TVSquad

Fox has made the call, and it's a big "see ya later" for Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. But their loss is someone else's gain. The pilot for the Jason Bateman directed comedy series The Inn has been picked up for a 13-week commitment, while Back to You has been axed. The Brad Garrett-Joely Fisher sitcom, Til Death, meanwhile, has been given another year.

Bateman, who starred in Arrested Development -- the Emmy-award winning comedy that the network dumped unceremoniously because of low ratings -- was behind the camera for The Inn pilot. The show, which is about the haves and have-nots in a fancy, five-star New York City hotel, has a promising cast of funny folks including Niecy Nash (Reno 911!), Jerry O'Connell (who looks like Jason's twin), and the really hilarious Jesse Tyler Ferguson (remember him on The Class -- he was so funny!).

Two days of presentations from FOX wrapped up with yet another outdoor "all-stars" party. FOX held its gala at the Santa Monica Pier just in time for out-of-town TCA members to see the sunset and the Pacific Ocean.

While there was plenty of swag in sight (mostly various sizes of dolls from The Simpsons), you had to earn it!

Party attendees played carnival games (ring toss, shooting baskets, knocking down bottles with baseballs, popping balloons with darts) in order to take home prizes.

Fox has picked up the back nine episodes of the new comedy, 'Til Death, starring Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher. Even though the show hasn't done much in its Thursday night timeslot, Fox thinks there is an audience out there for this sitcom. Fox thinks that 24 and American Idol will draw in more viewers to the network when they begin in January.

The network has also ordered six more episodes of Standoff, starring Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt (and Gina Torres for all you Firefly fans). A rep for the network says it didn't order the full back nine (considered a full season) because there isn't going to be any room for a full season once 24 and American Idol begin.

'Til Death will stay off the air for an extra week after the World Series because star Brad Garrett is holding up production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Garrett was very unhappy with the latest script. That's actually a good reason to postpone a show... to make the script better. Unfortunately for Brad, it might not matter that much. The show is taking a beating on Thursday nights against Survivor and Ugly Betty. It'll be interesting to see that episode when it does get made, to see what Garrett considers a 'good' script.

(S01E01) A lot of times when a big show, especially a sitcom, goes off the air, we see a series of spinoffs, or almost spinoffs, leading from it. When Everybody Loves Raymond left the airwaves at CBS, you could have seen it coming that Brad Garrett's character would have been perfect to have on his own. Well, howabout the best of that world, plus a whole new gig. FOX's 'Til Death plays Eddie, a schoolteacher whose new neighbor is a newlywed (12 days in or so) who also happens to be the new vice principal at the school Eddie works at.

If you'd seen any of the advertisements for the show, then you have probably gotten a pretty good idea of the style of humor on the show. That isn't to say that you know all the jokes already at all, but it's fun to see the complete and total difference between Eddie, his wife Joy (such a happy name!), and newlyweds Jeff and Steph (oh so cute with the rhyming names!). Even with all the jaded comments that Eddie makes about marriage, he and Joy have a really great time together, even if it is while they are eating snack food on the couch and watching Ellen together. You can actually see the money lines just flowing out of this show, with about halfway through the premiere being the moment when Jeff sees that all the things Eddie believes will happen to their marriage aren't just figments of his imagination. No pool table for you, young man!

Last, but certainly not least, we are giving you a preview of the shows that FOX has planned for the fall season. We've already discussed ABC, CBS, and NBC's new shows. Let's just say that our TiVos are going to be working overtime this fall.

For FOX, we're covering comedies Happy Hour, 'Til Death, and The Winner. And the dramas are Justice, Standoff, Vanished, and The Wedding Album. The network was kind enough to send us the DVD screeners but, since we can't technically "review" them, we're just going to give you a short preview and our initial thoughts.

Well, FOX isn't waiting for May upfronts (when all the networks release their fall schedules) to announce that they have picked up two new shows for the fall. One is Til Death, which stars Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett as a married man (Joely Fisher is his wife) who lives next to a younger married couple. Vanished is another conspiracy drama, and stars Christopher Egan, Gale Harold, Rebecca Gayheart, and John Allen Nelson.

In other fall news, NBC has picked up all of the Law and Order shows for yet another season.