The highlights
| Comedies | 2 |  |
| Dramas | 4 | |
The ratings leader for the 2009-10 season, CBS was expected to make the fewest changes to its schedule out of any network. But a last-minute flurry of cancellations left some additional holes to be filled in the network's fall schedule, and CBS responded by making some major alterations to its lineup. (The network is still adding relatively few hours of new programming, however.)
- The network has canceled dramas "Ghost Whisperer," "Cold Case," "Miami Medical," and "Numb3rs" and comedies "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Gary Unmarried," and "Accidentally On Purpose." There is a decent chance that ABC may pick up "Ghost Whisperer" (and possibly even "Christine"), though there is no official word yet.
- On the good news front, bubble shows "Medium" and "Rules of Engagement" will return. And Charlie Sheen has inked a deal to remain on the hit "Two and a Half Men" for another two seasons.
- The network has decided to launch a comedy block on Thursday nights (which will include "Big Bang Theory") to compete directly against NBC. As a result, "Survivor" will shift to Wednesdays. Also, veteran procedural "CSI: NY" will move to Friday nights, while "CSI: Miami" shifts to Sundays.
- New CBS shows arriving next season include a "Criminal Minds" spinoff, a sitcom based on a Twitter feed, a return to series television for Tom Selleck ("Blue Bloods") and a remake of "Hawaii Five-0." (Sadly, Selleck is not in Hawaii in his show.) And the network may not be done adding new shows; CBS is still considering additional first-year programs, including "Chaos" from Brett Ratner.
Below, we take a closer look at CBS's projected schedule, followed by descriptions of the network's new programs.
CBS's primetime schedule
In addition to the shows listed below, an untitled "Criminal Minds" spinoff has been picked up for the 2010-11 season and will arrive during midseason on a currently unscheduled day and time.
New programs are indicated in bold in the schedule below. All times are ET/PT unless otherwise indicated.
| 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUN | 60 Minutes | The Amazing Race | Undercover Boss | CSI: Miami | ||||
| MON | How I Met Your Mother | Rules of Engagement | Two and a Half Men | Mike & Molly | Hawaii Five-0 | |||
| TUE | NCIS | NCIS: Los Angeles | The Good Wife | |||||
| WED | Survivor | Criminal Minds | The Defenders | |||||
| THU | The Big Bang Theory | $#*! My Dad Says | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | The Mentalist | ||||
| FRI | Medium | CSI: NY | Blue Bloods | |||||
| SAT | Crimetime Saturday | Crimetime Saturday | 48 Hours Mystery | |||||
CBS's new programs
Blue BloodsFirst-year series on CBS's schedule during the 2010-11 season include:
Blue Bloods (formerly titled Reagan's Law)
Tom Selleck stars in a drama about a multi-generational family of New York cops. The cast also includes Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, and Will Estes.
The DefendersThe Defenders
James Belushi and Jerry O'Connell star as a pair of colorful, Las Vegas-based defense attorneys in this legal dramedy that focuses on both their personal and professional lives.
Hawaii Five-0Hawaii Five-0
This revival of the 1970s cop drama stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan, who are joined by Daniel Dae Kim (who somehow gets to stay in Hawaii after "Lost"), Grace Park, Jean Smart and Taryn Manning. The action centers on a special law enforcement task force charged with keeping Oahu safe. The new series is produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, whose credits include the recent Star Trek movie and "Fringe."
MIke & MollyMike & Molly
The latest sitcom from Chuck Lorre was the network's first official pickup for the 2010-11 season, based solely on Lorre's proven track record with the network (he also executive produces "Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men"). Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy star as an overweight couple in Chicago who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting; the cast also includes Swoosie Kurtz. As CBS itself writes about the show, "For Mike and Molly, thanks to their mutual love of pie and the desire to resist it, finding each other may have been worth the 'weight.'"
$#*! My Dad Says$#*! My Dad Says
The first network series based on a Twitter feed, this sitcom adapted from Justin Halpern's obscenely-titled web sensation about living with his opinionated 74-year-old father. The 29-year-old Halpern also wrote the pilot for the series, which finds star William Shatner shouting politically incorrect observations about life. David Kohan and Max Mutchnick ("Will & Grace") are the executive producers.
Untitled Criminal Minds Spinoff
This midseason procedural will center on Forest Whitaker's FBI profiler character that was introduced during a recent episode of "Criminal Minds." Like its parent show, this spinoff focuses on an elite team of agents at the bureau's Behavioral Analysis Unit who seek out the nation's most notorious criminals.
