Military TV, Television - Military Times

Fox’s annual midwinter rebirth is ready to roll

LOS ANGELES — Fox’s “24” is back. “American Idol” sings once again. And several new shows are on the way, from drama “Lie to Me,” which gets a post-“Idol” slot next Wednesday, to an Osbourne family variety show, to Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” and animated comedy “Sit Down, Shut Up.”

It’s all part of Fox’s traditional midseason phoenix-like rise from a weak fall start. But what critics really wanted to know Tuesday was what Fox entertainment chief Kevin Reilly, fired in 2007 as NBC’s programming chief, thought of NBC moving Jay Leno to prime time.

NBC “is like the crazy ex-wife I can’t get away from,” he jokes. “I give them a lot of credit for signing up Jay,” he adds, acknowledging Fox wanted to poach him. “It’s a smart strategic move for them in a very troubled place.”

NBC hasn’t had much luck developing scripted series for 8 ET/PT and has virtually no new scripted series on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. So there’s not much room left on a Leno-led schedule. “For a network that was the premiere brand for scripted television, that is a sad statement,” he says.

More from Fox:

Is there romance in the future for Jack Bauer and Annie Wersching’s FBI agent Renee Walker on “24”?

“I guess romances do develop in 24 hours, though not usually under this kind of duress,” star Kiefer Sutherland says. “There’s tension that usually develops. She can handle herself as well as he can; if there’s anything that turns him on, it’s that. I was watching Annie do her first fight sequence, and I thought, “Wow, that sort of turned me on, too.’”

And how does the show’s new president stack up against her predecessors? Executive producer Howard Gordon says Cherry Jones, who plays Allison Taylor, described it best: “She’s Golda Meir, Eleanor Roosevelt and John Wayne” combined, he says. (Jones was not at Press Tour because of gallbladder surgery.)

“No one will ever be as great as David Palmer; no one will be as deliciously villainous as (Charles) Logan. (Our) dilemma was creating a strong inspirational president, through whose point of view we can witness this story.”

In “Lie to Me,” British actor Tim Roth stars as a prevarication expert who reads your voice, body and expressions to tell whether you’re telling the truth, a character based on lie specialist (and show consultant) Paul Ekman.

And Roth says working with someone who knows when you’re lying can be unnerving. “I get really freaked out sometimes around Paul It’s an extraordinary feeling of nakedness.”

Ekman says most people get anxious around him. “I usually try to reassure people that I can only understand if I can see them on video — which is a lie. What does reassure them is that what I can read is their emotions. I can’t tell what they’re thinking.”

And sometime this spring, the Osbourne family returns to TV in an unusual stew called “Osbournes Reloaded.” Shot in front of a studio audience, “Reloaded” will mix filmed candid-camera comedy bits with game show elements and Ozzy’s musical performances.

What it won’t be, daughter Kelly says, is a variety show: “We’re not going to be Sonny-and-Chering it.”