It's Suspense as Usual for Fall Lineups

By BRIAN LOWRY

May 16, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Fox is playing out yet another behind-the-scenes cliffhanger regarding “The X-Files”: The network is preparing to announce a revised prime-time lineup that includes a ninth season of the series but as of press time had yet to close a deal with the program’s creator, producer Chris Carter.

Moreover, star David Duchovny--who has appeared sparingly this season--won’t return to the show, though the actor’s representatives have not ruled out cameo appearances.

Down-to-the-wire negotiations have become almost a tradition on the program, with Fox and Carter still said to be far apart on contract issues. Not helping matters, sources say, is the fact Fox will probably cancel Carter’s “X-Files” spinoff, “The Lone Gunmen,” which has languished in the ratings on Friday nights.

Fox officially presents its fall schedule to advertisers in New York on Thursday and is expected to unveil a schedule featuring a new serialized drama Tuesdays and a two-hour block of comedies Wednesdays, as the dark comedy “Titus” moves to 9 that night.

The new drama, “24,” stars Kiefer Sutherland as a CIA agent seeking to prevent an assassination attempt that will happen in 24 hours, as each episode covers one hour in real time counting down to the deadline. To make room for the show, “Dark Angel”--the sci-fi series from “Titanic” director James Cameron--will probably move to Friday nights.

In terms of comedies, Fox is sending Judd Apatow, the producer of “Freaks and Geeks,” back to high school in “Undeclared,” and has also ordered “The Bernie Mac Show,” with Mac--the comedian featured in “The Original Kings of Comedy”--playing a comic who suddenly finds himself acting as foster parent to his sister’s three children.

In addition to Sutherland, “Ally McBeal’s” Gil Bellows will also be cast as a CIA agent in the fall--in his case, however, on a CBS drama, “The Agency.”

The show is part of a revamped schedule CBS will announce today with at least seven new series, among them a pair of sitcoms starring Ellen DeGeneres and Daniel Stern, respectively.

CBS’ new dramas include “The Education of Max Bickford,” starring Richard Dreyfus as a professor at an all-female college; “The Guardian,” about a lawyer with a large firm who becomes a child advocate at Legal Aid Services; “Citizen Baines,” with James Cromwell as a former three-term U.S. senator; and “Wolf Lake,” a macabre drama featuring Lou Diamond Phillips.

In addition to its vehicle for DeGeneres, CBS has ordered “Community Center,” with Stern as a recently separated father who heads the local community center.

Stern was actually slated to star in a CBS sitcom two years ago but instead wound up embroiled in litigation with the would-be producers. In 1999, Columbia TriStar Television filed a $25-million lawsuit against the actor--whose most prominent TV series work involved voice-over roles in “The Wonder Years” and “Dilbert”--claiming he sabotaged a project by leaving CBS a message saying, “Do not pick up my show. I hate the show. I will never do the show.” Stern later filed a countersuit maintaining the producers didn’t fulfill their pledge to rework the show and denied having left the message.

CBS will probably drop its Wednesday night movie to make room for new dramatic fare. Also gone from the lineup are “Diagnosis Murder” (though the network will at least broadcast a pair of movies that have already been shot) and the Mary Stuart Masterson drama “Kate Brasher.” CBS previously stated this would be the last season of the long-running “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

In addition, “Touched by an Angel” is expected to be moved out of the Sunday slot the show has occupied the last five seasons so CBS can launch one of its new dramas after “60 Minutes.”

Separately, ABC and the WB network presented their schedules to media buyers Tuesday, with the former confirming the move of “NYPD Blue” to Wednesdays in November, challenging NBC’s “Law & Order.”

“Not to take anything away from ‘Law & Order’ . . . [but] we believe in ‘Blue.’ . . . we’re going to give it some stiff competition,” said ABC Entertainment Group Co-Chairman Stu Bloomberg.

ABC is reducing “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to just two nights, with the show to continue Thursdays and follow “Monday Night Football” on the West Coast--placing it directly opposite NBC’s quiz-show-come-lately, “Weakest Link,” in other time zones. Yet another spy series--this one about a young woman, titled “Alias”--will replace “Millionaire” on Sunday nights.

Despite running 13 hours of prime-time programming--compared to 22 hours on CBS, NBC and ABC--the WB has added more new shows than any other network, with five new sitcoms, two dramas and a pair of unscripted series.

In the unscripted genre, “Lost in the USA,” from the creators of “The Real World,” scatters four competing teams across the U.S., while “Elimidate Deluxe” is a new twist on a dating show, as would-be suitors are eliminated after dates in exotic locales. The WB is part-owned by Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times.

Here is ABC’s fall schedule (new series are in bold):

Sunday: “The Wonderful World of Disney,” “Alias,” “The Practice.”

Monday: “Monday Night Football,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Tuesday: “Dharma & Greg,” “What About Joan?,” “Bob Patterson,” “Spin City,” “Philly.”

Wednesday: “My Wife and Kids,” “The Dad,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “The Job,” “20/20,” “NYPD Blue.”

Thursday: “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” “PrimeTime Live.”

Friday: “The Mole II,” “Thieves,” “Once and Again.”

Saturday: Movie.

Here is the WB’s fall schedule (new shows are in bold):

Sunday: “Lost in the USA,” “The Steve Harvey Show,” “Men, Women & Dogs,” “Nikki,” “Off Centre.”

Monday: “7th Heaven,” “Angel.”

Tuesday: “Gilmore Girls,” “Smallville.”