Television

NEW YORK – Fox will bring only two new series to the air in the fall, traditionally its slow season, but it plans flashy two-hour season premieres of four programs during the same August week as the Democratic National Convention.

Lost producer J.J. Abrams is behind the new science-fiction drama Fringe, which is about an airplane flight whose passengers meet untimely ends. It will be paired on the schedule with House on Tuesdays in the fall and American Idol in the spring.

A new comedy, Do Not Disturb, is set in one of Manhattan's trendiest hotels. It replaces the canceled Back to You (the wife of disappointed star Kelsey Grammer is encouraging an Internet petition to get it back).

Fringe, Bones, Prison Break and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? will open the fall season the week of Aug. 25.

They should not conflict with major moments of the convention because political planners try to time them after 9 p.m., when the Fox shows will be over, said Peter Liguori, Fox entertainment chairman.

Fox executives said their development season was hindered by the writers strike, one reason why only two new series will premiere in the fall.

But Fox usually comes alive in January, anyway, when American Idol premieres. Fox will introduce another new sci-fi series, Dollhouse, and two animated and one alternative series in midseason.

The Associated Press

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