By CBS standards, the network is making a large number of moves with its 2013-14 schedule. Changes are in store for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday–including finally pulling the trigger on a 4-sitcom Thursday. Let’s run through it.
MONDAY
8PM: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30PM: WE ARE MEN
9PM: 2 BROKE GIRLS
9:30PM: MOM
10PM: HOSTAGES (fall)/INTELLIGENCE (midseason)
The surprise here is CBS’s decision to hold MIKE & MOLLY (although with a full 22-episode order) for midseason. It allows the network to launch a maximum number of new sitcoms in the fall and hope that more than one of them takes root, knowing it has a reliable standby on hand to fill in any major gap. At first glance, the divorced-guys comedy We Are Men seems an odd fit with the younger-skewing (for CBS) rom-com How I Met Your Mother, while Mom has the post-2 Broke Girls spot. CBS is being unusually aggressive at 10PM, both by moving the steady Hawaii 5-0 off the night and by putting its own high-concept thrillers Hostages and Intelligence against NBC’s much-vaunted The Blacklist. If Mom falters and Hostages doesn’t develop buzz, the night could quickly become risky for the network.
TUESDAY
8PM: NCIS
9PM: NCIS: LA
10PM: PERSON OF INTEREST
The only change here is moving Person of Interest from Thursday into the 10PM slot, against Lucky 7 and Chicago Fire. Unless Lucky 7 catches on, this looks like a winner, and could be helped by the decision to make Sara Shahi a regular on Person, giving that show a young female lead for the first time.
WEDNESDAY
8PM: SURVIVOR
9PM: CRIMINAL MINDS
10PM: CSI
No changes for a night that works.
THURSDAY
8PM: THE BIG BANG THEORY
8:30PM: THE MILLERS
9PM: THE CRAZY ONES
9:30PM: 2 1/2 MEN
10PM: ELEMENTARY
Here it is, the 4-sitcom CBS Thursday. It’s a bit surprising that Big Bang Theory isn’t anchoring the night at 9PM. Instead, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the Robin Williams/Sarah Michelle Gellar/David E. Kelley comedy The Crazy Ones (which is an unusual CBS single camera) to perform there. If it does, 9:30PM could get ugly for NBC, as 2 1/2 Men may wipe the floor with The Michael J. Fox Show. CBS is apparently content with Elementary‘s performance against the surging Scandal at 10PM.
FRIDAY
8PM: UNDERCOVER BOSS
9PM: HAWAII 5-0
10PM: BLUE BLOODS
A move to Friday for an established CBS procedural is like being checked into a retirement community, and this year it’s Hawaii 5-0‘s turn. It should fit perfectly well with Blue Bloods.
SUNDAY
7PM: 60 MINUTES
8PM: THE AMAZING RACE
9PM: THE GOOD WIFE
10PM: THE MENTALIST
Keeping the Good Wife/Mentalist duo intact is a conservative decision on a night where the network could have made a leap. On the other hand, if Revenge can’t find its mojo again, the very stable Good Wife could find itself looking surprisingly strong at 9PM.
Along with Mike & Molly, the new comedy FRIENDS WITH BETTER LIVES and the drama RECKLESS are TBD for midseason.
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