Fox On the Run

It has no programming at 10 PM Eastern, it has no nightly newscast (a good thing, actually, given its sister cable news channel), and it airs cartoons for adults, bu t after a quarter century and change on the air, Fox is being taken seriously.  It has to be.  Because it's not only besting NBC in the ratings, some of its shows are highly acclaimed, and "The Simpsons" (on the air since the elder George Bush, who famously dislikes the show, was President) is an institution, likely to go on for another twenty-odd years.

So what does Uncle Rupert have in store for all? Mostly a tweaked schedule.  Besides "The Simpsons," "Glee" is back, of course.  New shows include, at 8:30 PM Eastern on Tuesdays, "Ben & Kate," about a single mother who asks her irresponsible brother (not another male-bashing sitcom, please!) to move in with her and help her raise her daughter.  (Ladies and gentlemen, the screw-up dad is joined by the screw-up uncle!) Also premiering on Fox this fall is  "The Mindy Project," a sitcom starring Mindy Kaling as a doctor that, if the online previews are of any significance, promises to be rather bold and daring.  Besides, it has Mindy Kaling, always cute and funny on "The Office." That series will air at 9:30 PM Eastern on Tuesdays, following Zooey Deschanel's show "New Girl."  It appears that Zooey Deschanel has effectively replaced rapper Queen Latifah - long since gone from the Fox network and anything associated with it - as Fox's resident hip starlet.  Fine by me, Zooey Deschanel has better taste in music.

(Oh, man, I just know the sistas are going to get me for that one . . . )

The full Fox fall (try saying that five times fast) 2012 schedule is here.