The network will open the fifth season of "Bernie Mac" with two episodes, featuring guest stars Anthony Anderson and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, on Friday, Sept. 23. "Malcolm" will now begin its seventh, and possibly final, season on Friday, Sept. 30.

"The Bernie Mac Show" is coming off an abbreviated fourth season, due mostly to the fact that Mac was laid up with pneumonia for part of last fall. Four episodes aired in September 2004, and a dozen more ran starting in January. The show has also been off the air for longer than most others, as it finished its season in April.