CBS doesn’t typically cultivate daring in its fall schedules, but this year it’s making one exception. Here’s a quick look (new shows are in ALL CAPS, new timeslots are in italics):
MONDAY
Sept-Oct
8PM: The Big Bang Theory
8:30PM: LIFE IN PIECES
Nov
8PM: SUPERGIRL
9PM: Scorpion
10PM: NCIS: LA
Running Supergirl against Gotham isn’t as crazy as it seems: not only was Gotham slumping by the end of this past season, but although they’re technically in the same genre, Supergirl is likely to be more female- and family-oriented than the very adult Gotham. Nevertheless, it’s a risky move to make with a very important series. Also, while shifting a new show like Life In Pieces from Monday to Thursday just a few weeks after its debut would normally seem odd, it will be traveling with The Big Bang Theory, and that overrides any other considerations. Scorpion is one of CBS’s newest procedurals, so it should be less at risk of erosion than some of the veterans.
TUESDAY
8PM: NCIS
9PM: NCIS: New Orleans
10PM: LIMITLESS
This is more like typical CBS: the 8-10PM hours stay in place, and although Limitless is subbing for Person of Interest, both are procedurals with a sci-fi twist. The network will try to make the most out of whatever on-screen appearances Executive Producer (and star of the original movie) Bradley Cooper will give them. However, ABC’s Quantico may give Limitless more of a run for its money than CBS has faced in the past from that network in this slot.
WEDNESDAY
8PM: Survivor
9PM: Criminal Minds
10PM: CODE BLACK
Again, just a touch of change at 10PM, where CBS will switch from cop procedural to medical procedural, and hope for better results than Stalker and CSI: Cyber gave it in the 10PM slot this season.
THURSDAY
Sept-Oct
8PM: Thursday Night Football
Nov
8PM: The Big Bang Theory
8:30PM: LIFE IN PIECES
9PM: Mom
9:30PM: ANGEL FROM HELL
10PM: Elementary
Fall Thursdays will get a temporary boost from Thursday Night Football, and then Big Bang Theory will be back to safeguard the 8PM hour, if perhaps a little lower than it’s been. The pairing of Mom with the new Angel From Hell will be interesting, as the latter sounds like it’s going to be much broader than the more nuanced, blue-collar Mom. Elementary will toil in a tough timeslot, facing Shonda Rhimes (now for the full season) on one end, and NBC’s flashy new action show The Player on the other.
FRIDAY
8PM: The Amazing Race
9PM: Hawaii 5-0
10PM: Blue Bloods
Expectations will be for the same modest returns as last season, as the dramas continue to churn out profitable episodes for international and post-network sales.
SUNDAY
7PM: 60 Minutes
8PM: Madam Secretary
9PM: The Good Wife
10PM: CSI: Cyber
The announcement that Ted Danson will move over to CSI: Cyber may give some help to the shaky newcomer (and there may be an early lift from the series finale of mothership CSI, complete with William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger, that will air on the first Sunday of the season). But this night will stay very quiet for the network.
MIDSEASON: The new CRIMINAL MINDS: BEYOND BORDERS and RUSH HOUR, as well as the returns of THE ODD COUPLE, 2 BROKE GIRLS, MIKE & MOLLY, PERSON OF INTEREST and UNDERCOVER BOSS.
OVERALL: CBS’s one big swing will come with SUPERGIRL, which will require recruitment of an audience that may not know where the network is on its Channel Guide. The rest is more or less routine, and should give CBS its usual slightly declining stability–although that decline will be offset by its coverage of the 2016 Super Bowl, which will help its season average, if not its profits. Unless SUPERGIRL hits, CBS is likely to have its usual posture at the network poker table, playing its hands skillfully with a careful eye on its chips.
