Fox Renews ‘Dollhouse,’ Cancels ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’

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CHICAGO – The networks announce their fall schedules this week and Eliza Dushku fans will be happy that her on-the-bubble show from TV genius Joss Whedon, “Dollhouse,” got a last minute reprieve from the TV gas chamber and will be on the FOX fall schedule. While “Dollhouse” made the cut, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” was shown the door.

The rest of the FOX fall schedule was relatively predictable. We knew by now that “Prison Break” has been cancelled and that “24” wouldn’t come back until mid-season, but FOX did relocate a number of series, moving new shows “Lie To Me” and “Fringe” to new nights.

DOLLHOUSE: When a traitor is discovered inside the Dollhouse, Echo (Eliza Dushku) is programmed as a spy hunter to uncover the culprit in the DOLLHOUSE episode "A Spy in the House of Love" airing Friday, April 10 (9:01-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
Photo credit: Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX

Kevin Reilly, President Entertainment, FOX Broadcasting Company, said, courtesy of Mediaweek, "The strategic moves we made last year to build off of our biggest assets are paying off. We've created stability and a consistently strong performance across the week. Next season, we're bringing back two top-rated sophomore dramas (Fringe and Lie to Me) and using our hits to introduce a broad and compelling slate of new shows that will make our air even more vibrant and alive."

New shows on FOX this fall include "Glee” (which has a sneak preview tonight, May 19th, 2009), a sitcom starring Michael Strahan called “Brothers,” and the premiere of “The Cleveland Show,” a long-in-development spin-off of “Family Guy”.

BROTHERS: Retired NFL star Mike Trainor (Michael Strahan, C) returns to his hometown and rebuilds his relationship with his family in the new FOX comedy BROTHERS premiering this fall on FOX. Pictured L-R: Colton Dunn, Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Michael Strahan, CCH Pounder and Carl Weathers. Photo credit: Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Patrick Ecclesine/FOX

With all the shuffling and the three new shows, all but one night will be different this fall for FOX - the classic combo of “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted” on Saturday nights.

The week kicks off on Mondays with “House” and “Lie To Me”. Tuesday and Wednesdays will be dominated by “So You Think You Can Dance” with a two-hour version on the first night and the hour-long results show on the next night, followed by the fantastic “Glee”.

Thursdays feature “Bones” and “Fringe”. Friday nights feature the only live-action sitcoms left on the network - the new “Brothers” and the apparently impossible-to-cancel “‘Til Death”. They will be followed by “Dollhouse”. Discuss amongst yourselves if two broad sitcoms are the best lead-in for “Dollhouse”. Probably not.

With the cancellation of “Sit Down, Shut Up,” Sunday nights feature “The Simpsons,” “The Cleveland Show,” “Family Guy,” and “American Dad”.

In January of 2010, “Lie to Me” will be replaced by “24” and “American Idol” will only be an hour on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights with two new shows - “Past Life” and “Human Target” - will get the best lead-in on TV with “Glee” returning in the spring.

Thursday-Saturday will stay the same but “The Cleveland Show” will leap-frog “Family Guy” and push “American Dad” off the schedule to make room for another new show, “Sons of Tucson”.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com