FOX has locked another piece of its fall schedule, picking up a full season's worth of "North Shore."

The network has ordered nine additional episodes of the Hawaii-based show, bringing it to the standard full-season complement of 22. The series is on hiatus for the next three weeks for the Olympics and the two-hour premiere of "The Complex: Malibu" but will return with new episodes Monday, Sept. 6.

"'North Shore' is a fun, entertaining soap with a wonderful cast. The series continues to grow creatively, and we are looking forward to seeing what [the producers] have in store," FOX Entertainment president Gail Berman says. "This pickup gives us yet another asset to schedule strategically as we move into the fall."

The series, which revolves around the staff of a luxury hotel on Oahu, has delivered consistent but hardly spectacular ratings since its June 14 premiere. It draws a little over 4.6 million viewers per week and a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49, the network's target demographic.

Ratings have ticked up a little in the past two weeks. Monday's (Aug. 9) episode brought the show's best-ever rating among adults 18-34 and tied its high-water mark for adults 18-49.

FOX has aired eight episodes of "North Shore" this summer. With the full-season pickup it now has enough episodes to run pretty much through the end of 2004 without repeats. The network's current plan is to plug "Athens," a new drama from "O.C." creator Josh Schwartz, into the 8 p.m. Monday spot in early 2005.