Fox is banking on Simon Cowell, Kiefer Sutherland, Zooey Deschanel and dinosaurs to drive its Nielsen numbers up next season.
The network will launch four new comedies, three dramas and a new unscripted series during the 2011-12 television season, network officials said Monday.
Among the new shows are the long-awaited "Terra Nova" from Steven Spielberg and the highly anticipated arrival of Cowell's talent series "The X Factor," which officials believe is going to be huge.
Also on the way is a new drama, "Alcatraz," from J.J. Abrams and an animated comedy based on the film "Napoleon Dynamite."
"American Idol" will return in January, and officials hope Jennifer Lopez will return as a judge alongside Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson next season.
Peter Rice, chairman of entertainment at Fox Networks Group, said they "loved" having her on the show and are now talking about her future schedule.
Gone from the lineup are "Chicago Code," "Human Target" and "Lie to Me," and "America's Most Wanted" has been trimmed back to just quarterly specials.
While saying "AMW" host John Walsh has been important to the network, Reilly said Fox hasn't made money on "AMW" in years and it wasn't economically feasible to keep it. Reilly said the show could end up elsewhere.
Reilly also told attendees at the network's presentation to advertisers that "Family Guy" creator Seth McFarlane was working on a new version of "The Flintstones" for 2013.
"Terra Nova," about an ordinary family with an extraordinary journey back to prehistoric Earth, will air Mondays at 8.
Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly called "Terra Nova" an "epic family adventure" and one of the "most ambitious undertakings" ever at the network.
Also coming in fall are "New Girl," a comedy starring Deschanel as an offbeat woman moving in with three single guys.
"I Hate My Teenage Daughter" stars Jaime Pressly and Katie Finneran as single moms who fear their daughters are turning into the same kind of mean girls who picked on them in high school.
"Allen Gregory," an animated comedy featuring the voice of Jonah Hill, revolves around an extremely pretentious 7-year-old heading off to college.
Fox's midseason push gets underway behind "Idol," set to launch Jan. 22.
Coming at midseason are Abrams' "Alcatraz," a show involving crimes committed today by criminals who lived in the prison years ago, and "The Finder," a new series from Hart Hanson, creator of "Bones," about an Iraq War vet with an ability to help people find the unfindable.
The network has two other comedies in development, one of which may hit in midseason. Mike O'Malley and Rachael Harris star in "Family Album"; "Little in Common" stars Rob Corddry and Kevin Hart.
Further down the road, Fox has order a pilot for "Touch," a new series starring Kiefer Sutherland as a single father of an 11-year-old son with special needs - who is also a genius.
rhuff@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/05/17/2011-05-17_fox_focuses_on_key_players_simon_cowell_kiefer_sutherland_and_steven_spielberg_f.html#ixzz1MbcgnKR5
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