Lineup kills time until hits return

This fall, Fox will try to replicate the success of “Prison Break” and “Bones” by… This fall, Fox will try to replicate the success of “Prison Break” and “Bones” by introducing similarly themed shows to maintain ratings until powerhouses “American Idol” and “24” return in the spring.

Fox has always had a difficult time establishing shows in the fall — the network airs the baseball playoffs, which regularly preempt shows and cause confusion for casual viewers. In the past, Fox has held all its shows until after the playoffs, started them in August or only ran reality shows in the fall (which ended in disaster).

In order to create a better chance at ratings success year round, Fox chose to wait until after the World Series to start airing new episodes and to hold off several other series, such as “The Loop,” until midseason.

With “That 70’s Show” canceled and no other comedies on the air until midseason, Fox has two new sitcoms to anchor Tuesday nights. “Til Death” features “Everybody Loves Raymond” alum Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher (“Desperate Housewives”) as a bitter married couple sickened by the newlywed couple who moves in next door.

Fisher and Garrett are both comedy veterans, but the material here may not be up to their talent. The show looks more “War at Home” than “Arrested Development,” and much of the preview features scenes that look more sad than funny.

The other half of the comedy block is filled by “Happy Hour,” a sitcom about a guy forced to get a new apartment, roommate and job after his girlfriend breaks up with him.

The show features a no-name cast — the biggest name being Jamie Denbo, who appeared in the quality film “Must Love Dogs” — and most of the jokes in the preview fall flat. Also, “Til Death” and “Happy Hour” may not be well suited for each other, and they have the unfortunate task of going head-to-head with comedy blocks on both NBC and ABC.

In order for these series to survive, they would have to be moved to a timeslot in which they weren’t competing with other comedies. NBC already has an established comedy block with “Earl” and “The Office,” and ABC’s new comedies will get an earlier start because they don’t have to wait for baseball to end.

ABC’s comedies are also looking stronger, and Fox doesn’t have the best history with sitcoms. Either the network has a great comedy that gets canceled because no one watches (“Arrested Development”), or a terrible sitcom with a great timeslot (expect “The War at Home” to run for 12 more seasons).

“Vanished,” a mystery series about a senator’s wife who goes missing, gets to follow “Prison Break” on Monday nights. This is probably the best timeslot on television, as there are no breakout drama hits on Tuesday at 9.

CBS has a comedy block; ABC has “The Bachelor.” The only real competition is going to be between “Vanished” and “Heroes” on NBC. Both shows are new dramas, so it’s going to come down to which is the better show.

“Vanished” is at a disadvantage in that it has basically the same plot as NBC’s Wednesday night drama “Kidnapped” and the similarly themed CBS drama “Without a Trace.” This will ultimately hurt the show — viewers only have so much time to watch people disappear.

“Standoff” looks to be “Bones,” but in the negotiation field. The show follows the FBI’s top negotiation experts, but they’re sleeping together, and their boss just found out, and so did everyone else.

“Standoff” airs against “NCIS,” but people are used to watching Fox on Tuesday nights because of “House” and “American Idol” and it may not struggle too much. The concept is slightly different from most things on television now, and it’s nice to see that not every procedural takes itself so seriously.

“Justice,” airing Wednesday nights after “Bones,” feels the strongest of the new group of shows. Victor Garber (“Alias”) stars as a lawyer who believes that the media is just as responsible for the outcome of a trial as the actual proceedings.

The show seems to take a cynical look at the world of high-paid lawyers and the media. Plus, Garber plays heartless better than anyone on television, and casting him as an amoral lawyer is genius.

“Justice” should play well with “Bones,” as both have the same witty banter/serious subject matter way of telling stories. The downside is that it airs against “Lost,” which isn’t good for any series.

Fox actually has a surprisingly good lineup of shows this fall. There’s been a distinct upswing in quality since “House” premiered, but that isn’t saying a whole lot: Compared to a schedule featuring “North Shore” and “Stacked,” anything is going to be good.