Q. I read that Body of Proof was renewed but I’m wondering when it will be back.

ABC has set its return for Feb. 5, but don’t expect exactly the same show you saw in its first two seasons. Mark Valley and Elyes Gabel are joining the show, playing two police detectives, with Valley’s character also a former lover of Megan Hunt (Dana Delany). And John Carroll Lynch (detective Bud Morris), Sonja Sohn (Samantha Baker) and Nicholas Bishop (Peter Dunlop) are gone.

A producer told TVLine.com that “in trying to bring more eyeballs to our show, we wanted to change some of the dynamic and create new characters.”Q. Who decides when some of the best series are to be canceled or moved to another night?

I’ll leave it you to decide what “the best series” are. But as a rule, the network airing a program decides when to cancel or move it. Among the factors are ratings (particularly with the audience advertisers want), the cost of the show and where it can help the network’s schedule the most.

For example, I have heard from readers unhappy with The Mentalist’s move to Sunday nights, but CBS thought it made sense — because the show was already successful, the network was dumping CSI: Miami and needed something to fill its Sunday slot and The Mentalist’s old time slot on Thursdays was then available for a new show, Elementary.Q. I am a big fan of Dexter, and would like to know if it is going to return.

The Showtime series recently concluded its seventh season, and an eighth is due in 2013. But it appears that the eighth season will be the last. Executive producer Sara Colleton told TV Guide that the ending is “definite.” In some ways, she said, “this is a two-season series-ender. We have worked that out and know where it’s going to end.”

Send questions to TV Mailbag, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.