FOX Confident in “Lie to Me,” “Lonestar” Gets “House” Treatment

Having renewed both “Lie to Me” and “Human Target” for next season, there had been talk that the lukewarm dramas would share a Friday night location. The idea behind the story was that both shows have fanbases to make Friday success possible, but if they failed, FOX would not be losing two of its more prominent series in the process.

When push came to shove, FOX only moved one of its shows to the dangerous timeslot, and it was “Human Target.”

The Mark Valley vehicle has been slotted at 8PM on Fridays, leading into series “The Good Guys,” which is set to bow this summer. “Lie to Me” moves to Wednesdays at 8PM, where it will lead into veteran “Hell’s Kitchen.”

FOX picked up a number of new series for next season, but only a handful made it onto the fall roster. Monday’s 8PM tentpole “House” will lead into new drama “Lonestar,” while comedies “Raising Hope” and “Running Wilde” will air at 9PM and 9:30PM, respectively, after receiving support from Tuesdays’ “Glee.”

FOX’s schedule for Fall 2010

MONDAY

8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE

9:00-10:00 PM LONESTAR (new)

TUESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM GLEE

9:00-9:30 PM RAISING HOPE (new)

9:30-10:00 PM RUNNING WILDE (new)

WEDNESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM LIE TO ME

9:00-10:00 PM HELL’S KITCHEN

THURSDAY

8:00-9:00 PM BONES

9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE

FRIDAY

8:00-9:00 PM HUMAN TARGET

9:00-10:00 PM THE GOOD GUYS

SATURDAY

8:00-8:30 PM COPS

8:30-9:00 PM COPS

9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED

SUNDAY

7:00-8:00 PM THE OT (NFL post-game)

8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS

8:30-9:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW

9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY

9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD

New series profiles:

LONESTAR

From Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman, the creators of “Party of Five”; Marc Webb, the director of “(500) Days of Summer”; and creator Kyle Killen, comes LONESTAR, a provocative soap set against the backdrop of big Texas oil. ROBERT/BOB ALLEN (newcomer James Wolk) is a charismatic and brilliant schemer who has meticulously constructed two lives in two different parts of Texas. He’s juggling two identities and two women in two very different worlds – all under one mountain of lies. As “Bob,” he lives in Houston and is married to CAT (Adrianne Palicki, “Friday Night Lights”), the beautiful daughter of CLINT (Jon Voight, 24, “Midnight Cowboy”), the patriarch of an ultra-wealthy Texas oil family. More than 400 miles away in the suburban west Texas town of Midland, he’s “Robert,” living a second life with his sweet, naïve girlfriend, LINDSAY (Eloise Mumford, “Mercy,” “Law & Order: SVU”). In Midland, he plays the perfect boyfriend while secretly bilking local investors of their savings. In Houston, he’s a devoted husband, charming Cat and her family to cement his position in the rich family business he aims to clean out. Bob has lived both lives successfully for years without arousing any suspicions…so far. While one brother-in-law, DREW (Bryce Johnson, “Popular,” “The Mentalist”), admires Bob, his other brother-in-law, TRAMMELL (Mark Deklin, “Nip/Tuck,” “Desperate Housewives”), is suspicious of his motives. Bob begins to fear his secret lives may unravel. With the cons closing in on him, Bob is divided by his love for two women; his loyalty to his father and mentor, JOHN (David Keith, “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “The Class”); and his respect for his father-in-law, Clint. Now as he tries to hold his two lives together, while fending off angry investors and the suspicions of those around him, Bob puts it all on the line hoping he can beat the odds, leave the schemes behind and keep two separate relationships afloat.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Depth of Field Productions, Keyser/Lippman Productions

CREATOR/WRITER: Kyle Killen

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kyle Killen, Kerry Kohansky, Paul Weitz, Chris Keyser, Amy Lippman

DIRECTOR: Marc Webb

CAST: James Wolk as Robert/Bob Allen, Eloise Mumford as Lindsay, David Keith as John Allen, Adrianne Palicki as Cat Thatcher, Mark Deklin as Trammell Thatcher, Bryce Johnson as Drew Thatcher, Jon Voight as Clint Thatcher

RAISING HOPE

RAISING HOPE is a new single-camera family comedy from Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia (“My Name Is Earl”) that follows the Chance family as they find themselves adding an unexpected new member into their already terribly flawed household. At 23 years old, JIMMY CHANCE (Lucas Neff, “The Beast”) is going nowhere in life. He skims pools for a living, parties every night and still lives at home with his family, including his MAW MAW (guest star Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Cloris Leachman); his mother, VIRGINIA (Martha Plimpton, “How to Make It in America”); his father, BURT (Garret Dillahunt, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Damages”); and his cousin, MIKE (Skyler Stone, “The Mentalist,” “Dollhouse”). Jimmy’s life takes a drastic turn when a chance romantic encounter with LUCY (guest star Bijou Phillips, “Choke,” “Almost Famous”) goes awry once he discovers she is a wanted felon. Months later, when Jimmy pays a visit to the local prison, he discovers Lucy gave birth to their baby, who he is now charged with raising. At home with his new daughter, Jimmy’s family is less than enthusiastic about a new addition to the household. His parents, who had him when they were 15, never knew anything about raising a child and have no interest in trying again. If Jimmy can work up the nerve to ask her out on a date, he might get some help from SABRINA (Shannon Woodward, “The Riches,” “ER”), a sardonic checkout clerk he met at the supermarket. Cousin Mike is only concerned about how the baby is going to affect their social life, and out-of-touch Maw Maw is no help either. But Jimmy is determined to take care of his baby – whom Virginia thinks they should name HOPE. With very few useful skills but their hearts in the right place, will the Chance family be successful when they step into the unpredictable and immensely challenging world of parenting?

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Amigos de Garcia Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Greg Garcia

DIRECTOR: Michael Fresco

CAST: Garret Dillahunt as Burt, Lucas Neff as Jimmy, Martha Plimpton as Virginia, Skyler Stone as Mike, Shannon Woodward as Sabrina

GUEST CAST: Cloris Leachman as Maw Maw, Bijou Phillips as Lucy

RUNNING WILDE

From the Emmy Award-winning creator and the star of the critically acclaimed FOX series “Arrested Development” comes RUNNING WILDE, a romantic comedy starring Will Arnett (“Arrested Development,” “30 Rock”) as STEVE WILDE, a filthy-rich, immature playboy trying desperately to win (or buy) the heart of his childhood sweetheart, EMMY KADUBIC (Keri Russell, “Waitress,” “Felicity”), the über-liberal humanitarian who got away – all told through the perspective of a 12-year-old girl. Steve Wilde has never performed a selfless act. But why should he – he’s rich! The son of an oil tycoon, Steve hasn’t had to work a day in his life and has always gotten everything he’s wanted – with one exception: the love of Emmy. The daughter of a former Wilde housekeeper, Emmy is an earnest do-gooder who has spent her adult life trying to save the world. And though Emmy is content living with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rainforest, her 12-year-old daughter, PUDDLE (Stefania Owen, “The Lovely Bones”), just wants to be a normal kid experiencing her adolescence in a normal place. And she would speak up except for the fact that she hasn’t spoken in years. When Wilde Oil’s expansion in the rainforest threatens her adopted tribe, Emmy decides to attend Steve’s self-thrown “Humanitarian of the Year” award ceremony in hopes of convincing him to help her cause…and also maybe because she still has a thing for Steve. But same-old Steve is unwilling to help because fighting Wilde Oil (a/k/a Dad) means putting his meal ticket in jeopardy. Rather than run the risk of letting Emmy slip away again, Steve pulls out all the stops to win her heart. To do so, he enlists the only other people in his life who can help: MIGO SALAZAR (Joe Nuñez, “Superbad,” “Prison Break”), Steve’s employee/sidekick/errand-boy, and GERTIE STELLVERTRETTER (Jayne Houdyshell, “Law & Order”), Steve’s nanny-turned-head-of-security as well as the biggest protector of Steve…and her own job. Despite having everything he ever wanted, Steve knows he can’t buy love and happiness, which falls in sharp contrast to Emmy, who has nothing but love and happiness. So with Emmy committed to doing good for nothing, and Steve being a good for nothing, will this hopelessly mismatched pair ever be able to reconcile their differences?
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Tantamount Studios, Five Hole Pictures, Principato-Young Management, Lionsgate Television

CREATORS/WRITERS: Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vallely, Will Arnett

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vallely, Will Arnett, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Peter Principato, Paul Young, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

DIRECTORS: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

CAST: Will Arnett as Steve Wilde, Keri Russell as Emmy Kadubic, Stefania Owen as Puddle Kadubic, Joe Nuñez as Migo Salazar, Jayne Houdyshell as Gertie Stellvertretter