Today FOX announced their 2011 midseason schedule and it includes the return of Kitchen Nightmares and American Idol, four series premieres (The Chicago Code, Million Dollar Money Drop, Mixed Signals, Bob’s Burgers), and some series program shuffling.  American Idol will now air Wednesdays and Thursdays, and it will serve as a lead-in to Human Target and Bones on those respective days.  So what does all this mean for the fantastic sci-fi series Fringe?  Not good things.  Beginning January 28 the show will be bumped to Friday nights, also known as the the graveyard for ratings-deprived TV series (read: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse). Now before you start panicking, you should know that FOX has made this move with good intentions.  According to Deadline “almost half” the show’s viewers record-and-watch using DVRs, and FOX prez Kevin Reilly has high hopes that Fringe’s cult following will stick with the show no matter what night it falls on (you’ve got that right, partner!). “Fringe has a very particular, loyal audience,” says Reilly. “If [Fringe] could stay near the current levels, we’ll get a big trade-up on Friday and will solve our problem there.” Fringe will replace The Good Guys in the 9PM slot. Though they won’t commit to cancellation just yet, FOX has confirmed that Guys and Running Wilde will not be receiving additional episodes this season.

Update: I managed to find a juicier quote from Reilly on the Fringe Friday situation: “We are not killing the show. Over the last week, over 45% of the audience time-shifted the show. That’s almost half of the dedicated audience watching it on their DVRs. It’s been such a loyal fanbase. I will be really disheartened if the viewer base decides to not watch because it shifted one night. I hope they go with it, and if not they have the option of picking it up on their DVRs. If it does anywhere near what it did on Thursdays, we can glue that show to the schedule because it can be a big win for us.”  And there you have it–no need to jump to scary conclusions just yet, Fringe fans.

Look after the break to view the FOX midseason schedule.

[Via Deadline, here & here; EW]

“*” denotes new program

MONDAY
Monday, Jan. 10:
8:00-10:00 PM LIE TO ME (Two-Hour Episode)

Mondays, beginning Jan. 17:
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE (All-New Episodes)
9:00-10:00 PM LIE TO ME (All-New Episodes)

Mondays, beginning Feb. 7
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE (All-New Episodes)
9:00-10:00 PM THE CHICAGO CODE (Series Premiere)*

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TUESDAY
Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 4:
8:00-9:00 PM GLEE (Encore Episodes)
9:00-10:00 PM MILLION DOLLAR MONEY DROP (All-New Episodes)*

Tuesdays, beginning Feb. 8:
8:00-9:00 PM GLEE (All-New Episodes)
9:00-9:30 PM RAISING HOPE (All-New Episodes)
9:30-10:00 PM MIXED SIGNALS (Series Premiere)*

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WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, Jan. 5 and 12:
8:00-10:00 PM HUMAN TARGET (All-New, Two-Hour Episodes)

Wednesday, Jan. 19:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Two-Hour Season Premiere, Part One)

Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 26:
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL
9:00-10:00 PM HUMAN TARGET (All-New Episodes)

Wednesdays, beginning Feb. 16:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Two-Hour Episodes)

Wednesdays, beginning April 6:
8:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL (90-Minute Episodes)
9:30-10:00 PM BREAKING IN (Series Premiere)

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THURSDAY
Thursdays, beginning Jan. 6:
8:00-9:00 PM MILLION DOLLAR MONEY DROP (All-New Episodes)
9:00-10:00 PM BONES (Encore Episodes)

Thursdays, beginning Jan. 20:
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part Two)
9:00-10:00 PM BONES (Time Period Premiere)

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FRIDAY
Friday, Jan. 7:
8:00 PM-CC ET AT&T COTTON BOWL (Live)

Friday, Jan. 21:
8:00-9:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (Encore)

Fridays, beginning Jan. 28:
8:00-9:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (All-New Episodes)
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE (Time Period Premiere)

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SATURDAY
Saturday, Jan. 15:
8:00 PM-CC ET NFC DIVISION PLAYOFFS (Live)

Saturdays, beginning Jan. 22 (no change to lineup):
8:00-8:30 PM COPS (All-New Episodes)
8:30-9:00 PM COPS (Encore Episodes)
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED (All-New Episodes)

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SUNDAY
Sunday, Jan. 9:
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (All-New Episode)
8:30-9:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS (Series Premiere)*
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY (All-New Episode)
9:30-10:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW (Time Period Premiere/All-New Episode)

Sunday, Jan. 16 and 23:
7:00-7:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (Encore Episodes)
7:30-8:00 PM AMERICAN DAD (Time Period Premiere)
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (All-New Episodes)
8:30-9:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS (All-New Episodes)
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY (All-New Episodes)
9:30-10:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW (All-New Episodes)

Sunday, Jan. 30:
7:00 PM-CC ET NFC PRO BOWL (Live)

Sunday, Feb. 6:
6:00 PM-CC ET SUPER BOWL XLV (Live)
10:30 PM ET/7:30 PT GLEE (All-New Special Episode; Approximate Start Time)

Sundays, beginning Feb. 13 (no change to lineup):
7:00-7:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
7:30-8:00 PM AMERICAN DAD
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW