As if the implications of the writers’ strike weren’t already giving us migraines, along comes Fox to make our heads explode with its latest incomprehensible schedule announcement, covering the strike-impacted midseason from January to April (consider most everything you read from here on subject to change). The first piece of bad news was expected: The seventh season of 24 is being postponed indefinitely, until Fox can ensure the entire season can run intact and uninterrupted. Who knows when that will be? Another blow: Fox is finally living up to its threat to move Bones to Fridays, effective Jan. 4, where it will be paired with repeats of House (the Fox equivalent of Law & Order, considering how often the hit medical drama will be peppered throughout the network’s new and unimproved lineup).

To try to help make sense of it all, let’s look at the schedule night by night:

Monday: With 24 out of the picture, the new big-ticket midseason item is now the action-packed Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which kicks off on Sunday, Jan. 13, before moving into its regular 9 pm/ET slot on Mondays on Jan. 14. Prison Break, which has moved up its fall finale to next Monday, will return in its regular position on Jan. 14, where it is scheduled to air through February. On March 3, a ghastly sounding war-of-the-sexes reality show, When Women Rule the World, takes over Prison Break’s slot. On March 10, House encores take over for Terminator, which apparently will have already completed its midseason tryout.

Tuesday: The bottom line of Fox’s midseason schedule boils down to two words: American Idol, which returns with a two-hour audition special Jan. 15. House joins it the following week, airing a mix of new and old episodes through March. A new season of summer staple Hell’s Kitchen is scheduled to begin in the House slot on April 1. (I know, the whole season is starting to sound like a bad April Fools’ joke, isn’t it?)

Wednesday: Another night for American Idol to rule, starting with a two-hour blast on Jan. 16. The lie-detector-themed reality game show The Moment of Truth airs after Idol at 9 pm/ET starting Jan. 23. And when the Idol results show morphs back into its half-hour format on March 12, it will move to 9 pm/ET, sandwiched between the hour-long Moment of Truth at 8 pm/ET and the returning sitcom Back to You at 9:30 pm/ET.

Thursday: No changes. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and Don’t Forget the Lyrics! will carry on, unaffected by the strike. How happy are we?

Friday: Bones (with new and old episodes) and House encores set up shop on Jan. 4. Bones will be joined by the supernatural drama New Amsterdam (at 9 pm/ET) starting Feb. 22. On March 7, Bones takes a breather and will be replaced by ’Til Death and the new Amy Sherman-Palladino comedy, The Return of Jezebel James, starring Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose, from 8 to 9 pm/ET. On April 11, New Amsterdam will be spelled by the new legal drama Canterbury’s Law, starring Julianna Margulies. Is Fox somehow hoping that the strike will magically change the network’s fortunes by ending the Friday (a graveyard night for Fox for years) kiss of death for all of these new series?

Saturday and Sunday remain largely unchanged. Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3, will end on a high note, with an original House episode guest-starring Mira Sorvino. And on March 2, American Dad will be temporarily relieved by a new midseason relationship comedy, Unhitched, starring Craig Bierko and Rashida Jones.