FX has announced a winter schedule that again has “Justified” on Tuesdays starting in January, “Archer” moving to Mondays around the same time, and “The Americans” debuting a bit later. And “Chozen,” which was set to be the first brand-new series to debut on spin-off channel FXX, will instead be paired with “Archer” on the mothership, while repackaged episodes of “Da Ali G Show” will wind up on FXX with “Legit.”
Let’s go one at a time:
* Season 5 of “Justified” will premiere on Tuesday, January 7 at 10 p.m. Usual night, usual window; the most notable aspect of the release is that Jere Burns now appears to be part of the regular cast as Wynn Duffy, which only increases the odds of an eventual “Wynn-ebago” web series.
* “The Americans,” which premiered at the very end of January this year (and whose premiere date was announced separately from “Justified” and the other shows), will premiere sometime in February, presumably again on Wednesdays at 10.
* “Archer” season 5 will debut on Mondays at 10 starting January 13. When some of FX’s other Thursday comedies moved to FXX, they shifted to Wednesdays to get away from Thursday NFL games, but that’s not an issue in winter.
* “Chozen,” an animated comedy about a gay white rapper fresh out of prison – from a production team that combines the creators of “Eastbound & Down” and “Archer” – will debut on Monday the 13th, after “Archer.” The idea is to use an established hit – and an animated one, at that – to launch the new series, rather than pair it with a lower-profile, less-compatible performer on FXX. But the fact that it’s still unclear which show belongs on what channel is not that great for the idea of establishing an identity for FXX.
* “Legit,” the low-key sitcom starring Australian comic Jim Jefferies, will premiere its second season on FXX sometime in February. It will now be paired with “Ali G: Rezurection,” a repackaging of “Da Ali G Show” featuring new introductions by Sacha Baron Cohen.