FOX brings back comedy in post-'Idol' slot

NEW YORK -- There haven't been a lot of surprise renewals of borderline shows at this year's upfronts. ABC's pickup of "What About Brian" certainly qualifies, and to some extent The CW's resurrection of "7th Heaven" after its "series finale" does too, though it had been rumored for a while.

More than either of those two series, though, the return of "The Loop" to FOX next season is an eyebrow-raiser, particularly given where it's landed on the schedule: It will join the lineup at midseason in the plum spot following the "American Idol" results show.

"With a lot of series you wind up investing and finding where the show is almost too late," says Peter Ligouri, president of FOX Entertainment. "With 'The Loop,' we found where the humor is right at the right time. It hit its creative stride [toward the end of its season], and we just think it's a funny show."

With the scheduling, FOX has almost guaranteed a big ratings jump for the comedy, which stars Bret Harrison as a young executive at an airline. The show premiered following "American Idol" in March, drawing a solid 13.7 million viewers. In its regular Thursday timeslot, though, it managed only about 4 million.

Ligouri says the show will undergo some retooling before its return, shifting the focus to Sam's work life (Philip Baker Hall and Mimi Rogers co-star as fellow airline execs) and away from the character's off time, which revolved around his brother (Eric Christian Olson) and their two female roommates (Amanda Loncar and Sarah Mason).

"Out of the gate what we shot for with the show was to have it located in two places," Ligouri says. "What we noticed was that it really has the bulk of its humor in the workplace, so what we're going to do from this point forward is keep it as a workplace comedy."

The changes will likely mean some reshuffling of the cast as well, though Ligouri says FOX hasn't made a final decision yet.