Spies, sinners and sycophants: Get ready for a bumper crop of new and returning shows on a TV near you

By Amy AmatangeloSunday, January 2, 2005

It was a tough fall for the TV networks.
Heather Locklear couldn't help ``LAX'' take off. Dean Cain struck out with ``Clubhouse.'' And Joey Tribbiani turned out to be more of a pal than a true ``Friend.''
So this month, the networks pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again.
Fox, which is pioneering the idea of year-round programming to limited success, has the busiest January. The network is banking on the return of two of its most popular shows to start 2005 off right.
The fourth longest day of Jack Bauer's life begins on Jan. 9 when the clock starts ticking in the two-hour premiere of ``24.'' The show then moves into its new Monday-night time slot with two more episodes on Jan. 10.
``American Idol'' begins its search for the next pop star on Jan. 18. Bernie Mac, who was waylaid by pneumonia, returns to the schedule with ``The Bernie Mac Show'' on Jan. 14. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are back for ``The Simple Life 3: Interns'' on Jan. 26. This time the girls make their way across the country via bus, most likely leaving disasters in their wake. Yeah, that's hot.
It's a J.J. Abrams night for ABC when ``Alias'' finally makes its fourth season premiere in a new time slot, Wednesday at 9 p.m. on WCVB (Ch. 5). It will follow Abrams' water-cooler hit ``Lost.''
Giving us no time to actually miss the Donald and his trusty advisers, the third season of NBC's ``The Apprentice'' begins on Jan. 20.
Get out your disinfectant; touch your television four times, and straighten out that coffee table. Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub returns to complete the third season of USA's ``Monk'' on Jan. 21. When the defective detective returns, he and viewers will have to get used to life without his loyal sidekick Sharona. Bitty Schram departs the series and Traylor Howard (``Two Guys and a Girl'') takes over, keeping Monk's life sane.
Hoping to create the pop-culture buzz that ``The O.C.'' generated last year, Fox premieres ``Point Pleasant'' on Jan. 19. Sam Page stars as Jesse Parker, a lifeguard who rescues the beautiful Christina (Elisabeth Harnois) and unwittingly unleashes a battle of good vs. evil. Don't you hate it when that happens? Grant Show (Jake on ``Melrose Place'') also stars. And Franky G is a criminal trying to make his life right in ``Jonny Zero'' (Jan. 14).
NBC has struggled as ``ER,'' the crown jewel of its lineup, lost to ``Without a Trace,'' and its must-see Thursday night quickly became a thing of the past. So the peacock network is first out of the gate with two new series. Patricia Arquette stars as a woman who can talk to dead people in ``Medium'' (tomorrow at 10 p.m. on WHDH, Ch. 7). Josh Cooke and Jennifer Finnigan are opposites (he's obsessive compulsive, she's a free spirit) who find love in ``Committed'' (Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. on WHDH).
David Krumholtz stars as a mathematical genius who helps the FBI solve crimes in CBS' ``Numb3rs'' (Jan. 23). Rob Morrow, Sabrina Lloyd, Peter MacNicol and Judd Hirsch also star.
Bravo's ``Celebrity Poker Showdown'' returns on Jan. 25. Ray Romano, Allison Janney, Bonnie Hunt, Jesse Metcalfe (``Desperate Housewives'') and Red Sox ace Curt Schilling play for their favorite charities.
The ladies get their chance at a ``make-better'' when Bravo premieres ``Queer Eye for the Straight Girl'' on Jan. 12. In addition to three men, a woman named Honey Labrador (can this name possibly be real?), whom the show is touting as the ``first lesbian `Queer Eye,' '' adds the female touch. The original ``Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' returns for a third season on Jan. 11.
Sci Fi Channel's ``Battlestar Galactica'' begins on Jan. 14 and will pick up where last year's miniseries left off. NBC is repeating the miniseries as a three-hour movie event on Saturday at 8 p.m.
But you didn't think we'd get through a month without new reality shows, did you? Twelve beautiful women compete for a chance to be photographed in a revealing bathing suit in NBC's ``Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search'' (Wednesday at 8 p.m. on WHDH).
Jen Schefft, who briefly found love with Andrew Firestone, returns in ``The Bachelorette'' to look for a hubby-to-be in New York on Jan. 10.
Missy Elliott works it in UPN's ``The Road to Stardom With Missy Elliott'' (Wednesday at 8 p.m. on WSBK). Thirteen wannabes compete for a record contract, a released single and $100,000.
In CBS' ``Wickedly Perfect'' (Thursday at 8 p.m. on WBZ, Ch. 4), 12 people battle to be the next Martha Stewart - without the pesky jail time.
Ten money-hungry potential heirs compete to inherit a wealthy patriarch's estate in CBS' ``The Will'' (Wednesday at 8 p.m. on WSBK, Ch. 38). Now that might be the worst reality show of the month, but Fox never lets us down. A young woman, adopted at birth, searches for her biological father in Fox's ``Who's Your Daddy?'' (tomorrow at 8 p.m. on WFXT, Ch. 25). There's a $100,000 prize involved, but that hardly seems enough to cover the loss of dignity.