The Writers Guild of America strike has led Fox to plan for an earlier-than-usual reopening of Hell's Kitchen.
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If the network follows through with that plan -- according to Fox, things could change if a strike settlement is reached before then -- it would mark the first time one of the Gordon Ramsay reality competition's editions premiered before the summer programming season. And in addition to debuting well before the May conclusion of the 2007-2008 regular programming season, most of Hell's Kitchen 4's episodes would also be airing in the most-coveted time period on television -- Tuesday nights at 9PM ET/PT, immediately after the Fox's 8PM ET/PT broadcasts of American Idol's seventh-season performance shows.
Fox originally renewed Hell's Kitchen for a fourth season over the summer and planned to air it in 2008, and the show's Fox publicist recently confirmed that the show was still "slated to air in Summer 2008." However Daily Variety recently reported Fox began back-to-back production on two new Hell's Kitchen installments, one of which will now debut in April.
Idol 7 will premiere over the course of two consecutive nights on Tuesday, January 15 and Wednesday, January 16, with both two-hour broadcasts beginning at 8PM ET/PT.
As part of its strike-revised midseason schedule, Fox also announced When Women Rule the Earth -- a new reality series that will feature 12 unsuspecting chauvinistic men becoming slaves in a new primitive Survivor-like "society" ruled by 12 "strong, educated and independent" women -- is now scheduled to premiere on Monday, March 3 at 8PM ET/PT.
Fox reportedly began production on When Women Rule the World back in January, and while the series was initially scheduled to debut last spring, that never happened, and it was also left off both Fox's Summer 2007 schedule as well as its initial 2007-2008 primetime programming lineup.
Fox also announced The Moment of Truth, a new game show that was developed under the working title Nothing but the Truth and will quiz contestants on personal questions and use a lie detector to determine if they're telling the truth, is scheduled to premiere Wednesday, January 23 at 9PM ET/PT immediately following that night's Idol broadcast.
The Moment of Truth will move into its Wednesdays at 8PM ET/PT time period beginning March 12, when it will serve as the lead-in for Idol 7's first results show broadcast.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio
