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With no resolution in sight, Fox is bracing for a lengthy Writers Guild strike by tweaking its midseason schedule.
Newcomers "New Amsterdam" and "Canterbury's Law," which had initially been given berths on Friday night -- arguably Fox's weakest -- will now bow in safer Monday-night slots in spring.

Fox has also added several Thursday-night installments of "American Idol" and will hold back the new reality entry "When Women Rule the World," most likely until summer.

Fox was the first net out with a strike-adjusted midseason sked back in November, announcing a revised lineup just a week after the work stoppage began.

But now that the strike has entered its third month -- and it's looking less likely that scripted shows without any new segs will be back before the end of the season -- Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman said the net decided to make some more adjustments.

"The world has changed from Nov. 1 to Jan. 1," Beckman said. "We reassessed our schedule in light of the fact that the strike was going to continue for a while."

Increasing the urgency to make shows like "Amsterdam" and Julianna Margulies starrer "Canterbury's Law" succeed is the possibility of a scrapped pilot season. Nets want their newcomers to succeed, but there are always shows waiting in the wings to fill the void if they don't. That may not be the case for fall 2008, however -- putting even more pressure on midseason entries.

Besides "Amsterdam" and "Canterbury's Law," Fox is bowing frosh scripted skeins "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," "Unhitched" and "The Return of Jezebel James" in midseason.

"It became clear to us we wanted to give every one of these shows the best chance to succeed," Beckman said. "If we can't have a pilot season, to get one of two of these to work would be valuable going into next season."

As scheduled, Mondays will consist of "Prison Break" and "Terminator" until the end of February; both "Terminator" and the second half of "Prison Break's" third season premiere Jan. 14. "Prison Break" airs its final seg on Feb. 18, a special "Moment of Truth" runs on Feb. 25, and the two-hour "Terminator" finale airs on March 3.

Then, on March 10, "House" begins a run of repeats Mondays at 8, followed by "New Amsterdam's" regular timeslot debut at 9. "New Amsterdam" actually gets two previews beforehand, on Tuesday, March 4, and Thursday, March 6, at 9 p.m., behind two "Idol" editions. "New Amsterdam" finishes its run on April 7 with a two-hour finale; then, on April 14, "Canterbury's Law" bows at 9.

Fox is also shuffling its comedies around, scheduling original episodes of "Back to You" behind 90-minute "Idol" editions on Tuesday, Feb. 26, Wednesday, Feb. 27, and then again on Tuesday, March 25. Show moves to its regular spot, behind "Idol" results shows, on Wednesday, March 19.

"'Til Death," meanwhile, returns with new episodes on Friday, March 14, at 8 p.m., followed by newbie "Jezebel James" (which also gets a one-time post-"Idol" preview on Wednesday, March 12) at 8:30 p.m.

On Thursdays, Fox will run "Idol" at 8 p.m. on Feb. 21, 28 and March 6; after that, starting March 13, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" runs at 8 p.m., with "Don't Forget the Lyrics" at 9.

"Bones" repeats will air Fridays at 9 p.m. starting March 14 (after a few weeks at 8 p.m.).

The decision to bench "When Women Rule the World" could have come down to a sales issue. On the surface, "When Women Rule the World" -- which follows a group of women who control a group of men -- does not sound like something advertisers would be keen on.

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[02.11.08 - 12:30 PM]

UNDERSCORING THE STRENGTH OF ITS FALL SCHEDULE, ABC ENTERTAINMENT PICKS UP NINE SERIES FOR NEXT SEASON

Pickups Return Fall's Most Successful Series: "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?" and "Ugly Betty" Receive Pickups for '08-'09 Season

Today ABC Entertainment announced pickups for nine of its most popular shows, returning broadcast television's most successful fall series. ABC Entertainment ordered episodes of "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?" and "Ugly Betty."

"The strength of our schedule this fall was unprecedented and speaks for itself," said Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment. "We're looking forward to building on that success."

On average during Fall 2007 (10 complete weeks: 9/24-12/2/07), ABC was the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49 (3.9/10), delivering the top position in the key young adult sales demo on 7 of the first 10 weeks of the season and ranking No. 1 during the November Sweep for the third consecutive year. In addition, ABC claimed eight of the Top 20 highest-rated TV shows among young adults during the fall, including five of the Top 10 freshman series.

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[02.13.08 - 09:40 AM]

CBS ANNOUNCES RETURN OF ORIGINAL EPISODES OF COMEDY AND DRAMA SERIES

Released by CBS

[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

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CBS ANNOUNCES RETURN OF ORIGINAL EPISODES OF COMEDY AND DRAMA SERIES

SERIES
ANTICIPATED RETURN
EXPECTED # OF NEW EPISODES

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
March 17
9

THE BIG BANG THEORY
March 17
9

TWO AND A HALF MEN
March 17
9

CSI: MIAMI
March 24
8

COLD CASE
March 30
5

CRIMINAL MINDS
April 2
7

CSI: NY
April 2
7

CSI
April 3
6

WITHOUT A TRACE
April 3
6

GHOST WHISPERER
April 4
6

NUMB3RS
April 4
6

NCIS
April 8
7

MOONLIGHT
April 11
4

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
April 14
6

SHARK
TBA
4

* THE UNIT, CANE and SHARK are on previously announced hiatus to accommodate the mid-season launches of BIG BROTHER, JERICHO and DEXTER.

**The drama series SWINGTOWN, which hasn't been scheduled yet, will also resume production.

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http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/riches/286524

FX has announced a March 18 Season 2 premiere for The Riches, which this time around will serve up only seven episodes....

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