FOX’s fall lineup is going after the college/post college crowd with a balanced eye towards both male and female viewers. Show’s like “Ball & Chain,” “Forever Young,” “24” and “Anything Can Happen” are directly targeted towards men, while “Emma Brody,” “More, Patience” and “When I Grow Up” feature female protagonists. FOX is also aiming to bring back primetime soaps with the two pilots “American Soap” and Darren Star’s “One Ocean Drive” as well as the soap-lite family drama “Pasadena.”

As in previous years, FOX is one of the few networks to take chances on non-formulaic comedies, which can be seen in the shows “Greg the Bunny,” “What’s Up Peter Fruddy” and the audience-participation comedy “Nathan’s Choice.” Recently added to the network’s development slate is “Honey Vicarro,” starring Jenny McCarthy, which looks to be a mix of “Charlie’s Angels” — both the ’70s TV version and the updated 21st century film.

Shows Picked-Up:

• Bernie Mac (Comedy) Studio: Regency and 20th Century Fox TV Producers: Bernie Mac and Larry Wilmore (“The PJs”) Premise: The comedian Bernie Mac raises his wayward sister’s kids. Stars: Bernie Mac and Kellita Smith Status: Picked up for fall.
  
• Emma Brody (Drama) Studio: 20th Century Fox TV Producer: James Parriott (“Dark Skies”) and Andy Tennant Premise: An American woman works in a London embassy. Stars: Arija Bareikis (“Oz”), Lee Williams (“In His Life: The John Lennon Story” ) and Michael Cerveris Status: Picked up for midseason.
  
• Greg the Bunny (Comedy) Studio: 20th Century Fox TV Producers: Steven Levitan (“Just Shoot Me”), Dan Milano and Spencer Chinoy Premise: The show follows the life of a puppet, who is the star of the kids TV show “Sweetknuckle Junction.” Stars: Seth Green (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Eugene Levy (“SCTV Channel” ), Sarah Silverman (“Saturday Night Live”), Bob Gunton (“*61” ), and Dina Waters Status: Picked up for midseason.
  
• Pasadena (Drama) Studio: Brad Grey TV and Columbia TriStar Producers: Diane Keaton, Mike White and Brad Grey Premise: The dark side of a wealthy publishing family. Stars: Dana Delany (“China Beach”), Martin Donovan (“Wonderland”), Natasha Gregson Wagner, Alison Lohman (“Tucker”) and Mark Valley (“Days of Our Lives”) Status: Picked up for fall.
  
• 24 (Drama) Studio: 20th Century Fox and Imagine Television Producer: Joel Surnow (“Nowhere Man”) and Robert Cochran (“JAG”) Premise: Very similar to flop movie “Nick of Time.” A government agent must stop an assassination plot against a presidential candidate while trying to find his daughter. Takes place in real time, with each episode accounting for a different hour of the same day. Stars: Kiefer Sutherland

Shows Not Picked-Up:

• American Soap (Drama) Studio: 20th Century Fox and Regency TV Producer: John Feldman Premise: A primetime soap about a group of college students in an exclusive New England college. Stars: Jonathan Taylor Thomas (“Home Improvement”)
  
• Anything Can Happen (Comedy) Studio: Paramount and 20th Century Fox TV Producer: Victor Fresco (“The Trouble with Normal”) Premise: A single guy with a wild imagination. Stars: Andy Richter (“Late Night with Conan O’Brien”)
• Bagtime (Drama) Studio: Warner Bros. Producer: Bruce Helford (“The Drew Carey Show”) Premise: Based on a ’70s book by Michael Holiday, a young boy in a grocery story dreams of becoming a Chicago symphony cellist. Stars: Johnny Galecki (“Roseanne”)
• Ball & Chain (Drama) Studio: Regency TV and 20th Century Fox TV Producers: Howard Gordon (“The X-Files”), Molly Newman (“Cupid”) and Todd Holland (“Malcolm in the Middle”) Premise: Based on a comic book by Scott Lobdell, a San Francisco architect (and superhero on the side) who’s on the brink of separating from his wife. Unfortunately, his superpowers only work if they’re together. Stars: Dan Cortese (“Veronica’s Closet”) and Sasha Alexander (“Dawson’s Creek”)
• Bev, formerly “Town Slut” (Comedy) Studio: Regency and 20th Century Fox TV Producers: Steve Tompkins, Chris Alberghini, Michael Chessler and D. Himmelfarb Premise: A single mom with three children, all from different fathers, tries to make a new start. Stars: Anita Barone (“Daddio”)
• Close to Home (Drama) Studio: Warner Bros. and Tollin Robbins Producer: Abby Kohn (“Never Been Kissed” ) and Mark Silverman Premise: An overachieving 19-year-old college student falls in love and gets married over summer break, returning to school with husband in tow. Stars: To Be Announced
  
• Fling, formerly “When I Grow Up” (Drama) Studio: Paramount Television Producers: Glenn Gordon Caron (“Now and Again”) Premise: A woman’s life is turned upside down when her older husband learns she is having an affair. She ends up working at a temp agency with her lover. Stars: Brooke Langton (“Melrose Place”), Josh Hopkins (“New York Undercover”), Amy Sedaris (“Strangers with Candy” ) and Mary Louise Wilson (“All My Children”) Status: Despite having six episodes in the can, FOX pulled the plug on the series.
• Forever Young (Drama) Studio: Columbia TriStar Producers: Barry Sonnenfeld, Elmore Leonard and Barry Josephson (“The Tick” ) Premise: A former Hollywood star, who played a priviate investigator, decides to become one in real-life after his acting career tanks. Stars: To Be Announced
  
• Honey Vicarro (Comedy) Studio: 20th Century and Regency TV Producer: Dan Kanauf Premise: In the show, FOX discovers a fictional TV character Honey Vicarro, a sexy ’60s crime fighter, 35 years later. Show within a show format. Stars: Jenny McCarthy Status: Pushed to mid-season
• More, Patience (Comedy) Studio: Columbia TriStar Producers: Jed Seidel, Maya Forbes and Gavin Polone Premise: A former child star turned therapist has her own relationship troubles. Stars: Mary McCormack (“Murder One”)
• Nathan’s Choice (Comedy) Studio: Warner Bros. Producer: Chuck Lorre (“Dharma & Greg”) Premise: An interactive show where the audience gets to vote on the outcome of single guy Nathan’s weekly dilemmas (two different endings of each episode will be shot). Stars: To Be Announced
• One Ocean Drive (Drama) Studio: ATG Producers: Darren Star and Jeff Rake Premise: Think “Melrose Place” mixed with “Hotel.” A primetime soap about the goings on of a group of twentysomethings who work at a beachfront hotel in Los Angeles. Stars: To Be Announced
• Reno 911: (Comedy) Studio: 20th Century Fox and Jersey TV Producers: Tom Lennon, Ben Garant and Kerry Kinney Premise: A live sketch comedy described as “Montey Python” meets “Cops.” Stars: To Be Announced Status: Pulled
  
• The Third Degree (Drama) Studio: Studios USA Producers: Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett (“Earth 2”) Premise: A romantic Hitchcockian mystery involving students at a New York Grad school for criminal justice. Stars: Adam Arkin (“Chicago Hope”), Jensen Ackles (“Days of Our Lives”), Maggie Lawson (“Family Rules”), Kristoffer Polaha and Terry Chen
• Untitled Paul Simms Project (Comedy) Studio: Brad Grey TV Producer: Paul Simms (“NewsRadio”) Premise: A group of young people try to get ahead in Hollywood. Stars: To Be Announced
  
• What’s Up Peter Fruddy? (Comedy) Studio: Studios USA Producers: Jay Kogen (“Frasier”) and Erik Moe Premise: An insurance adjuster is the subject of a nightly show, in which he must constantly defend his actions. Stars: Dave Foley (“NewsRadio”), Jamie Denbo, Craig Anton, Jay Johnson, Mark Moses (“The Single Guy”), David Pressman and Brendon Ryan Barrett (“Soul Man”)

Source: Zap2It
Author: Vanessa Sibbald

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