CBS adds 'NCIS' spinoff, more dramas to fall lineup
After a season that saw little success with new programs, CBS is betting on spinoffs of tried-and-true series to maintain its status as the most-watched network.
CSI: Cyber, starring Patricia Arquette ( Medium) as a 'cyber-psychologist' crime solver, and NCIS: New Orleans will join their popular (and profitable) brethren, and a remake of The Odd Couple starring Matthew Perry, is on tap for midseason. But the network passed on How I Met Your Dad, a reboot of How I Met Your Mother with a new cast led by Greta Gerwig. Andamid a weak season for comedy development--it's reducing Monday's comedy block to oe hour---it's doubling down on hourlong series with six new dramas.
Fall entries include Stalker, starring Dylan McDermott ( Hostages) and Maggie Q ( Nikita) as detectives assigned to victims of stalking crimes; Madam Secretary, starring Tea Leoni as a secretary of state; and Scorpion, an ensemble drama about a group of 'misfits' battling high-tech threats. NCIS: New Orleans, starring Scott Bakula, will inherit NCIS: Los Angeles' Tuesday slot; that series shifts to Mondays, and three NCIS series will be on the air. A fifth new drama for midseason, Battle Creek, is a passion project from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, starring Kal Penn and Dean Winters as Michigan detectives. David Shore ( House) is producing.
CBS' big fall advantage is a package of eight Thursday night NFL games, six of which will air within the regular TV season. As a result, TV's top-rated comedy The Big Bang Theory will temporarily relocate to Mondays (where it began). And the original CSI will move to Sundays, where it will alternate with CBS: Cyber later in the season, while The Amazing Race moves to Fridays.
Starting Oct. 30, Thursdays will feature a similar lineup to this season: Bang, The Millers, Two and a Half Men (for its final season), lone new comedy The McCarthys, about a loud Boston family of sports fans, and Elementary. While still No. 1, CBS's stable of aging shows led to a 10% decline (and a 17% drop among young adults) from last season, when it carried the Super Bowl.
CBS cancelled Hostages, The Crazy Ones and Intelligence but is returning The Millers. The Mentalist, unexpectedly renewed for 13 episodes, will resurface in midseason along with Mike and Molly.
CBS's fall schedule (all times ET/PT; new shows in bold, new timeslots in italics)
Monday: 8, The Big Bang Theory; 8:30, Mom; 9, Scorpion; 10, NCIS: Los Angeles.
Tuesday: 8, NCIS; 9, NCIS:New Orleans; 10, Person of Interest
Wednesday: 8, Survivor; 9, Criminal Minds; 10, Stalker
Thursday: 8, Thursday Night Football (Starting Oct. 30: 8, The Big Bang Theory; 8:30, The Millers; 9, Two and a Half Men; 9:30: The McCarthys; 10 Elementary)
Friday: 8, The Amazing Race; 9, Hawaii Five-0; 10, Blue Bloods
Saturday: 8, Drama repeats; 10, 48 Hours
Sunday: 7, 60 Minutes; 8, Madam Secretary; 9, The Good Wife; 10, CSI
New CBS drama 'Stalker' stars Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott as detectives who investigate stalking incidents(Photo: Richard Cartwright, CBS)
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