THE TV COLUMN

After Olympics, school ... then TV declares ‘fall’

— Yikes!

Suddenly, the fall school semester is less than three weeks away.

The “Back to School” commercials are already popping up as parents start thinking of supplies, and college kids are rounding up those last garbage bags of dirty clothes for their moms to wash.

Of course, thanks to Febreze she’ll see those same unwashed clothes on the first break Junior gets to come back home.

When you’re on TV time, as I have been for the past 18 years, “fall” officially begins when the new TV shows arrive. The official premiere week is Sept. 24 to 30, but there will be much jumping of the gun. Here are the starting dates.

Fox

kicks things off Sept. 12 with The X Factor featuring new judges Demi Lovato and Britney Spears joining L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell. With American Idol once again molting judges, it’ll be interesting to see if the younger faces can make a difference with this show.

CBS

always has Survivor sneak in early. This year, Survivor: Philippines (the show’s 25th edition) begins Sept. 19.

On Sept. 24, CBS will launch its new Monday lineup of How I Met Your Mother, Partner, 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly and Hawaii Five-0.

NBC

plans to sneak-peek a couple of its more promising new shows during the Olympics. Go On, starring Matthew Perry, gets a look Aug. 8 and Animal Practice, starring Justin Kirk and a monkey, will follow the closing ceremonies Aug. 12.

These shows will return in their regular slots Sept. 11 and 26, respectively.

ABC

starts on Sept. 14 with Shark Tank and will air the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 23 with Jimmy Kimmel as host.

The CW

is holding off starting its new season until Oct. 2 with Hart of Dixie. The official excuse is to allow longer stretches without reruns.

MEANWHILE ...

A large chunk of the audience currently has its eyes on the London Olympics and most of the non-NBC outfits are more or less on hold.

It’s still a couple of weeks (Aug. 12) until Shark Week on Discovery, so let’s take a look at what ABC Family is killing time with.

ABC Family’s annual 10-day summer “Campus Crush” programming event began Monday, highlighted by all day marathons, chick movies and new episodes of its original series.

(Peeve: The network publicity says “all-new episodes,” but I’ve never figured out how they could have a partially new episode. All-new seems redundant.)

Also on tap are the season finale of Jane By Design and - and - the network premiere of the fan-favorite syndicated sitcom Reba starring Reba McEntire.

Reba, which ran on The WB/CW from 2001 to 2007, will air from 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays beginning Aug. 7. Warm up with a Reba marathon from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday.

I’ve had a warm spot for McEntire ever since she joined our table for lunch during summer press tour a few years back. She chewed the fat for a half hour about her love of the South and how they make sweet tea in Oklahoma.

McEntire stars again in a new, not-dissimilar sitcom, Malibu Country, Fridays this fall on ABC.

Want even more Reba? Starting Wednesday, the comedy will air weekdays at 6 p.m. on CMT.

Here are some highlights from “Campus Crush.”

Today: 8 p.m. Jane By Design season finale. Jane (Erica Dasher) saves the school play,but pays a price.

Wednesday: New episodes of Melissa & Joey, Baby Daddy and Beverly Hills Nannies kick off at 7 p.m.

Thursday: Catch heartthrob Channing Tatum as a troubled teen in 2006’s Step Up at 2:30 p.m. Tatum, by the way, was 26 at the time.

Friday: 5 p.m., The Princess Diaries features Julie Andrews and a charming Anne Hathaway in her film debut. The Princess Diaries 2 follows at 7:30.

Saturday: Lucy Hale ( Pretty Little Liars) in A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song at 8 a.m.; Selena Gomez in Another Cinderella Story at 10 a.m. and Hayden Panettiere in Bring It On: All or Nothing at noon.

Note: Panettiere stars this fall opposite Connie Britton in the promising ABC musical drama Nashville.

At 7 p.m., enjoy Lindsay Lohan before she went weird in 2004’s Mean Girls. Also stars Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Lizzy Caplan and Neil Flynn.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style, Pages 28 on 07/31/2012

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