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11.07.2008 2:02 pm

Fox incites ‘Dollhouse’ drama with midseason moves

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Fox has announced its plan for a midseason schedule shuffle, making room for “American Idol” and “24″ by moving multiple shows around — and immediately angering Joss Whedon fans by slotting his much-anticipated new drama, “Dollhouse,” on Friday nights.

Here’s the plan:

“American Idol” returns Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 13 and 14, with four hours airing over two nights. (”24,” as previously reported, gets the same two-night, four-hour treatment on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 11 and 12.)

“House” moves to 7 p.m. Mondays as of Jan. 19. “24,” in its regular time slot, airs at 8 p.m. Mondays. “Prison Break” goes on midseason hiatus after Dec. 22, an episode billed as a midseason finale. Also going on hiatus: “Til Death.”

“Bones” moves to 7 p.m. Thursdays as of Jan. 15. “Hell’s Kitchen” returns at 8 p.m. Thursdays on Jan. 29.

“Fringe” doesn’t move from 8 p.m. Tuesdays — and picks up an “American Idol” lead-in as of Jan. 20.

The new drama “Lie To Me” airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. Fox says “Lie to Me,” from producers of “24,” “stars Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, the world’s leading deception expert, who studies facial expressions and involuntary body language to discover not only if someone is lying, but why. Based on the real-life scientific discoveries of Paul Ekman, the series follows Lightman and his team of deception experts as they assist law enforcement and government agencies to expose the truth behind the lies.”

And then, there’s Friday. “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (picked up for a full season but lagging in the ratings) moves to 7 p.m. Fridays as of Feb.. 13. “Dollhouse” (starring Whedon favorite Eliza Dushku (”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) as a member of an underground group whose personalities are wiped clean so new ones can be imprinted) debuts at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13. Fox calls this “a thrilling, action-packed lineup.” Whedon fans are already screaming — and fairly so — about the show getting a death slot and noting that Whedon’s previous Fox series, “Firefly,” died on Fridays.

2 comments

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When a network does that kind of chaotic re-arrangement, I can only conclude that they really don’t want us to watch their shows.

— Norman Hinton
7:26 pm November 8th, 2008

Whedon needs to try to see if the CW (which needs all the help it can get) can pick up his show. FOX has a history of canceling good shows. The list is pretty long…

— Kareem
1:14 pm November 13th, 2008