Fox TV ups star power while CW bets on teen drama

By Paul Thomasch and Steve Gorman

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Fox network, home of the smash hit "American Idol," took the wraps off 10 new shows for the TV season, hoping familiar sitcom stars and a sci-fi drama help it build on its strong ratings position.

In announcing its 2007-08 prime-time schedule, Fox said on Thursday it would add three comedies and four dramas to a lineup that is already the most popular with younger viewers, thanks to its "American Idol" contest as well as the spy thriller "24" and medical drama "House."

"Our strategy for next season is really based on stability," Peter Liguori, Fox Broadcasting entertainment president, told reporters on Thursday ahead of the network's official presentation to advertisers. "It speaks directly to our young adult base, while still being broad."

Fox, owned by News Corp., follows rival networks ABC, CBS and NBC in unveiling its new schedule for advertisers during upfront presentations this week in New York, when most of the season's commercial time is sold in advance. Nearly $9 billion in prime-time advertising is expected to be sold.

Another network, the CW, introduced one comedy and three new dramas at its presentation on Thursday, but canceled the cult hit "Veronica Mars."

The CW's most anticipated new show may be "Gossip Girl," a drama by the producers of teen drama "The O.C." that centers on privileged prep school students in Manhattan.

CW will team the "Gossip Girl" on Wednesday nights with "America's Next Top Model," which emerged as CW's strongest show in its difficult first year as a network.

CW is owned by CBS Corp and Time Warner Inc..

ROBOTS, COURTROOMS AND NEW ORLEANS

Fox, meanwhile, is poised to finish the current season as the leading network among viewers aged 18 to 49, the audience most prized by advertisers.

It will attempt to fortify that popularity next season with a sci-fi thriller called "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a spin-off from the film "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."

Fox's lineup for the new season includes two new police dramas with a twist -- "K-Ville," set in the post-Katrina chaos of New Orleans, and "New Amsterdam," centering on a New York homicide detective who happens to be immortal.

The Fox comedy roster includes "Back to You," starring Kelsey Grammer, the fussy radio psychiatrist from the 11-year NBC hit "Frasier," as a newscaster trying to rebuild his career. He co-stars with Patricia Heaton, the tart-tongued wife on CBS's nine-season juggernaut "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Heaton's new role brings her back to series television on the same network as her one-time "Raymond" co-star Brad Garrett, whose rookie comedy, "Til Death," was renewed by Fox.

Another familiar TV face coming to Fox is Julianna Margulies, a veteran of the NBC hospital drama "ER" and the HBO mob saga "Sopranos," who will star in a new courtroom drama "Canterbury's Law" as a rebellious defense attorney.