The HeldenFiles Online » Fox

Fox Shuffles

Rich Heldenfels — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:48:49 +0000

Because of the writers strike, Fox is shaking up its lineup in the new year. "24," for one, is out of the lineup. Details after the jump …

The network's announcement:

In light of the recently announced strike by The Writers Guild of America, FOX has revised its lineup for January and the remainder of the 2007-2008 season. (The new schedule is subject to change, pending resolution of the strike.)

The highly anticipated drama TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES will have a two-night premiere on Sunday, Jan. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Monday, Jan. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), the show’s regular time period. PRISON BREAK, which has its last November airing on Monday, Nov. 12 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), returns to Mondays (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) beginning Jan. 14.

The seventh season premiere of 24 is being postponed to ensure that “Day 7” can air uninterrupted, in its entirety.

Television’s No. 1 show, AMERICAN IDOL, returns for Season Seven with a two-night, four-hour premiere event Tuesday, Jan. 15 and Wednesday, Jan. 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). New game show THE MOMENT OF TRUTH premieres Wednesday, Jan. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

Two popular FOX dramas take over Friday nights starting Friday, Jan. 4, when BONES has its time period premiere at 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT and encores of HOUSE begin weekly appointments at 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. Comedy ‘TIL DEATH also moves to Fridays, beginning with the time period premiere on Friday, March 7 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT).

HOUSE will air in its regular time period after AMERICAN IDOL on Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) starting Jan. 22, and also will encore on Mondays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) beginning March 10. An original episode of HOUSE with guest star Mira Sorvino will immediately follow Super Bowl XLII on Sunday, Feb. 3, as previously announced.

In addition to AMERICAN IDOL, the Sunday-night animated comedies – THE SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD – as well as ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?, DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!, COPS and AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK all will continue with original episodes, while a mix of original and encore episodes is currently planned for HOUSE, BONES, ‘TIL DEATH and BACK TO YOU. Encore episodes of BACK TO YOU will follow AMERICAN IDOL on Wednesdays (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) beginning March 12.

Several new and returning shows are set to premiere in the spring. The drama NEW AMSTERDAM debuts Friday, Feb. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). The Farrelly Brothers comedy UNHITCHED premieres Sunday, March 2 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) for a six-week run in the time period. On Monday, March 3, unscripted role-reversal series WHEN WOMEN RULE THE WORLD (working title) debuts (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). Friday, March 7 marks the series premiere of comedy THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT). Fiery chef Gordon Ramsay suffers no fools on Tuesday, April 1 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), when HELL’S KITCHEN returns for Season Four. And new drama CANTERBURY’S LAW starts making its case Friday, April 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

New series joining the FOX schedule include:

About TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES:

TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES is an exciting reinvention of the “Terminator” film franchise. Again facing relentless Terminators that will stop at nothing until 15-year-old John Connor (Thomas Dekker), the future leader of the resistance, is eliminated, Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) stops running and starts fighting back against fate and the machines that are out to get her son. The show also stars Sumnmer Glau as John’s classmate, the fearless, otherworldly Cameron; and Richard T. Jones as FBI Agent James Ellison.

About THE MOMENT OF TRUTH:
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH (previously announced as NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, working title) will put contestants to the test – the lie detector test – to reveal whether or not they are willing to tell the truth for a chance to win half a million dollars. The new game show is hosted by Mark L. Walberg.

About UNHITCHED:
Executive-produced by the Farrelly Brothers, this single-camera comedy revolves around four unattached friends who actually want to be married and must navigate the tricky waters of dating in their 30s. The series stars Craig Bierko, Rashida Jones, Johnny Sneed and Shaun Majumder.

About WHEN WOMEN RULE THE WORLD (working title):
Set in a primitive, remote location, this unscripted series explores what happens when a group of strong, educated and independent women, tired of living in a man’s world, rule over a group of unsuspecting men used to calling the shots.

About THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES:
From Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, this comedy stars Parker Posey as Sarah, a successful children’s book editor who reconnects with her estranged and free-spirited younger sister Coco, played by Lauren Ambrose. The series also stars Scott Cohen as Sarah’s no-strings-attached boyfriend, Marcus; Michael Arden as her loyal and slightly terrified assistant, Buddy; and Ron McLarty and Dianne Wiest (in a recurring role) as the girls’ meddlesome parents, Ronald and Talia.

About NEW AMSTERDAM:
This drama series tells the story of a brilliant and enigmatic New York homicide detective, John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who has a profound secret: He is immortal, and will not age until he meets his one true love. Also starring are Zuleikha Robinson as Amsterdam’s new partner, Eva Marquez; Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane; and Stephen Henderson as Omar, Amsterdam’s sole confidant.

About CANTERBURY’S LAW:
From the producers of “Rescue Me,” this courtroom drama centers on rebellious defense attorney Elizabeth Canterbury (Julianna Margulies), who’s willing to bend the law in order to protect the wrongfully accused. The series also stars Aidan Quinn (in a recurring role) as Canterbury’s husband, Matt; Ben Shenkman as her colleague Russell Krauss; and Keith Robinson and Trieste Dunn as Chester Grant and Molly McConnell, the associates rounding out Canterbury’s legal team.

"24" Sets the Date: Jan. 13-14, 2008

Rich Heldenfels — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:27:47 +0000

Official announcement after the jump. It notes that Jack Bauer "faces trial for his actions in the pursuit of justice." Which, given his actions, could make for a verrrrry long trial.

Here are the details:

The innovative, addictive, Emmy Award-winning television series 24 resets the clock for Season Seven with a special two-night premiere event Sunday, Jan. 13 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Monday, Jan. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

In keeping with FOX's commitment to airing original programming year-round, the intense season will unfold in 24’s regular 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT time period beginning Monday, Jan. 14, and will continue to air all originals all season into June.

"Day 7" of 24 will continue the show's unique and trend-setting format with compelling new elements. With CTU dismantled, the show’s setting moves to Washington, DC, where JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) faces trial for his actions in the pursuit of justice. Bauer's day gets off to a shocking start when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard), last seen in "Day 5," returns after being left for dead by a terrorist conspirator in CTU's infirmary.

"Tony's uncertain fate near the end of 'Day 5' left the door open for his return," said executive producer/show-runner Howard Gordon. "And since there was no silent clock at the conclusion of his last appearance – the 24 tribute to a major character’s demise – we always kept this as a possibility."

Bernard's return highlights a list of notable cast members clocking in for Season Seven, including the previously announced Cherry Jones ("The Heiress") as President ALLISON TAYLOR and Janeane Garofalo ("The Larry Sanders Show") as FBI Agent JANIS GOLD. Colm Feore ("Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee") will play First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR and Bob Gunton ("Desperate Housewives") is White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN.

FBI Agents assigned to the team investigating the crisis befalling Bauer include Garofalo's Agent Gold in addition to Annie Wersching ("General Hospital") as Agent RENEE WALKER, Jeffrey Nordling ("Dirt") as Agent LARRY MOSS and Rhys Coiro ("Entourage") as Agent SEAN HILLINGER. John Billingsley (PRISON BREAK) portrays security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM. Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.

As part of News Corp.'s global commitment to fighting climate change, 24 has pledged significant and innovative changes to its production practices with the goal of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions. Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 is a production of Real Time Productions and Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Manny Coto, David Fury, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are the executive producers.

New Season: "K-Ville"

Rich Heldenfels — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 02:16:56 +0000

Premieres Monday on Fox

Anthony Anderson

I've got a list of books to write sometime. My long-unfinished mystery novel, "Death Wore a Name Tag." A trilogy about a journalist in deep space. (I'm intrigued by the idea of an instant-news mentality facing the time lag that would come with space exploration.) There used to be one called "Those Awful Beatle Wives," but it's out of date now.

Then there's "When Bad Shows Happen to Good People," a collection of series disasters starring fine actors. (Suggestions welcome.) If I do that one, Anthony Anderson will probably get a chapter, and it will have to touch on "K-Ville."

While Anderson has dipped rather often into comedy, he demonstrated once and for all what a formidable dramatic presence he is on "The Shield." Because of that, I expected good things from "K-Ville." Expected them even more because the show is set in modern New Orleans, where Katrina is not merely a memory but an agonizing, visible, everyday presence.

Anderson, a veteran New Orleans cop, remembers all too well what happened two years ago; his new partner, played by Cole Hauser, has his own ties to the city, although he shrouds them in mystery to hide aspects of his past.

Unfortunately, the emotional traction you'd assume in a New Orleans show slips before the first episode is over, and it doesn't really come back in a second episode made available for preview. Even Anderson seems to lose his will by that second show, content to make routine dramatic moves in what's fundamentally a routine action show.

This is the kind of show where, after seeing bad guys shoot up a place, the good guys are in their car and chasing faster than you can say, "Fasten your seat belt and get it out of park." It has the sort of gunplay where the bride, observing a couple of action scenes, observed that the good guys "can't hit bleep." And the bad guys' motives, which the show considers hard to figure out, should be transparent to crime-show watchers.

The second episode deals more with Hauser's old secret (which I won't reveal here) and looks as if it's setting up a conflict that could continue in future episodes. But it's also talky, and overall even less interesting than the pilot. The first episode at least suggested that "K-Ville" could make a melodramatic companion to the high-energy nuttiness of "Prison Break" (which is even nuttier in the first two episodes of the third season). But that energy is drained from the second "K-Ville."

I look forward to Anderson's finding something better.

New Season: "Nashville"

Rich Heldenfels — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:20:57 +0000

Premieres Friday on Fox.

Musician Chuck Wicks

Thirty-two years ago, Robert Altman made a movie called "Nashville" that used the country-music capital for a rumination on politics, alienation and American society in the '70s. Now Fox has made a series called "Nashville" that uses the country-music capital for a rumination on romance and hooking up.

Need I be more explicit about which one most deserves your attention?

All right, those of you who love "Laguna Beach" — whose producers have also made "Nashville" — may want to argue about the relative importance of a new "docu-soap" and a movie made before many of you were born.

But even as it chronicles the attempts by some young people to make it big in music — among them, Chuck Wicks, above, and Rachel Bradshaw, daughter of football's Terry — the soporific premiere has very little about music, and even some of that sounds out of date. I liked the point where Wicks, preparing for a showcase, was advised not to lean down toward his guitar, because it looked too singer-songwriter-y.

But I was baffled by music pros discussing how remarkable a singer with male-model looks was in a business that had been dominated by the likes of Waylon and Willle. You'd think they had just transported in from, oh, 1975, unaware of George Strait and his matinee-idol peers and successors.

Of course, "Nashville" is about the music business in roughly the same way that "Laguna Beach" was about that city's interest in tourism. In sum, hardly at all. That was clear in a scene where three of the women strip down to their bathing suits, stretch out to tan and discuss their vague plans — a scene that could just as easily have been in "Laguna Beach." The people of Fox's "Nashville" have plenty of time to tan and shoot pool, because they're not working all that hard. Because they're on a TV show, they have career options genuinely struggling singers don't generally get. So, instead of working, they're spending a lot of time eyeing each other, either hungrily because they sense possibilities, or angrily because an opportunity has moved on to someone else. (By the end of the first hour, you already have a would-be player and a seemingly spurned beauty.)

And even with all that maneuvering, it's a bore.

GLAAD Scores the Broadcast Networks

Rich Heldenfels — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:44:26 +0000

ABC does well, Fox not — although Fox gets a bit of praise that highlights the real meaning of diversity. More after the jump …

Here's the release from GLAAD on its new study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters on network TV:

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today released its inaugural GLAAD Network Responsibility Index, a first-of-its-kind report that maps the quantity, quality and diversity of images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people on network television. ABC, with shows like Brothers & Sisters and Ugly Betty, received the highest ranking of the five networks. NBC, once home to Will & Grace, ranked fourth, and FOX scored lowest.

"While we have made great strides in the ten years since Ellen DeGeneres came out on television," says GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano, "this report shows where work still needs to be done and which networks are failing to represent millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers. The airwaves quite literally belong to each and every one of us, and, as such, networks have an obligation to reflect the faces and stories of their viewers."

GLAAD examined all primetime programming — 4,693 hours — on the five major networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, and NBC) from June 1, 2006 – May 31, 2007. Each hour was reviewed for any on-screen major or minor LGBT representations. Based on the overall quantity, quality and diversity of these representations, a grade was assigned to each network: Excellent, Good, Fair, or Failing.

ABC received a grade of Good and led the networks with 15 percent of its primetime programming hours inclusive of LGBT representations. The CW followed with a Fair; 12 percent of its programming hours were LGBT inclusive. CBS received a Fair for its 9 percent of LGBT-inclusive programming hours. NBC was given a Fair for its 7 percent. And FOX received a Failing grade for its 6 percent of LGBT-inclusive programming hours. No network received an Excellent ranking.

"We know that seeing multi-dimensional, diverse people represented on television changes public perception," says GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine, editor of the report. "Millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans fight every day for equality and for the right to live their lives without fear of discrimination and violence. True equality will be in our grasp when network television presents our stories in a fair, accurate and inclusive way."

Copies of the GLAAD Network Responsibility Index have been delivered to programming executives at the five networks, and GLAAD looks forward to further discussions with the networks on ways to improve their LGBT representation.

A PDF of the full report can be downloaded at GLAAD.org or by clicking here: http://www.glaad.org/2007/2007PDFS/GLAAD_NRI2007.pdf

Please Note: The 12th Annual GLAAD Where We Are On TV diversity report will be issued in early September. This analysis will examine LGBT inclusion as well as the gender and race/ethnicity of all scripted characters scheduled to appear during the upcoming season.

As for Fox's failing grade, the complete report includes this note about the network:

While FOX’s numbers were lowest, their impressions reflected a great deal of LGBT diversity. In fact, 46 of its 99 LGBT impressions included people of Middle Eastern-American descent (Kenny from The War at Home and Richard from The Winner both made several significant appearances). FOX also had 12 gay Latino impressions and one gay African American character throughout the year.

That's an important note, because it reminds people that diversity is a complicated issue — that if all your gay characters are white, then you've embraced one kind of diversity but overlooked another. As the full report notes:

LGBT impressions on NBC and ABC overwhelmingly featured white representations (80% and 83%, respectively) in their drama, comedy and unscripted areas. NBC had 12 gay Latino and eight African American impressions, while ABC featured eight Latino, 19 African American, and 10 Asian Pacific Islander (API) impressions, the highest API representation of any network.

Fox Revamps Fall Schedule

Rich Heldenfels — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:19:14 +0000

"New Amsterdam" gets bumped and other news, after the jump …

The boilerplate:

FOX today announced changes to its fall lineup on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. BONES moves to Tuesdays at 8:00 PM as of Sept. 25; KITCHEN NIGHTMARES shifts to Wednesdays at 9:00 PM, starting Sept. 19; and DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS! hums along on Thursdays at 9:00 PM, beginning Sept. 6.

Season Three of BONES, the darkly amusing procedural centering on a brilliant forensic anthropologist (Emily Deschanel) who teams with a dashing FBI agent (David Boreanaz) to solve crimes, premieres Tuesday, Sept. 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. New unscripted series KITCHEN NIGHTMARES, in which fiery master chef Gordon Ramsay attempts to transform failing restaurants into popular hot-spots, serves its first course Wednesday, Sept. 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). And DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!, with a $1-million prize awaiting contestants who can sing 10 missing lyrics in 10 hit songs, has its time-period premiere Thursday, Sept. 6 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

Leading off the game-show tandem on Thursdays is the A+ hit ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?, which now premieres with a special one-hour class session on Thursday, Sept. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and, as previously announced, also will air on four fall Fridays: Sept.14, Sept. 21, Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

Later in the fall, Fridays will rock with AMERICAN BAND. The producers behind mega-hit phenomenon AMERICAN IDOL take the musical reality genre to a whole new level in a search for the nation’s best undiscovered bands, starting with the two-hour series premiere Friday, Oct. 19 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. AMERICAN BAND’s regular time period will be Fridays, 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT, leading into NASHVILLE.

The freshman drama NEW AMSTERDAM, previously announced for Tuesdays at 8:00 PM in the fall, will be rescheduled in midseason.

The updated FOX fall schedule is as follows (all times ET/PT):

Mondays (as of Sept. 17):
8:00-9:00 PM PRISON BREAK (season premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM K-VILLE (series premiere)

Tuesdays (as of Sept. 25):
8:00-9:00 PM BONES (season premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE (season premiere)

Wednesdays (as of Sept. 19):
8:00-8:30 PM BACK TO YOU (series premiere)
8:30-9:00 PM ‘TIL DEATH (season premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (series premiere)

Thursdays (as of Sept. 6):
8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER? (1-hour season premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!
(season premiere)

Fridays (as of Sept. 14):
8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?
(4 weeks only)

9:00-10:00 PM NASHVILLE (series premiere)

Friday, Oct. 19:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN BAND (2-hour series premiere)

Saturdays (as of Sept. 8):
8:00-8:30 PM COPS (season premiere)
8:30-9:00 PM COPS (season premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: AMERICA
FIGHTS BACK (season premiere)

Saturdays, late-night (as of Sept. 15):
11:00 PM-Midnight MADtv (season premiere)
Midnight-12:30 AM TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN
(season premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 23:
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (season premiere)
8:30-9:00 PM KING OF THE HILL (season premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM FAMILY GUY (1-hour season premiere)

Sundays (as of Sept. 30):
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM KING OF THE HILL
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY (time period premiere)
9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD (season premiere)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: On Sundays in the fall, due to live NFL football broadcasts, encore comedy programming will be scheduled from 7:00-8:00 PM.

"House" Casting

Rich Heldenfels — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:27:02 +0000

A coy announcement about some new actors, after the jump …

Here's what Fox is telling:

Five actors have been cast in Season Four of the Emmy Award-winning series HOUSE, which premieres Tuesday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Olivia Wilde (“The Black Donnellys,” “The O.C.”), Kal Penn (24, “The Namesake,” “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle”), Peter Jacobson (“The Starter Wife,” “Law & Order”), Anne Dudek (“Big Day”) and Edi Gathegi (“Lincoln Heights,” “Gone Baby Gone”) play candidates for a fellowship opportunity with Dr. House. The actors have been cast for an undetermined number of episodes.

HOUSE stars Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant diagnostician who thrives on the challenge of solving medical puzzles to save lives. In the Season Three finale, the set-in-his-ways House was confronted with a series of major changes to his team – neurologist Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) left Princeton Plainsboro because he didn’t want to turn into House; House randomly fired old-money intensivist Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), claiming he learned everything he’s going to learn during the past three years, or nothing at all; and immunologist Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) resigned, knowing House will be completely unaffected by her decision. But any effects of this “house-cleaning” on House, or the changes it may bring to House professionally or personally, remain to be seen.

Fox Fall Premiere Dates

Rich Heldenfels — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:03:06 +0000

Because it's never too early to plan your September TV viewing …

Direct from the network to you:

Thursday, Aug. 30

8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?

(Season Premiere)

Saturday, Sept. 8

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT COPS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT COPS (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: AMERICA

FIGHTS BACK (Season Premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 13

9:00-10:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (Series Premiere)

Friday, Sept. 14

9:00-10:00 PM NASHVILLE (Series Premiere)

Saturday, Sept. 15

11:00 PM-Midnight MADtv (Season Premiere)

Midnight-12:30 AM TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN

(Season Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 17

8:00-9:00 PM PRISON BREAK (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM K-VILLE (Series Premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 19

8:00-8:30 PM BACK TO YOU (Series Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ’TIL DEATH (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM BONES (Season Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 23

8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM KING OF THE HILL (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM FAMILY GUY (1-Hour Season Premiere)
[EDITOR’S NOTE: On Sundays in the fall, due to live NFL football broadcasts, encore comedy programming will be scheduled from 7:00-8:00 PM.

Tuesday, Sept. 25

8:00-9:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM (Series Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE (Season Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 30

9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY (Time Period Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD (Season Premiere)

Kevin Reilly, Back Where He's Loved

Rich Heldenfels — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:22:44 +0000

The former NBC programmer, rudely ousted there, goes back to the Fox family, where he had great success at FX. Full announcement after the jump …

Fox Broadcasting Company has promoted Peter Liguori to Chairman, Entertainment, and has named highly regarded network programmer Kevin Reilly President, Entertainment, in a restructuring designed to add depth to the senior ranks of the network as it navigates the rapidly changing television landscape. The appointments were announced today by Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation.

“The television industry has changed more in the last five years than in the past 20,” said Mr. Chernin. “We need to be structured in a way that puts us in the best position take advantage of the myriad new opportunities digital technology has afforded the broadcast television business. When Peter Liguori approached me with the idea of re-teaming with Kevin Reilly, I thought it was a bold move to redefine the structure of the network behind a pair of dynamic executives who have a proven track record of advancing the medium.”

Mr. Liguori and Mr. Reilly had a highly successful pairing at News Corp.’s FX (2000-03), where Mr. Liguori was President and CEO and Mr. Reilly was President of Entertainment. Together they developed some of television’s most heralded programming, including “The Shield” and “Nip/Tuck,” and took FX from a nascent basic cable network to one of the most successful and critically acclaimed networks on television.

Mr. Reilly will report to Mr. Liguori, who in his new role as Chairman of FOX will expand his duties to developing new models for FOX broadcast content to best leverage the brands across all emerging platforms. Mr. Liguori has been President of Entertainment for FOX since March 2005 and has presided over two seasons during which the network finished first among the coveted Adults 18-49 demographic, the entertainment division reached record profitability and the company set Upfront advertising records. Before his years at FX and FOX, Mr. Liguori headed Consumer Marketing at HBO and worked in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi.

“I’m thrilled to be working with my good friend Kevin again. We have complementary strengths, but more importantly, we have fun working together and we enjoy sharing that spirit with the rest of the team,” said Mr. Liguori. “FOX is television’s premier brand and I am excited to take on a role that requires more long-term strategic vision at a time when FOX has the opportunity to become an even bigger force in this quickly evolving media landscape.”

Mr. Reilly most recently served as President of Entertainment for NBC (2004–07). Throughout his career, Mr. Reilly has distinguished himself as a legitimate hit-maker, having developed and supervised some of the most successful and heralded programs in TV history – most recently including “Heroes,” last season’s top-rated freshman series in both total viewers and Adults 18-49. The Emmy Award-winning “The Office”, as well as “My Name is Earl” and “Deal or No Deal”, are among Reilly’s recent hits. During an earlier stint at NBC, he had a hand in developing some of the network’s seminal programs, including the pilots of “ER” and “Homicide: Life on the Street” and supervising the first season of “Law & Order.” Prior to his years at FX, Mr. Reilly was President of Brad Grey Television, where he shepherded several hits including the pilot for the groundbreaking HBO series “The Sopranos.”

“I couldn’t be happier to rejoin Peter Chernin and the Fox family and to collaborate again with my good friend Peter Liguori, who shares my view of being competitive by being creatively adventurous,” said Mr. Reilly. “The company has a top-down vision and the network has a collaborative environment and winning track record fostered by Peter Liguori, which I personally look forward to as a refreshing change of pace, and have no doubt will be the formula to keep FOX the leader on all fronts for years to come.”