'American Idol' special kicks off season

Fox announced a midseason lineup with this interesting asterisk firmly attached to "American Idol." A "special edition" of TV's still-biggest-after-all-these-years show will air Jan. 22 at 10 p.m., after the end of the NFC Championship Game, and -- yes -- ensuring an even bigger number. The show, meanwhile, bows the week before, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. and will air Wednesdays and Thursdays

In other premiere news, "Alcatraz" -- the J.J. Abrams drama starring "Lost's" Jorge Garcia (probably Fox's biggest gun of midseason) arrives Jan. 16; "Touch," a drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as the father of an autistic child, will air a one-time preview after "Idol" on Jan. 25, before officially premiering on March 19; "Breaking In," a comedy with Bret Harrison and Christian Slater, returns March 6; "The Finder," a "Bones" spinoff/procedural with Geoff Stults bows on Jan. 12; while "Napoleon Dynamite," an animated series based on the cult movie debuts Jan. 15.