Even in a down year, CBS has a lot to be proud of. Sure they didn’t necessarily light the world on fire with any of their new shows, and they’ve fallen a few spots to #3 overall in the 18-49 demo, but they are still #1 convincingly in the overall demo and that shows no signs of stopping. The Big Bang Theory is bigger than ever, HIMYM had a great swan song. Everything else is mostly stable. Their biggest issues really have been establishing a true player on Monday at 10pm and gaining some traction on Sunday nights after 60 Minutes. That said, things look bright for this coming year.
Canceled Shows: Bad Teacher, The Crazy One, Friends With Better Lives, Hostages, Intelligence, We Are Men.
New Shows: Battle Creek, CSI: Cyber, Madam Secretary, The McCarthys, NCIS: New Orleans, The Odd Couple, Scorpion, Stalker, THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL.
So if were looking at the field, it’s obvious that CBS is going to be the #1 network overall next year. They added spinoffs of CSI and NCIS, a new Vince Gilligan show (Battle Creek), generic comedies, and they got primetime football. They could be #1 purely with the addition of football, which allows them to minimize risk. It’s a safe lineup of new shows. The CSINCIS shows will be relied on off the bat and do well, and I expect the McCarthys, and either Scorpion or Stalker to turn into the next crime success story. Battle Creek will earn initial eyeballs as a result of it’s Gilligan pedigree, but who knows if it will fit CBS’s brand.
On the negative front, Madam Secretary being paired with The Good Wife, spells certain disaster. It also sounds like the worst of the politically minded shows this season. The Odd Couple is Matthew Perry’s 54th show since Friends, and I expect the same result as the previous 53. Again, expect either Scorpion or Stalker to bomb. I think Scorpion will bomb because it sounds like tech-based crime and that’s what CSI: Cyber will be covering.
If you look at the makeup of the schedule for next year, there are no big risk slots. I worry for Scorpion because it is marking CBS getting away from the two-hour comedy block on Monday nights, and it will be going against Sleepy Hollow, DWTS, and NBC’s The Voice in a brutal slot. Moving Big Bang temporarily to Mondays during Football season will help. CSI and CSI: Cyber on Sunday nights will surely do better than The Mentalist has, and most other nights have a very logical flow. Again, none of this even matters, because for 8 weeks in the fall, CBS will have primetime football. So cheers to you CBS! You already won.
About Russ Stevens
Russ Stevens is an editor and writer at Rookerville and a guidance counselor at Nyack HS. He mostly writes about either loving or hating things. In his spare time, he performs Improv comedy with his troupe Priest and The Beekeeper and is a co-producer of their monthly variety show Pig Pile. He loves all the New York sports teams that are historically bad, and he hates lateness more than anything in the world.