Fox stretches out while UPN closes ranks

NEW YORK - The fall TV schedules announced Thursday by the Fox and UPN networks were a study in contrasts. While UPN continued steadily on its path of appealing to black viewers and young males looking for action, Fox shifted gears. The network known for "World's Wildest Police Videos" and "Greed" unloaded those shows in favor of high-profile dramas and comedies. Director James Cameron of "Titanic" fame will produce "Dark Angel," an apocalyptic sci-fi hour for Fox. The creators of "The Blair Witch Project" are behind "Fearsum," a weekly series that will tell suspenseful tales with the help of the Internet. On the comedy side, Fox has signed "Roseanne" star John Goodman for "Don't Ask." In this sitcom, Goodman plays one of two single dads - he's the gay one - who raise their teen-agers together. ("American Beauty" writer Alan Ball tried a similar premise last year with his ABC sitcom "Oh Grow Up.") The other new comedy is "Schimmel," starring stand-up comic Robert Schimmel, whose material is usually so outrageous that it can be performed only on HBO. Creative kingpin David E. Kelley will get another chance to design a lead-in show to one of his established hits. ABC gave him that opportunity last year to enhance the hour before "The Practice"; the result was the much-derided bomb "Snoops." This time he will be the executive producer of "Boston Public," a drama about the lives of high school teachers starring Fyvush Finkel and Chi McBride. It will air Mondays before Kelley's "Ally McBeal." The other new dramas are "The $treet," a soap opera about young New York investment bankers from "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star; and "Night Visions," a weekly anthology of thrillers. For a change, Fox will leave its Sunday-night lineup intact. On "The X-Files," however, series co-star David Duchovny is expected to appear in only half of next season's episodes - if that many. The network signed Duchovny only hours before announcing its fall schedule. For weeks rumors had flown that he wouldn't return for the show's eighth season. At midseason, Fox is expected to launch an "X-Files" spin-off based on the the show's conspiracy-theory nerds, the Lone Gunmen. UPN is adding only one brand-new comedy to its lineup, the "Living Single"-styled show "Girlfriends." The network also picked up "The Hughleys" from ABC. On Fridays UPN will add "Freedom," from another mega-movie creator, Joel Silver ("The Matrix"). The special effects-heavy drama, which follows resistance fighters in a futuristic American police state, sounds a lot like Cameron's "Dark Angel" on Fox. UPN is also picking up "Level Nine," about a secret government agency that fights Internet crime. A year ago Fox unveiled seven new shows; six were canceled and one ("Manchester Prep") never even made it to air. Only two midseason shows survived, "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Titus." UPN canceled first-year shows "Shasta," "Grown Ups" and "The Strip," as well as long-running "Malcolm & Eddie," the sitcom that was based (though never taped) in Kansas City. @ART:Photo (uncaptioned) >>>