CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- FOX is set to revive its once white-hot reality franchise "Temptation Island" later this month. The series' third edition will premiere August 28 in its old Thursday, 9:00/8:00c time slot.
FOX has committed to eight episodes of the new "Temptation" with several weeks expected to feature back-to-back episodes starting at 8:00/7:00c in order to wrap the show before the MLB baseball playoffs kick off in October.
Over 16 million viewers watched the series' first season in early 2002 when it aired Wednesday nights at 9:00/8:00c. Its follow-up season in fall 2002 saw its numbers plummet to literally a third of that (5.71 million viewers on average) when it moved to Thursdays at 9:00/8:00c.
FOX executives had hoped to air the series in a higher profile time slot but due to the relative success of newcomer "Paradise Hotel" (Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:00/8:00c) and the impending launch of "The O.C." (Tuesdays at 9:00/8:00c), Thursdays remained the only option outside of holding off the new season until early next year.
Meanwhile in other FOX news, the network has decided to swap the Sunday time periods of "King of the Hill" and "Banzai." The former moved to 8:30/7:30c and the latter to 7:30/6:30c this past Sunday. Despite a rather large launch campaign, "Banzai" has been somewhat of disappointment for FOX averaging just under 6 million viewers and losing more than 20% of lead-in "The Simpsons."
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