In a stark contrast of TV networks headed in opposition directions, Fox Monday unveiled a fall schedule that 
strategically bolsters its powerful lineup with seven new shows, while a shattered NBC practically replaced its entire schedule with 14.
While Fox is poised to win its sixth season in a row among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 year olds, viewers, chief programmer Kevin Reilly called the lineup to which he's added four comedies and three dramas "a slate that's designed to be aggressive, not just go out and maintain."
NBC executives, meanwhile, were reduced to bragging about the frequent-guest points they're getting from the hotel where they staged their press conference. They conceded that their attempt to boldly reinvent broadcast television last fall by giving Jay Leno a nightly prime-time talk show was a disaster.
"One thing we learned from this year: If you're going to compete at 10 p.m., you have to put your very best content on," NBC boss Jeff Gaspin said. "There's just too much competition from cable and DVRs."
Both Fox and NBC made their announcements in teleconferences from New York, where broadcast networks are giving advertisers peeks at their fall lineups.
Fox's event was something of a victory parade, with the network adding three much-buzzed-shows from three heavyweight producers: blockbuster filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Terra Nova, about a family that travels back in time to battle dinosaurs); The Shield creator Shawn Ryan (Ride-Along, a gritty cop drama set amid political corruption in Chicago), and Mitch Hurwitz, the man behind the screwball satire of capitalism Arrested
Development (Running Wilde, a sitcom about an everything's-for-sale millionaire romancing a priestess of political correctness).
Even so, the biggest news from Fox was that the network is tinkering with its ratings tentpole American Idol, which lost nearly 10 percent of its viewers this year even though it remains the No. 1 show in TV. "We put the show under a magnifying glass," Reilly said, and decided to expand American Idol'sperformance shows from an hour to 90 minutes while cutting the results show from an hour to 30 minutes. Still unresolved: who will replace love-to-hate-him judge Simon Cowell, who's leaving.
"There's no bigger question for the summer," Reilly said.. "We have to find a judge to replace Simon that has music credibility and provides incredible entertainment value."
The other shows added were Lonestar, a prime-time soap set in the Texas oil industry; Bob's Burgers, a cartoon sitcom about a fast-food joint; romantic comedy Mixed Signals; and single-dad sitcom Raising Hope.
Fox also officially canceled eight shows, including one that never actually aired: Our Little Genius, a kiddie-quiz program dogged by accusations that it was rigged. The others seven, mostly already off the air: Brothers, Dollhouse, Past Life, Sons Of Tucson, 'Til Death, 24 and The Wanda Sykes Show.
NBC, where ratings were headed due south even before the Leno catastrophe, ruthlessly wiped out much of its schedule, including one show that was a network staple for 20 years (Law & Order), another show that was once the hottest thing in TV (Heroes) and two more that were the showcase new dramas of last season (Mercy and Trauma).
Among its seven new dramas areLaw & Order: Los Angeles, the fifth show of the L&O franchise; conspiracy thriller The Event; spy spoof Undercovers; The Cape, about a cop framed for murder; Chase, a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced cop show; Outlaw, with Jimmy Smits as a judge gone rogue, and Harry's Law, with Kathy Bates as an unorthodox lawyer.
The five comedies include the relationship misadventure Perfect Couples; the culture-clash-in-the-workplace Outsourced; The Paul Reiser Show, with the Mad About You star playing an actor in midlife crisis; Friends clone Friends With Benefits, and romantic anthology Love Bites. School Pride, with Curb Your Enthusiam star Cheryl Hines doing school makeovers, rounds out the slate.
