Fox, which last week became the first network to cancel one of its new shows, has now become the first to pick up a new series for a full season.
“Prison Break,” the fictional prison drama that kicked off the season for Fox in late August, has earned a full-season order of 22 episodes from the network. Fox has also ordered nine more episodes of its animated comedy “American Dad,” (8:30 p.m. Sunday, WFLD-Channel 32) which will extend that show well into the 2006-07 season.
Airing in a competitive timeslot on Monday nights (7 p.m., WFLD-Channel 32), “Prison Break” has been a solid performer for Fox in its first month on the air.
Even saddled with a weak lead-in the past two weeks — comedies “Arrested Development” and “Kitchen Confidential” have drawn only about 4 million viewers — the show has kept Fox competitive among its target demographic of adults 18-49 against ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” and NBC’s “Las Vegas.”
Overall, “Prison Break” is averaging a little over 9 million viewers per week — far better than this time last year, when Fox was airing the unscripted show “Renovate My Family” in the 9 p.m. Monday spot.
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Fox hasn’t determined where the back nine episodes of “Prison Break” will air.
The show’s initial 13-episode run will carry through late November, and “24” is scheduled to take over the timeslot in mid-January.
As for “American Dad,” the Seth McFarlane (“Family Guy”) animated comedy that debuted to mixed reviews, the extra nine episodes come just a few months after Fox sprung for 13 more episodes and brings the total for the series to 41 thus far.