CBS in 2008-09:
Five New Series, Changes on Six Nights of the Week

With a focus on comedy and a goal to reach more women, CBS will introduce five new series this fall -- sitcoms Worst Week and Project Gary; and dramas The Mentalist, Eleventh Hour and The Ex List. Only wasteland Saturday will remain unchanged, while three returning series -- Without a Trace, The New Adventures of Old Christine and The Unit will move to new evenings. Without a Trace will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. out of psychic-driven The Mentalist; The New Adventures of Old Christine (a 22-episode order) will anchor Wednesday, leading into Project Gary at 8:30 p.m.; and The Unit will close the week Sundays at 10 p.m. out of Cold Case. Keep in mind that CBS has not has success with any comedies in the Wednesday 8 p.m. hour since The Nanny, and that was 10 years ago.

Upcoming on CBS in midseason is murder mystery Harper’s Island, and the return of sitcom Rules of Engagement. Fans of The Amazing Race, meanwhile, will be pleased to know that two editions have been ordered for 2008-09. Not returning on Eye network are dramas Cane, Jericho, Shark and Moonlight, and the non-scripted Kids Nation.

Here is CBS’ fall 2008 primetime schedule with the five new shows capped with an asterisk next to it, followed by the new program descriptions:

Monday
8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
9:00 p.m. Two and a Half Men
9:30 p.m. *WORST WEEK
10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami

Tuesday
8:00 p.m. NCIS
9:00 p.m. *THE MENTALIST
10:00 p.m. Without a Trace (new day)

Wednesday
8:00 p.m. The New Adventures of Old Christine (new day and time)
8:30 p.m. *PROJECT GARY
9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds
10:00 p.m. CSI: NY

Thursday
8:00 p.m. Survivor
9:00 p.m. CSI
10:00 p.m.*ELEVENTH HOUR

Friday
8:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer
9:00 p.m. *THE EX LIST
10:00 p.m. Numb3rs

Saturday
8:00 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
9:00 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery

Sunday
7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes
8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race
9:00 p.m. Cold Case
10:00 p.m. The Unit (new day and time)

New Program Descriptions

Comedies

Project Gary
A recently single painting contractor (Jay Mohr) and his controlling ex-wife (Paula Marshall) face post-divorce mayhem after 15 years of marriage as they embark on new relationships.

Worst Week
Based on the British limited run series, the focus of this single camera comedy is on a young couple’s hellish period before they officially start life together as a married couple. Kyle Bornheimer, Erinn Hayes, Nancy Lenehan, Jay Maolone and Kurtwood Smith star.

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Dramas

Eleventh Hour
A professor who is an advisor to a government scientific agency partners with a government operative to troubleshoot any problems or threats to a specific scientific endeavor. Rufus Swell and Marley Shelton star. Jerry Bruckheimer is one of the executive producers.

The Ex List
After a psychic tells a woman she has already met the man she is going to marry, she begins to track down each and every man she has ever dated. The cast includes Elizabeth Reaser, Rachel Boston, Alexandra Breckenridge, Adam Rothenberg and Amir Talai.

Harper’s Island (midseason)
An Agatha Christie-like murder mystery begins to unveil in this interactive drama after a group of friends meet on an island off the Seattle coast for a wedding. The cast includes Elaine Cassidy, Ryan Merriman and Samantha Noble.

The Mentalist
A man with psychic abilities (former The Guardian star Simon Baker) works as an independent contractor for the police. Tim Kang, Amanda Righetti, Shaun Toub, Robin Tunney and Owain Yeoman also star.

Project Gary: interesting concept, but Paula Marshall has that Ted McGinley/Allison LaPlaca "showkiller" reputation.

Harper's Island: what do they mean by "interactive drama". Just reading the description, I'm thinking "Reunion" meets "Push, Nevada".

First glaring thing that stuck out was the complete lack of mid-season shows. Didn't CBS learn anything last year when they had to program Big Brother and Secret Talent of the Stars? Things fall through and complications arise. I did notice it's listed as the "Fall" schedule which means Spring could bring about new shows and changes (hopefully so).

CBS has reportedly kept the options open for My Secret Public Journal or whatever that show is called now and Tower, so both should be picked up when more mid-season announcements are made. Back To You should make it too. Still not loads for mid-season, but better than before.

Harper's Island apparently only got a 6 episode order so it looks like it will slide in between Amazing Race seasons. Rules got a 22 episode order, so it is going to replace a comedy fast in the lineup. Probably Worst Week.

For the new shows, The Mentalist and Ex Life are the weak links and I don't see them lasting past 13. I'm not liking The Unit Sundays at 10 and feel mid-season it needs to move, especially if the football overrun is prevalant. Tower Sundays at 10 mid-season would be a better match.

quote:

Originally posted by WlcmBlueBloodWorstEnemy:
First glaring thing that stuck out was the complete lack of mid-season shows.

Just as with the other networks, the release of the Fall schedule is not intended to address mid-season shows, so why do people incorrectly jump to the conclusion that there must not be any mid-season development in the works?

quote:

Originally posted by Obveeus:

quote:

Originally posted by WlcmBlueBloodWorstEnemy:
First glaring thing that stuck out was the complete lack of mid-season shows.

Just as with the other networks, the release of the Fall schedule is not intended to address mid-season shows, so why do people incorrectly jump to the conclusion that there must not be any mid-season development in the works?

Especially with the strike cutting down on the number of pilots, I'd imagine that the networks are waiting to see how things develop before making decisions on midseason pick-ups.

quote:

Originally posted by Holly:
Especially with the strike cutting down on the number of pilots, I'd imagine that the networks are waiting to see how things develop before making decisions on midseason pick-ups.

Agreed. The timing of the WGA strike has all but forced the networks into 'year round development' at least for this season.

Overall, a pretty solid and stable schedule with most of their strong players (i.e. the “CSI” franchise, “NCIS”, and Monday comedies) remaining intact. So far I’ve been pretty nonplused by the line-ups for ABC and CW (do we still need a “Top Model” encore?), so CBS’s is (in my opinion) the best thus far.

The network looks to have, at least temporarily, solved its Tuesday 10:00 p.m. problem by transplanting the long-running “Without a Trace” there. I’m not sure about the renewal for “The Unit”, which could leave the network vulnerable on Sundays. Speaking of Sundays, I wish CBS would allow some sort of collapsible schedule to take shape during the fall when NFL football coverage routinely bleeds into primetime. Either shorten “60 Minutes” to deal with the overage or program comedies at 8:00 and 8:30 and pre-empt one if football overruns. It looks like fans of “Amazing Race” will have to guess from one week to the next if it will indeed air at 8:00 p.m.

I would only have made a few cosmetic changes to the CBS line-up:

1. I would have canceled “The Unit” and moved the fading “CSI: NY” to Sundays at 10:00 p.m. Surely the Big Apple version of “CSI” would do better than “The Unit” which has been a solid, but mediocre performer at best.

2. I would have moved “Criminal Minds” an hour to 10:00 p.m. on Wednesdays. “Minds”, along with “NCIS” seem to be two series that can hold their own against the (fading) “Idol” juggernaut on Fox. Surely “Minds” would be able to handle ABC’s “Dirty Sexy Money” and NBC’s past-its-prime “Law & Order”.

3. Lastly, I would open up another two-hour comedy block on Wednesday instead of just a one-hour block at 8:00 p.m. The other hour could be filled with the Fox transplant “Back to You” and the returning midseason comedy “Rules of Engagement”. “You” has the look and feel of a CBS style comedy and wasn’t as edgy or irreverent as the typical Fox comedy. If “Engagement” does indeed have a 22-episode commitment, CBS will either have to air it virtually repeat free in midseason (or double up airings) or use it to quickly replace either of their new comedies.

Other than these minor changes, CBS looks poised to retain/regain its title as “America’s Most Watched Network”.

I fell that Project Gary is just a male version of Old Christine.
Perhaps that is why they were pared together on wednesdays

quote:

Originally posted by jdinan:
Project Gary: interesting concept, but Paula Marshall has that Ted McGinley/Allison LaPlaca "showkiller" reputation.

Harper's Island: what do they mean by "interactive drama". Just reading the description, I'm thinking "Reunion" meets "Push, Nevada".

quote:

If “Engagement” does indeed have a 22-episode commitment, CBS will either have to air it virtually repeat free in midseason (or double up airings) or use it to quickly replace either of their new comedies.

I have a feeling that it may need to be ready by the November Sweeps. Project Gary does not sound all that interesting.

I think Project Gary sounds slightly better than Worst Week. That being said, the fall pick ups overall aren't that interesting. I'm underwhelmed and hopefully mid-season will bring some more interesting shows.

1. Worst Week sounds horrible but it will survive because of post 2&1/2 man spot (Same situation as Rules).

2. While CBS's Tuesday 10pm blackhole is now plugged, I would guess cancellation of C2H had already spelled a curse on the Friday 9pm hour. The show 'Ex List', as the title suggested, would not last too long.

Just wondering, will Rules of Enagement take over for any comedy that fails, or do they have other mid-season comedies as well?

THE MENTALIST sounds horrible. Enough with the crime solving!!!

MOONLIGHT fans must be devastated..

quote:

Originally posted by A.C.:
MOONLIGHT fans must be devastated..

What few of them there are.... perhaps.

Sked much as I felt it would be. I didn't buy into the UNIT on friday and felt they might be leary of a new show on Sunday nite in the fall late.

If THE UNIT looks funny at 10pm Sunday that is because that slot has been CBS's "plug" the last two years. It is actually parking there in case - and I'm not saying this will happen - THE MENTALIST blows out at Tues 9. They can slide THE UNIT back to Tues 9 and pop in a midseason replacement onto Sunday.

I felt EX LIST was the show that would hurt MOONLIGHT and am not surprised to see it where it is.

I think the placement of MENTALIST after NCIS is interesting. The question will persist as to exactly what kind of show THE MENTALIST is.

On the surface, it does not appear to be a good match. And I criticized the pairing when it appeared on some website's sked. But the show may be less paranormal than some assume and may be more of an extension of the crime genre. And while I do not like NCIS, I watched it long enough to know it has some very quirky characters and tone for a military drama and maybe some compatibility exists there. Maybe.

As far as llTH HOUR, I have read comments that this is too out there to be post CSI compared to WAT/SHARK. Does anybody believe that mainstream crime procedurals are the ONLY shows CSI viewers are interested in? CSI itself was a major innovation at the time, and while the entertainment value has shifted a good bit from science to cast, it was the science that was the initial hook on CSI.

CBS is strong but in transition, and the imperative to build new hits is stronger now than it has been in years.