Fox has shaken up its midseason plans, establishing a Friday night sci-fi block and giving a new drama series an “American Idol” lead-in.

The network plans to air Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated new series “Dollhouse” on Fridays at 9 p.m., following the low-rated “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” which will move from its current Monday time period.

Friday is the second-least-watched night of the week, ahead of Saturday. Monday, on the other hand, is the most popular night, according to Nielsen Media Research.

“Dollhouse” stars Eliza Dushku as an agent for a secret organization that imprints its operatives with skills and personalities. The drama was originally scheduled to air with “24″ on Mondays in midseason but has been dogged by creative concerns. Instead, Mondays will feature “House” at 8 p.m. and “24″ at 9 p.m.

“American Idol” and “Fringe” will still partner on Tuesdays as planned, but Wednesday will no longer pair “House” and the “Idol” results show. With “House” shifted to Monday, “Idol” has been switched to 8 p.m. and will give TV’s most powerful lead-in to new drama “Lie to Me,” which stars Tim Roth as a “human lie detector.”

Fox will premiere the first new regular episode of “24″ in nearly two years on Sunday, January 11, the network said Monday.

The seventh season of the real-time thriller will kick off with a two-hour episode, followed by another two-hour segment the next night. Fox used a similar rollout plan for 2007’s sixth season premiere in January 2007.

“Day Seven” opens with the Counter Terrorism Unit dismantled and federal agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) returns after being presumed dead.

A two-hour prequel movie “24: Redemption” will give viewers a head start on the season when it airs on Sunday, November 23. The movie will feature Jon Voight, making his first series role in 40 years as Bauer’s latest uber-nemesis. The veteran actor will also be seen in subsequent regular episodes.

The team behind the global phenomenon “The Da Vinci Code” returns for the highly anticipated “Angels & Demons,” based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals.

When Langdon discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati - the most powerful underground organization in history - he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization’s most despised enemy: the Catholic Church. When Langdon learns that the clock is ticking on an unstoppable Illuminati time bomb, he jets to Rome, where he joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and enigmatic Italian scientist. Embarking on a nonstop, action-packed hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra will follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that mark the Vatican’s only hope for survival.

Release Date:
15 May 2009 (USA)

An origins story centered on the centuries-old feud between the the race of aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers, and their onetime slaves, the Lycans.

The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them.

Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

In the original movie, a flying saucer orbits Earth, and lands in Washington, DC, on the Mall. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) steps out and is shot by a jumpy soldier. Gort (Lock Martin), an indestructible robot steps out of the spacecraft and proceeds to melt all the weapons, including tanks. Later, the Earth comes to realize that Gort has used very little of his power to make this happen.

While lying on the ground, Klaatu orders Gort to stop, and is then taken by the military to a hospital from which he later escapes in order to learn more about this planet called Earth and its human inhabitants. He meets Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Billy (Billy Gray); takes Klaatu on a tour of Washington, DC; and finally stops in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Klaatu reads the words uttered by Lincoln many years ago and realizes that there might be hope for Earth.