House, Bones Checking Back In

Tue., Feb. 19, 2008 3:28 PM PST by Joal Ryan

Fox's doctors are back in the house.

House, Bones and two of the network's sitcoms have resumed production and will close out the strike-afflicted season with new episodes, Fox announced Tuesday.

House, Fox's third biggest show behind American Idol and upstart The Moment of Truth, is to return with fresh medical drama starting Apr. 28.

Bones, Fox's sturdy forensic study, is due back Apr. 14.

The comedies Back to You and 'Til Death are scheduled to begin their spring runs Apr. 16.

There was no word on how many new episodes each of the four shows will crank out.

Fox said 24 and three of its Sunday-night animated comedies, The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad, were also back in production following last week's end to the protracted Hollywood writers' strike.

But it said 24, as earlier reported, wouldn't clock in for its seventh season until next January. And it referred to the animated shows' new wares as "future episodes," making it sound as if those, too, won't be viewed until the dawn of the 2008-09 season. (Cartoon series require months more lead time to produce.)

There was no mention in the network release of King of the Hill, Fox's other Sunday night 'toon. But the network said all four animated series will air a mix of repeats and pre-strike completed new episodes through the end of the season, save Family Guy.

As for King of the Hill, the network said it's finishing out its season, and that no new episodes have yet been ordered.

Also absent from Fox's back-to-work decree: the low-rated freshman cop show K-Ville; the sputtering Terminator spinoff, The Sarah Connor Chronicles; and the long-running Prison Break, which wrapped its strike-shortened season Monday night. Although networks never officially cancel anything, K-Ville has been considered pretty much canceled for months.

With Monday's announcement, Fox becomes the third of the big four networks to unveil its initial poststrike plans. ABC, which last week gave a glimpse at its fall schedule, has yet to announce spring return dates for the likes of Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and more.

For fans of Bones, Fox's news is likely most welcome. That drama aired its last original prestrike episode all the way back in November.

Back to You and 'Til Death ran out of stock, too, but Fox held some episodes to air this month and next. The network, likewise, hoarded House, saving one of its new hours for Super Bowl Sunday.