Upfronts - CBS

The upfront analysis rolls on, as we take a look at CBS this week.

Of all the networks, CBS’ schedule is the most boring – and it should be to viewers like us. The eyeball network targets most of its shows toward older viewers, and I guess because older people like solving crimes, almost all of the network’s programming is nearly identical.

However, critics can make fun of CBS’ procedural fixation all they want, but CBS is getting the last laugh by being the only network that had a ratings increase during the tough 2008-09 season.

New shows
With all its success this season, CBS obviously had the least amount of holes to fill. The network is bringing in only four new programs this fall – three dramas and one comedy – and most of the news coming from CBS focuses on what it did not bring back (more on that later). The three new dramas are exactly what you would expect from CBS. The network likes to keep its programming in the old, cliched wheelhouse, as one is about lawyers, one about doctors and the third about investigators.

Of the new programs, “NCIS: Los Angeles” will probably be the most successful. A spin-off of the big hit “NCIS,” starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J, the new iteration will unspool right behind its big brother on Tuesday nights, a move only CBS would try.
One would think a network would want to spread its properties around (heck, CBS has already done this with all its “CSI” programming), but CBS has enough confidence in the rest of its schedule to put the two together. 

The other two newbies seem as lame as most other CBS programs. “The Good Wife” stars ex-“ER” star Julianna Margulies as a lawyer who goes back into practice after her husband gets in trouble with the law. Real exciting, right?

The other, “Three Rivers,” is simply a vehicle for supposed hottie Alex O’Loughlin’s career after CBS axed his other show, “Moonlight,” in May 2008. The show is about organ transplants, a gimmick that can barely keep interest high during special episodes of better medical programming.

The comedy, “Accidently on Purpose,” looks rough – like levels of “Kath and Kim” unfunny rough. 

Though it does not count as “new” per se, “Medium” makes its way over to CBS to pair with “Ghost Whisperer” on Fridays after NBC failed to give the production what it wanted – more than 13 episodes. CBS’ production company produces the program anyway, and it is still successful, so it makes sense for the eyeball to bring it over.  

Returning shows

CBS is so successful that it actually had to cut shows that were still pulling in giant ratings. Toward the end of the season, rumors leaked that the network planned to cut either “Cold Case” or “Without a Trace,” two programs that were in the top 25 in total viewers all season and were still high-quality in comparison to the rest of the network.

“Cold Case” viewers must have gotten the memo, because its ratings went up toward the end of the season, which left the expensive “Trace” without a home, even when it finished with a better season-long rating than “Case.” 

The other important thing to look at for CBS is its Monday comedy lineup, which has been shuffled a bit. “How I Met Your Mother” moves up to 8 p.m. from 8:30 p.m., the spot in which CBS even admits almost got it canceled in the springs of 2007 and 2008. However, because the network wants “Big Bang Theory” to be even more popular, it is moving to 9:30 p.m. The aforementioned newbie “Accidentally on Purpose” cannot anchor the night at 8 p.m., so “Mother” has to be there.  

Final analysis

CBS’ schedule is what it is. Though bland, safe and lacking of any shows that are buzzworthy aside from “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Mentalist” (which is moving to Thursdays), this schedule will still probably rake in more ad dollars than any other.