Kelsey Grammer’s back, this time on Fox

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Dear Television Viewer:

We know you are filled with season-finale angst: Will a beat boxer pull an ‘American Idol’ upset? Will cutie patootie Apolo Anton Ohno take home this season’s really ugly ‘Dancing With the Stars’ trophy? Will Tony Soprano die?

Just when you thought that was all the TV you could handle, there’s more.

The TV industry gathers in Manhattan in the days ahead for the all-important ‘upfronts’: Broadcast networks put on hoity-toity presentations in glamorous venues such as Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden in the hopes of landing billions of dollars in advertising ‘upfront money’ to pay for next season’s programming.

It’s all kept under wraps until network executives take to their stages to announce what they hope will be the next big hit. But we don’t like secrets. We’ll keep you posted on the fall’s new shows, and anything else we happen upon:

Fox, first up

Fox wasted no time in hiring TV mega stars Kelsey Grammer (‘Frasier’) and Patricia Heaton (‘Everybody Loves Raymond’) to star in a new multi-camera sitcom, ‘Back to You.’ (Formerly titled ‘Action News.’) Fox President of Primetime Peter Liguori was so excited by the script -- and the lead acting team -- that he committed to 13 episodes before one second of the pilot episode was ever filmed. Grammer plays a womanizing news anchor (Chuck Darling) and Heaton his uptight co-anchor, Kelly Carr. After an embarrassing Internet tirade topples Chuck from his lofty perch, he’s forced back to the Pittsburgh station where he first crossed paths with Kelly.

This is the first new series pickup of the fall TV season.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

(Photo: Ken Hively / LAT)