folly and put another "Idol" edition on in the fourth quarter. Instead, Fox's summer competition series, "So You Think You Can Dance," will become the centerpiece of the network's fall schedule, taking over "Idol's" Tuesday and Wednesday time slots.

Presumably, that news had execs over at ABC sitting up and taking notice. They're unveiling their new schedule plans today and, of course, two nights each fall they already air a dancing competition series, "Dancing With the Stars," which could wind up going toe-to-toe with Fox's dancing show on Tuesday nights. A two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" performance show on Tuesdays could also take a bite out of NBC's Tuesday "Biggest Loser" if the latter show sticks with its current time slot, since both reality series tend to skew "chick."

"We're going to create a new fall cycle so we don't have to completely reconstitute our schedule when 'American Idol' comes on," Fox programming chief Kevin Reilly announced yesterday.

"What took you so long to figure that one out?" America said back.

On Wednesdays, "Dance" will be used as a launchpad for "Glee" -- Fox's new musical dramedy from "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy, the first episode of which you'll get to see tonight after the final "American Idol" performance show. People seem to either love or hate the "Glee" pilot. One reporter likened it to a tuneful colonoscopy, but advertisers seemed to adore it, based on the thunderous applause they gave the "Glee" Cast Lip-Sync during the network's new-schedule unveiling yesterday afternoon.

As if that weren't enough, Fox is sending "Fringe" -- this season's No. 1-ranked new series among younger viewers (though no ratings monster) -- to Thursdays at 9 to see whether it can mess with the other networks' lineups; maybe even take out CBS's older, struggling William Petersen-less "CSI," like one of those young crocodiles dragging down a majestic old wildebeest that gets its back foot stuck in the mud at the watering hole during one of those Nat Geo sweeps specials.

Reilly noted that the other networks have not been this vulnerable on Thursday night in years. It's true: Fox has already had luck gumming up the other networks' ratings on this night when it moved "Bones" into the 8 p.m. hour, followed by "Hell's Kitchen." Presumably, "Fringe" will be even more potent than "Hell." On the other hand, "Fringe" won't have the "Idol" lead-in that has contributed so much toward making "Fringe" the season's top new series among younger viewers. Its new lead-in show will be "Bones."