Fox retools post-strike

Fox has finally given us some indication of when its shows will return from writers' strike-enforced hiatus.

And the network has, of course, confirmed speculation that "24" won't return at all this season. It won't return this year, as a matter of fact.

Which only makes sense, because Fox — quite properly and logically — wants to put that show on the air and run it as uninterrupted as possible on a week-to-week basis. Only eight episodes of Season 7 were completed before the Writers Guild of America went on strike, and, even though shows are going back into production, there's no way to schedule a 24-episode season at this point.

Even if "24" returned next week, the season would stretch through July (when viewership goes down dramatically).

Even if there weren't the problem of baseball pre-emptions in the fall, Fox would get through two-thirds of a season (at best) before the Christmas/New Year's holidays would force a hiatus.

So Season 7 of "24" will begin in January 2009, some 20 months after the end of Season 6.

Other effects of the strike will be felt into next season as well. Fox's animated shows — "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill," "Family Guy" and "American Dad" — work on a different schedule than live-action shows. Because of the time needed do the animation, writing on the current season's crop of shows was completed before the strike began.

However, the three-month layoff could end up affecting delivery of episodes for next season.

Here's when Fox tells us to expect new episodes of current shows:

• "Back to You" airs original episodes on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 8:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 8:30 p.m. It returns on a regular basis on Wednesday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m.

• "'Til Death" airs one new episode on Tuesday, March 25, at 8:30 p.m.; it begins airing new episodes Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on April 16.

• "House" begins airing new episodes on Monday, April 28, at 8 p.m.

• "Bones" begins airing new episodes on Monday, April 14, at 7 p.m.

Fox has rejiggered its midseason schedule a bit, which features a bunch of new shows as well as a couple of returning series.

• "Unhitched," a new sitcom about divorced guys from the Farrelly brothers, debuts on Sunday, March 2, at 8:30 p.m.