Idol moves to Wednesdays and Thursdays in Fox's new midseason schedule
11/19/10 07:05 PM
By ED BARK
American Idol's weekly results shows will get a Thursday night berth for the first time as part of a Fox midseason lineup that also includes five new series, all but one of them scripted.
Canceled are Running Wilde and The Good Guys, the serio-comic cop series that was made in Dallas and originally launched in the summer before moving to Fridays at the start of the fall season.
Idol, which will deploy new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler plus some format changes, has been airing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for most of its first nine seasons. But Season 10 inaugurates a Wednesday-Thursday shift, with season premiere dates set for Jan. 19th and 20th.
Idol will begin with one-hour Wednesday episodes before inflating to two hours on Feb. 16th. Beginning April 6th, the faltering Fox cash cow is scheduled to deflate back to 90 minutes, with a new "offbeat workplace comedy," Breaking In, getting the 8:30 to 9 p.m. slot. Its principal star is Christian Slater.
The Chicago Code, a new police drama from the creator of The Shield, will be paired with House on Monday nights. Also new are the big money game show Million Dollar Money Drop, an animated series, Bob's Burgers and a relationship comedy, Mixed Signals.
Also, Fringe will moving to Fridays, a night that long has been a death valley for Fox. Kitchen Nightmares will be its running mate.
Here are the nights, times and dates for Fox's midseason machinations, with all times central:
MONDAY
7 p.m. -- Lie to Me with a two-hour episode on Jan. 10th before House moves back in on Jan. 17th.
8 p.m. -- Lie to Me starting on Jan. 17th before The Chicago Code supplants it on Feb. 7th.
TUESDAY
7 p.m. -- Encore episodes of Glee, beginning Jan. 4th before new episodes kick in on Feb. 8th.
8 p.m. -- Million Dollar Money Drop, beginning Jan. 4th, with Raising Hope and the new Mixed Signals taking over on Feb. 8th.
WEDNESDAY
7 p.m. -- Human Target on Jan. 5th and 12th before one-hour episodes of American Idol start on Jan. 19th. Two-hour Idol episodes launch on Feb. 16th. Idol then shrinks to 90 minutes on April 6th.
8 p.m. -- Human Target, starting on Jan. 26th and running until Idol steps in on Feb. 16th.
8:30 p.m. -- Breaking In, starting April 6th.
THURSDAY
7 p.m. -- Million Dollar Money Drop, beginning Jan. 6th until Idol arrives on Jan. 20th.
8 p.m. -- Repeats of Bones, starting Jan. 6th, before new episodes begin on Jan. 20th.
FRIDAY
7 p.m. -- AT&T Cotton Bowl in prime-time from Dallas on Jan. 7th. Kitchen Nightmares has its season premiere on Jan. 21st with nothing to fill the void so far on Jan. 14th.
8 p.m. -- A Kitchen Nighmare repeat on Jan. 21st, with new episodes of Fringe beginning on Jan. 28th.
SATURDAY
NFC Division Playoffs on Jan. 15th before two doses of COPS and America's Most Wanted resume as always on the following week.
SUNDAY
It's quite a jumble, so let's note that Bob's Burgers launches at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9th. Super Bowl XLV from Cowboys Stadium is on Feb. 6th, followed by a new episode of Glee. Then on Feb. 13th, here's the all-cartoon lineup:
6 p.m. -- The Simpsons
6:30 p.m. -- American Dad
7 p.m. -- The Simpsons
7:30 p.m. -- Bob's Burgers
8 p.m. -- Family Guy
8:30 p.m. -- The Cleveland Show
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