Fox Annnounces Winter Premiere Dates

Fox has announced premiere dates today for its new and returning series, including the returns of “American Idol” and “The Following,” and the debut of new legal drama “Rake.” One of the most notable bits of info in the announcement is that “American Idol” results shows will now only be 30 minutes long.

Here’s the press release:

Featuring host Ryan Seacrest, a new judging panel, including Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson returning as the new in-house mentor, AMERICAN IDOL XIII begins with an exciting two-night, four-hour premiere Wednesday, Jan. 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Thursday, Jan. 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

Following the season finale of SLEEPY HOLLOW at a special time on Monday, Jan. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), last season’s No. 1 new series THE FOLLOWING (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) begins its 15-week uninterrupted second season. Created by Kevin Williamson (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Dawson’s Creek,” the “Scream” franchise) and starring Golden Globe Award-winning actor Kevin Bacon (“X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Frost/Nixon”) and James Purefoy (“Rome”), Season Two catches up with RYAN HARDY (Bacon), in the wake of a horrific new murder spree, which furthers his suspicion that JOE CARROLL’s (Purefoy) reign of terror is far from over. The series also stars Shawn Ashmore (the “X-Men” franchise) and Valorie Curry (“Veronica Mars”), and joining the cast this season are Connie Nielsen (“Boss,” “Law & Order: SVU”), Jessica Stroup (“90210”), Sam Underwood (“Dexter”) and Tiffany Boone (“Beautiful Creatures”).

Bold new legal drama RAKE debuts with a special two-night event beginning Sunday, Jan. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM ET/7:00-8:00 PM PT), following the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, and continuing with its time period premiere on Thursday, Jan. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). Making his broadcast television series debut, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Greg Kinnear (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Kennedys”) plays a brilliant and frustratingly charming criminal defense attorney, whose chaotic and self-destructive personal life often gets in the way of his professional one.

Beginning Saturday, Jan. 11 (11:00 PM-Midnight ET/PT), ANIMATION DOMINATION HIGH-DEF will feature LUCAS BROS. MOVING CO. and GOLAN THE INSATIABLE. In LUCAS BROS. MOVING CO., the stand-up comedy of New York-based identical twins Kenny and Keith Lucas (The Lucas Brothers) gets animated. The twins run a moving company, and no matter what happens around them, they always remain totally, bizarrely unfazed. GOLAN THE INSATIABLE is the story of a mighty godlord from an alternate universe who arrives in the small town of Oak Grove, where his only friend is a 10-year-old goth girl named DYLAN. As previously announced, on Saturday, Nov. 23 (11:00 PM-Midnight ET/PT), as part of a special ANIMATION DOMINATION HIGH-DEF lineup, LUCAS BROS. MOVING CO. and GOLAN THE INSATIABLE will preview, prior to their January launch.

As previously announced, new Army-set comedy ENLISTED debuts Friday, Jan. 10 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT). Written and created by Kevin Biegel (“Cougar Town,” “Scrubs”) and starring Geoff Stults (“The Finder”), Chris Lowell (“Private Practice,” “Veronica Mars”) and Parker Young (“Suburgatory”), ENLISTED is a single-camera comedy about an older sibling who returns home to reconnect with his two brothers and lead a group of misfits on a small Florida Army post.

This spring, new comedies SURVIVING JACK and US & THEM will debut on FOX; series premiere dates to be announced. From Emmy Award nominee Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs,” “Cougar Town”) and set in 1990s Southern California, SURVIVING JACK stars Emmy Award nominee Christopher Meloni (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”) as a man becoming a dad, as his son (Connor Buckley, “Deception”) becomes a man, in a time before “coming of age” was something you could Google. SURVIVING JACK is set to air on Thursdays (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) for eight weeks, following AMERICAN IDOL (8:00-8:30 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) results shows. New ensemble comedy US & THEM will also join the schedule in the spring. Starring Emmy Award nominee Jason Ritter (“Parenthood”) and Alexis Bledel (“Mad Men,” “Gilmore Girls”), and based on an award-winning BBC series, the series follows a young couple, whose path to happily-ever-after is complicated by the screwed-up circus of people closest to them.

FOX SEASON AND SERIES PREMIERE DATES

(Times for All-New Episodes are ET/PT Except as Noted)

Friday, Jan. 10:

9:30-10:00 PM ENLISTED (Series Premiere)

Saturday, Jan. 11:

11:00 PM-Midnight ANIMATION DOMINATION HIGH-DEF, featuring LUCAS BROS. MOVING CO. and GOLAN THE INSATIABLE

Wednesday, Jan. 15:

8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part One)

Thursday, Jan. 16:

8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part Two)

Sunday, Jan. 19:

6:00-10:00 PM ET NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (Live)