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| “The Bernie Mac Show” |
By Scott Huver, Hollywood.com Staff
FOX
All times EST/PST
Returning Shows
The Bernie Mac Show
The Players: Bernie Mac, Kellita Smith, Camile Winbush, Jeremy Suarez, Dee Dee Davis
Major Changes: Bernie and Wanda finally ditch the kids–HA! Right.
What’s Ahead: Look for Bernie to get teed off at his Ocean’s Eleven co-star Matt Damon in a heated celebrity golf tournament in the season opener, a competition which turns into a grudge match after he learns Damon boasted of beating him while shooting Ocean’s—Lucy Lawless and Pat O’Brien guest-star; show fans Will Smith and Serena Williams also have expressed interest in doing guest shots, schedules permitting.
Premieres: Sept. 18; airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
24
The Players: Kiefer Sutherland, Dennis Haysbert, Elisha Cuthbert, Sarah Wynter, Sara Gilbert
Major Changes: Another day, another world-threatening disaster. Jack’s wife is gone for good, as is director/exec producer Stephen Hopkins.
What’s Ahead: Secrets, secrets, secrets: the producers are mum about plotlines (rumors of an L.A.-based terrorist “dirty bomb” have been floated), except to reveal Wynter is in as Jack Bauer’s new love interest, a woman engaged to marry a man who may be a terrorist. Her parents dismiss her fears, but her sister is convinced of the groom’s guilt, bringing her to Jack; Sara Gilbert (Roseanne) is aboard for five episodes; and Kim gets a new love interest, a musician named Miguel.
Premieres: Oct. 29; airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
Malcolm in the Middle
The Players: Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield, Erik Per Sullivan
Major Changes: The show moves into the ex-X-Files timeslot; Malcolm goes to high school; Kaczmarek‘s real-life pregnancy may or may not be written into the show.
What’s Ahead: The premiere sends the family to the zoo, where Malcolm and Dewey land in the tiger pit; Lois and Hal have a heated tiff over past romances; Malcolm and Reese spend more time trying to decode the opposite sex; Francis and his wife Piama leave Alaska and end up on a dude ranch; and we’ll finally get to meet Hal’s super-wealthy father, who’ll be played by an as-yet-unannounced big-time star.
Premieres: Nov. 3; airs Sundays at 9 p.m.
The Simpsons
The Players: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of Springfield, USA
Major Changes: It’s the 14th season. It clearly ain’t broke and don’t need fixin’.
What’s Ahead: As Bart skateboards toward its show’s 300th episode, expect guest shots by the likes of Marisa Tomei, Blink 182, Little Richard, Elliott Gould, Jan Hooks, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Brian Setzer, Lenny Kravitz, Elvis Costello, pro skater Tony Hawk and Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. That’s a Dynamic D’oh–er, Duo!
Premieres: Nov. 3; airs Sundays at 8 p.m.
Notable New Shows
Fastlane
The Players: Peter Facinelli, Bill Bellamy, Tiffani Thiessen; executive producer McG (director of Charlie’s Angels).
The Upshot: Two undercover cops have an all-access pass to L.A.’s glam world of high-end crime, thanks to their sexy boss and her warehouse full of luxe props called “The Candy Store.”
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The Down-Low: McG promises lots of slick MTV-esque style, if not necessarily substance–but, heck, Thiessen getting Fox-y again on Wednesday nights is enough for us to set our TiVo.
Premieres: Sept. 18; airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
Firefly
The Players: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Sean Maher, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Summer Glau, Ron Glass, Morena Baccarin; executive producer Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
The Upshot: Some 500 years in the future, the freebooting, rag-tag crew of the nomadic starship Serenity travels a galaxy on the brink of war looking for profit, adventure and, most of all, survival.
The Down-Low: Whedon previously knocked the once-toothless vampire genre on its undead ass; we can’t wait to see what he does to sci-fi–the ship has it’s own courtesan, for goodness sake!
Premieres: Sept. 20; airs Fridays at 8 p.m.
John Doe
The Players: Dominic Purcell, Jayne Brook, William Forsythe, John Marshall Jones, Azura Skye; executive producer/director Mimi Leder (ER, Deep Impact).
The Upshot: A mysterious man washes ashore on an isolated island, possessing knowledge of literally everything in the world, except any memory of who (or what) he is. He uses his gift to help police solve “impossible” crimes each week as he quests to uncover his identity.
The Down-Low: With all of his arcane knowledge, does John Doe know his show’s part Memento, part The Bourne Identity and part TV’s The Pretender?
Premieres: Sept. 20; airs Fridays at 9 p.m
More Newbies:
Oliver Beene (Nov. 10) is Fox’s entry in the ’60s nostalgia derby, viewing the decade though the eyes of an 11-year-old Sundays at 7:30 p.m., while The Grubbs (Nov. 3) charts the small victories a contemporary 14-year-old in an underachieving family–dad’s Randy Quaid, mom’s Carol Kane–Sundays at 9:30 p.m.; Girls Club (Oct. 21) is the latest entry from legal eagle David E Kelley, following Gretchen Mol, Kathleen Robertson and Chyler Leigh into the justice system Mondays at 9 p.m.; and Cedric the Entertainer Presents (Sept. 18) taps another “King of Comedy” to watch Bernie Mac‘s back with a comedy-variety show Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.
The Rest of the Schedule:
Futurama (Nov. 10) rockets in on Sundays at 7 p.m., while King of the Hill (Nov. 3) is back at the barbeque on Sundays at 8:30 p.m.; Boston Public (Oct. 21) calls class to session Mondays at 8 p.m.; That ’70s Show (Sept. 17) goes retro Tuesdays at 8 p.m., joined by Grounded For Life (Sept. 17) at 8:30 p.m.; Cops is back on the beat Sundays at 8 p.m. and again at 8:30 p.m., followed by America’s Most Wanted at 9 p.m., with Mad TV getting crazy at 11 p.m. Meanwhile, Andy Richter Controls the Universe will be back as a midseason replacement.
Bryson York contributed to this story
