Fri Nov 7, 2008 2:38PM3 comments ›
Fri Nov 7, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger
Fox Dumps 'Dollhouse' on Fridays
Midseason Schedule Also Moves 'House,' 'Bones', 'Sarah Connor'
Fox announced a dramatically restructured midseason lineup, radically different than the schedule they outlined over the summer. They have revived the Friday night science fiction dumping ground, placing Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse on that evening, beginning February 13, the beginning of a three-day weekend when viewership tends to drop anyway.
Other shifts sees House slip to Mondays, allowing the return of the American Idol juggernaut on Tuesdays, which makes for a marvelous lead-in to Fringe. Bones shifts from Wednesdays to Thursday pitting the series against Ugly Betty and Smallville.
The Friday night curse began with the genre-related The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. in 1993 and was following in subsequent years by MANTIS (1994), Strange Luck (1995), VR.5 (1995), Sliders (1996), Millennium (1996), The Visitor (1997), Harsh Realm (1999), Freakylinks (2000), Dark Angel (2000), The Lone Gunmen (2001), John Doe (2003), and Firefly (2003).
RECAP FOX MIDSEASON SCHEDULE
(All times ET/PT except as noted)
MONDAY
Monday, Jan. 5:
7:30 PM-CC ET TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL (LIVE)
Monday, Jan. 12:
8:00-10:00 PM 24 (Season Premiere, Part 2)
Mondays, beginning Jan. 19:
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM 24 (Time Period Premiere)
TUESDAY
Tuesday, Jan. 13:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part 1)
Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 20:
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, Jan. 14:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part 2)
Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 21:
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM LIE TO ME (Series Premiere)
THURSDAY
Thursday, Jan. 1:
7:30 PM-CC ET FEDEX ORANGE BOWL (LIVE)
Thursday, Jan. 8:
7:30 PM-CC ET FEDEX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (LIVE)
Thursdays, beginning Jan. 15:
8:00-9:00 PM BONES (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
Thursdays, beginning Jan. 29:
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM HELL'S KITCHEN (Season Premiere)
FRIDAY
Friday, Jan. 2:
7:30 PM-CC ET ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL (LIVE)
Friday, Jan. 9:
8:00-10:00 PM FOX MOVIE SPECIAL: BRUCE ALMIGHTY
Fridays, beginning Jan. 16 (no change to lineup):
8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?
9:00-10:00 PM DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS!
Fridays, beginning Feb. 13:
8:00-9:00 PM TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM DOLLHOUSE (Series Premiere)
SATURDAY
Saturdays, beginning Jan. 3 (no change to lineup):
8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA'S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
11:00 PM-Midnight MADtv
Midnight-12:30 AM TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN
SUNDAY
Sunday, Jan. 11:
8:00-10:00 PM 24 (Season Premiere, Part 1)
Sundays, beginning Jan. 18:
7:00-7:30 PM HOLE IN THE WALL (Time Period Premiere)
7:30-8:00 PM HOLE IN THE WALL (Time Period Premiere)
8:00-10:00 PM ANIMATION DOMINATION (THE SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD)
Jump to comments (3) 
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Comments (3)
Lee Houston, Junior (2:29 PM on Fri Nov 7, 2008)
If anyone in the scheduling department at Fox knows what they're doing, it's a total surprise to me.
With these moves, I'll only be watching Bones as long as Smallville is either preempted or a rerun.
And they can forget about me seeing anything on Friday nights, because I'll be on the Sci-Fi Channel, ESPECIALLY for the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica!
Major Stubble (2:53 PM on Fri Nov 7, 2008)
Why am I not surprised? With the exception of 'M.A.N.T.I.S.' and 'Freakylinks', I followed each and every one of the shows you listed. That is to say, "When I could find them..."
With all the other drama surrounding 'Dollhouse', this will probably be the last compelling reason for me *not* to watch. I mean, what's the point. I was emotionally invested in Whedon's 'Angel' and 'Firefly'. Personally, I'm getting spent on these shows that are intelligent and imaginative striking my fancy - only to be canceled because a FOX exec doesn't get it.
Mr. Varkentine (4:54 PM on Fri Nov 7, 2008)
Angel had a more-than-respectable run of five years. And shows, "ntelligent and imaginative" or otherwise, aren't cancelled when execs don't get them but when audiences don't watch them.