Fox cleaned house last night: Shawn Ryan’s promising police drama “The Chicago Code” was just one of several series to get the axe as the network laid the groundwork for a revamped schedule in the fall. Here’s a rundown of the scheduling shakeup:

CANCELED: ‘The Chicago Code,” “Human Target,” “Lie to Me” (it was previously thought at least one, maybe two of those shows would get renewed), Christian Slater’s “Breaking In,” and freshman comedy “Traffic Light,” which was well-made but didn’t deliver ratings. Fox also opted not to pick up the pilot for the graphic novel-based “Locke & Key.”

ORDERED: An eighth season of “House,” “Bones” spin-off “The Finder” (an Iraq veteran’s brain trauma gives him superhuman powers to find people: totally realistic), J.J. Abrams’s new mystery “Alcatraz,” Zooey Deschanel’s sitcom “The New Girl,” and “I Hate My Teenage Daughter,” starring Jaime Pressly.

The message here, as Fox gears up for its upfront presentation, is that it would rather invest in new series than renew shows with middling ratings. Did you expect something else from the network of “Arrested Development”? The only real surprise is that “Fringe” survived this bloodbath.

[Inside TV]

Creepy and yet also funny. I’m not sure what I find most unsettling and yet hilarious: that this yellow Labrador has human arms, that he’s wearing a Cosby sweater, or that he speaks French. [The Daily What]

I live in Brooklyn; we should hang out. Brooklyn Decker is on the cover of the SI Swimsuit Issue. [With Leather]

I hated ‘M*A*S*H’ as a kid. And here it gets “This Week in F–k You” treatment. As KSK’s Christmas Ape said in an email to me, “it was a program put on by adults specifically to make kids want to go outside.” [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

Nerds rejoice! Fantasy god Neil Gaiman will write an episode of “Doctor Who.” If you’ve never heard of Neil Gaiman, that’s okay: he’s British. If you’ve never heard of “Doctor Who,” that’s okay: it’s British, too. (Note to nerds: just kidding about the Gaiman crack. I liked Sandman, too.) [Gamma Squad]

Or, Why You Shouldn’t Go to J-School. Someone at Reuters unfamiliar with the concept of “stand-up comedy” tries to review Louis CK movie, fails miserably. [FilmDrunk]

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Fox has released promotional trailers and a few scenes from “Human Target,” and I’m not terribly optimistic about this.  I like the cast: Mark Valley (“Fringe”) gets to display some of the swagger that’s been missing since the premature cancellation of “Keen Eddie,” and Chi McBride (“Pushing Daisies”) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, The Bad News Bears) are more than capable of strong performances in supporting roles.

The problems, from what I can tell, start farther up the chain.  Fans of the popular DC Comics title will likely be disappointed with some of the creative liberties taken.  In the comic, Christopher Chance literally takes the place of his client, undergoing surgery to become the target and keep his client safe.  Here, he just seems like a badass bodyguard.  And that’s cool: badass bodyguards can be in good TV shows.  But you’d want the people directing those TV shows to know that when a semiautomatic pistol is out of bullets, the slide locks out.  Watch the fight scene FAIL and a longer trailer after the jump.

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After the initial pilot tested well, Fox has picked up “The Human Target,” which, as any pasty-faced dork (read: me) can tell you, is one of the better comic books of the last decade. From the Hollywood Reporter:

Based on the DC Comics title, the show centers on Christopher Chance (Mark Valley), a mysterious freelancer who offers a unique form of security for hire: He assumes the identities of people in danger, becoming the “human target” on behalf of his clients.

Jackie Earle Haley [Sweet!] and Chi McBride co-star in the project written by Jon Steinberg and directed by Simon West. The two exec produced the pilot with McG [uh-oh].

Of course, this is not the first time “The Human Target” has been brought to the small screen.  Think back — way back — to the summer of 1992.  The nation was mired in a recession following a war in the Middle East, but there was hope stirring in the coming election, and the time was right for an action series starring RICK EFFING SPRINGFIELD as the Human Target.  (Perhaps if he can adopt Jesse’s identity, he’ll finally have a chance at his girl.)  Watch video from the original series below, including bonus scenes with David Carradine and R. Lee Ermey.

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