Fall Schedule

Sundays
7:00 60 Minutes
8:00 Tracker- new time slot
9:00 The Equalizer- new time slot
10:00 Repeats

Mondays
8:00 The Neighborhood
8:30 Poppa's House- new sitcom
9:00 NCIS
10:00 NCIS: Origins- new drama spin-off

Tuesdays
8:00 FBI
9:00 FBI: International
10:00 FBI: Most Wanted

Wednesdays- ugh continuing with 90 minute episodes of all reality crap the whole night
8:00 Survivor
9:30 The Summit- new reality show

Thursdays
8:00 Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage- new sitcom spin-off from Young Sheldon (really, that's the title they chose? :crazy:)
8:30 Ghosts
9:00 Matlock- drama remake starring Kathy Bates
10:00 Elsbeth

Fridays
8:00 S.W.A.T.
9:00 Fire Country
10:00 Blue Bloods final season continues

Saturdays
8:00 Repeats
10:00 48 Hours

https://tvline.com/news/cbs-fall-schedule-2024-lineup-tracker-young-sheldon-ncis-spinoff-1235227615/

Midseason Schedule

Sundays Spring
7:00 60 Minutes
8:00 Tracker
9:00 The Equalizer
10:00 Watson- new drama

Wednesdays Winter
8:00 The Price is Right at Night
9:00 Raid the Cage
10:00 Hollywood Squares remake- Drew Barrymore as center square

Wednesdays Spring
8:00 Survivor
9:30 The Amazing Race

Fridays Spring
8:00 NCIS: Sydney- new night
9:00 Fire Country
10:00 S.W.A.T.- new time slot

Sheriff Country (spin-off of Fire Country) has been ordered to series. But it won't premiere until the 2025-2026 season.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/fire-country-spin-off-sheriff-country-cbs-picked-up-1235990337/

I knew Blue Bloods wouldn't go beyond this next year like some hoped, but CBS should have at least given it more episodes to go over 300. NCIS: Sydney will do terrible on its new night and won't see a season 3 that airs on CBS anyway.

Blog story: https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2024/05/cbs-2024-25-schedule-axs-tvs-shirley.html

CBS ANNOUNCES ITS 2024-2025 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE

The New Scripted Series "Matlock," "Poppa's House," "NCIS: Origins" and "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" Join 18 Returning Shows

High-Stakes Competition Show "The Summit," Hosted by Manu Bennett, to Debut After "Survivor" in Fall; "The Amazing Race" Returns in Spring

"Hollywood Squares," Starring Drew Barrymore as the Center Square, to Premiere in January as Part of the New "Game Show Wednesdays" Paired with "The Price Is Right at Night" and "Raid the Cage"

The New Drama "Watson," Starring Morris Chestnut, to Debut Mid-Season



CBS today announced its 2024-2025 primetime programming lineup of CBS Originals, featuring three new dramas, two new comedies, a new alternative series, a reimagined classic game show, special event programming and 18 returning series.

New drama series for fall include NCIS: ORIGINS, starring Austin Stowell as a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs and narrated by flagship NCIS series star Mark Harmon; and MATLOCK, a reimagining of the classic television series, starring Emmy and Academy Award winner Kathy Bates as a brilliant, wily lawyer with unusual and unexpected tactics. Midseason will introduce WATSON, starring Morris Chestnut as a modern version of one of history's greatest detectives solving medical mysteries.

The new multi-camera comedies for fall are POPPA'S HOUSE, starring Damon Wayans as happily divorced "Poppa" who finds himself still parenting his adult son, Damon Wayans Jr; and GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE, the sequel to YOUNG SHELDON, following Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) as they raise their young family in Texas while navigating the challenges of adulthood, parenting and marriage.

The new fall alternative series is THE SUMMIT, hosted by Manu Bennett, which follows 16 strangers embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime journey through the treacherous New Zealand Alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a distant, towering mountain and win $1 million. Midseason will launch a new edition of the legendary game show HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, starring Drew Barrymore as the center square, in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes.

The new schedule of CBS Original series also includes the return of the new #1 series on television, TRACKER, starring Justin Hartley; the 2023-2024 season's #2 new program, ELSBETH, starring Carrie Preston; the world's #1 TV franchise, NCIS; and #1 news program 60 MINUTES.

"This is another CBS primetime schedule that will break through the clutter and entertain a mass audience," said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. "We're grateful to the creative talent who deliver the characters and stories, as well as the viewers who spend nights, seasons and years with them."

In addition to CBS' new and returning top series, the Network's year-round schedule of original programming also features annual high-profile events, including the return of the GRAMMY Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, the Tony Awards, the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash and the recently announced American Music Awards.

CBS Sports' portfolio of marquee properties and championships will feature the NFL, with a schedule highlighted by TV's most-watched window at 4:25 PM, ET on Sundays, as well as Wild Card and Divisional Playoff games plus the AFC Championship in January, NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament - including the Final Four and National Championship- in March, the Masters Tournament in April, the PGA Championship in May and the UEFA Champions League Final in June. A full season of Big Ten Football comes to CBS this fall at 3:30 PM, ET on Saturdays. CBS will broadcast the Big Ten Football Championship for the first time in December and will also air the NWSL Championship game in primetime in November.

Fast forwarding one year into the future, the Network also ordered its first new series for the 2025-26 broadcasting season - the drama series SHERIFF COUNTRY, starring Morena Baccarin, an extension of the FIRE COUNTRY universe.

The following is the new 2024-2025 schedule:

MONDAY - Monday night features the additions of two new series. The popular comedy THE NEIGHBORHOOD returns for its seventh season at 8:00 PM, paired with the new comedy POPPA'S HOUSE at 8:30 PM. At 9:00 PM, the flagship series NCIS returns for season 22, as a powerful lead-in for the new drama NCIS: ORIGINS at 10:00 PM.

TUESDAY - FBI Tuesday returns with the top-rated lineup of the night. FBI opens the night at 8:00 PM, followed by FBI: INTERNATIONAL at 9:00 PM and FBI: MOST WANTED concluding the block of heroic storytelling at 10:00 PM.

WEDNESDAY - Wednesday night returns in fall and spring with two 90-minute high-stakes competition series, and in mid-winter a special all game show-themed night. In fall, the groundbreaking reality series SURVIVOR kicks off the night at 8:00 PM, serving as a compatible lead-in for the new reality series THE SUMMIT at 9:30 PM. The annual midseason winter break between the spring edition of SURVIVOR and the return of THE AMAZING RACE at 9:30 PM will be eventized with three game shows. A special primetime THE PRICE IS RIGHT AT NIGHT, hosted by Drew Carey, kicks off the festivities at 8:00 PM followed by the return of RAID THE CAGE, hosted by Damon Wayans, Jr. and co-host Jeannie Mai, at 9:00 PM, leading into a new edition of the HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, starring Drew Barrymore as the center square, at 10:00 PM.

THURSDAY - Thursdays feature a thematic night of comedy and humorous dramas. At 8:00 PM, the new comedy GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE leads into the #2 comedy series, GHOSTS, at 8:30 PM. The amusing new legal drama MATLOCK, starring Emmy and Academy Award winner Kathy Bates, debuts at 9:00 PM and serves as lead-in to the critically acclaimed #2 new series, ELSBETH, at 10:00 PM.

FRIDAY - Friday night features the return of S.W.A.T. at 8:00 PM followed by the hit drama FIRE COUNTRY at 9:00 PM. At 10:00 PM, BLUE BLOODS closes out the night as it returns for the second half of its 14th and final season. Following the conclusion of Blue Bloods in midseason, NCIS: SYDNEY leads off the night at 8:00 PM, with FIRE COUNTRY remaining in the 9:00 PM slot followed by S.W.A.T. at 10:00 PM.

SATURDAY - CBS' Saturday night lineup features encore broadcasts of the Network's popular dramas at 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM, followed at 10:00 PM by the true crime docuseries 48 HOURS, Saturday's #1 non-sports primetime series.

SUNDAY - Sunday night begins at 7:00 PM with 60 MINUTES, television's acclaimed #1 news program, followed at 8:00 PM by television's new #1 series, TRACKER. At 9:00 PM, THE EQUALIZER, starring Queen Latifah, returns for a fifth season. During the first half of the season, when the CBS Sunday primetime lineup often has a delayed start due to late afternoon NFL broadcasts, the 10:00 PM slot will feature encore broadcasts of popular Network dramas. In midseason, after the end of football, TRACKER and THE EQUALIZER will provide a potent lead-in to the new drama WATSON at 10:00 PM.

THE NEW FALL DRAMAS:

NCIS: ORIGINS (Monday, 10:00-11:00 PM)



NCIS: ORIGINS follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and is narrated by Mark Harmon. In the series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid).

NCIS: ORIGINS stars Austin Stowell as young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks, Mariel Molino as Special Agent Lala Dominguez, Tyla Abercrumbie as Field Operation Support Officer Mary Jo Sullivan and Diany Rodriguez as Special Agent Vera Strickland. Flagship series star Mark Harmon will narrate and executive produce. In addition to Harmon, Sean Harmon, David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal will executive produce, with North and Monreal co-writing the premiere episode and serving as co-showrunners. Niels Arden Oplev will executive produce and direct the pilot. The series is produced by CBS Studios.

MATLOCK (Thursday, 9:00-10:00 PM)



MATLOCK stars Kathy Bates as the brilliant septuagenarian Madeline "Matty" Matlock, who, after achieving success in her younger years, decides to rejoin the workforce at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. Matty is assigned to Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker with a thirst for justice, while Olympia's ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), the son of the head of the firm, is intrigued by Matty and her clever skills. Matty works alongside the firm's younger associates - the charismatic Billy (David Del Rio) and the uber ambitious Sarah (Leah Lewis) - as she endeavors to establish herself in her new high-stakes world. MATLOCK is a reimagining of the classic television series of the same name.

MATLOCK stars Kathy Bates as Madeline "Matty" Matlock, Skye P. Marshall as Olympia, Jason Ritter as Julian, David Del Rio as Billy and Leah Lewis as Sarah. Bates, Jennie Snyder Urman, Joanna Klein, Eric Christian Olsen, John Will and Kat Coiro are executive producers. Coiro directed the pilot from a script written by Urman. The series is produced by CBS Studios.

NEW FALL COMEDIES:

GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE (Thursday, 8:00-8:30 PM)



GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE, the sequel to YOUNG SHELDON, follows Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) as they raise their young family in Texas while navigating the challenges of adulthood, parenting and marriage.

GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE stars Montana Jordan as Georgie and Emily Osment as Mandy. Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro and Steve Holland will serve as executive producers of the series, from Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television.

POPPA'S HOUSE (Monday, 8:30-9:00 PM)



POPPA'S HOUSE, starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr., features Wayans as legendary talk radio host and happily divorced "Poppa" who has his point of view challenged at work when a new female co-host (Essence Atkins) is hired, and at home where he finds himself still parenting his adult son (Damon Wayans Jr.), a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband.

POPPA'S HOUSE stars Damon Wayans as Poppa, Damon Wayans Jr. as Damon, Essence Atkins as Ivy and Tetona Jackson as Nina. The Wayans and Dean Lorey are executive producers. Andy Ackerman directed the pilot from a script written by Kevin Hench and Wayans. The series is produced by CBS Studios.

NEW ALTERNATIVE SERIES:

THE SUMMIT (Wednesday, 9:30-11:00 PM)



THE SUMMIT, hosted by Manu Bennett, follows 16 strangers embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime journey through the treacherous New Zealand Alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a distant, towering mountain. With their backpacks containing an equal share of $1 million, the group must traverse an exhausting distance in just 14 days in order to win the cash they are carrying. But not everyone will make it, as these strangers must work together to tackle the dangerous terrain, unforgiving Antarctic winds, heart-pounding challenges and gut-wrenching eliminations on their way to the peak. Tracking them along this journey is the "Mountain's Keeper" who will surprise the trekkers with brutal twists and force decisions that complicate an already grueling ascent. Morals and relationships will be tested when they must decide what to do if someone falls behind - because if the group fails to reach THE SUMMIT in time, all the prize money will be lost.

THE SUMMIT is produced by Endemol Shine North America. Kevin Lee, Tina Nicotera and Endemol Shine North America's Sharon Levy and Michael Heyerman are executive producers. The series is based on a format by Endemol Shine Australia and Nine.

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES (Wednesday Beginning in January, 10:00-11:00 PM)

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, starring Drew Barrymore, is a classic game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes. The "board" for the game is a vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The celebrities are asked questions and the contestants judge the legitimacy of their answers to win the game. Award-winning actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore will take her place as the famed "center square" answering questions for the contestants.

HOLLYWOOD SQUARES is produced by Jesse Collins for Jesse Collins Entertainment and Drew Barrymore and Flower Films.

NEW DRAMA FOR MIDSEASON:

WATSON (Premieres Sunday Mid-Season, 10:00-11:00 PM)

WATSON takes place seven months after the death of the titular character's friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty. Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. Watson's old life isn't done with him, though - Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century. Watson is a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of one of history's greatest detectives as he turns his attention from solving crimes to solving medical mysteries.

WATSON stars Morris Chestnut as Dr. John Watson. Craig Sweeny wrote the pilot and will showrun and executive produce. Additional executive producers include Chestnut, Aaron Kaplan and Brian Morewitz for Kapital Entertainment, Sallie Patrick and Shäron Moalem MD, PhD. Larry Teng will executive produce and direct the first episode. The series is produced by CBS Studios.

NEW DRAMA FOR 2025-2026 BROADCAST SEASON:

SHERIFF COUNTRY

SHERIFF COUNTRY stars Morena Baccarin as straight-shooting sheriff Mickey Fox, the stepsister of Cal Fire's division chief Sharon Leone (Diane Farr of FIRE COUNTRY), who investigates criminal activity as she patrols the streets of small-town Edgewater while contending with her ex-con father and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter. SHERIFF COUNTRY is an expansion of the universe of the hit drama series FIRE COUNTRY.

The SHERIFF COUNTRY initial episode is being written by Tony Phelan and Joan Rater with story by Phelan, Rater and Max Thieriot. Executive producers are Thieriot, Phelan, Rater, and Jerry Bruckheimer and KristieAnne Reed for JBTV. The series is produced by CBS Studios.

The first midseason schedule change I'm calling is George and Mandy's First Marriage and Ghosts swapping timeslots after the former gets low ratings and is beaten by Ghosts. I've never understood any logic in veteran shows in hammock slots leading out of unproven freshman shows in anchor slots.

I feel the original NCIS should be the next veteran series ending its original run after Blue Bloods concludes. Blue Bloods's series finale would definitely be airing this month if "Strikemageddon" hadn't occurred; then the Friday lineup this fall would be NCIS: Sydney at 8, the 2017 version of S.W.A.T. at 9, and Fire Country at 10. It remains to be seen how long S.W.A.T. 2017 is realistically going to last after its sudden retirement reversal before cost-prohibitiveness gets in the way so S.W.A.T. 2017 ends up re-cancelled—this time for good—with no proper send-off at all.

NCIS: Origins looks like it is undeserving of being a multi-season show, so it should have been a miniseries like Rich Man, Poor Man.

I am so glad that Tracker is being put on the timeslot after 60 Minutes and not be doomed to low viewership elsewhere on the schedule, even with my initial doubts over the series's long-term prospects because of being unowned. I am, however, also unpleased with 90-minute editions of Survivor (which is just as big a waste of scheduling as the two-hour editions of Dateline and 20/20).

The first midseason schedule change I'm calling is George and Mandy's First Marriage and Ghosts swapping timeslots after the former gets low ratings and is beaten by Ghosts. I've never understood any logic in veteran shows in hammock slots leading out of unproven freshman shows in anchor slots.

Blue Bloods's series finale would definitely be airing this month if "Strikemageddon" hadn't occurred; then the Friday lineup this fall would be NCIS: Sydney at 8, the 2017 version of S.W.A.T. at 9, and Fire Country at 10.

NCIS: Sydney never would have aired on CBS period if the strikes hadn't happened, it was filler. They wouldn't waste Fire Country moving to 10:00 either out of its anchor slot. If FC moves it will be an hour earlier to 8:00 to lead into Sheriff Country.

Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage is likely leading off since Young Sheldon fans are used to watching them there. Ghosts really doesn't seem like an 8PM show (or 8:30 either but they are still paying for cutting the 2 hour Thursday block). And if it is the right sitcom a freshman can anchor, what ABC should have done being ready with Tim Allen's new comedy at 8:00 on Wednesdays instead of reality garbage. And while I wish it were on Tuesday, Happy's Place with Reba is a much better choice to lead off NBC Fridays than Lopez vs. Lopez which has been low rated from the start. Just because a sitcom is a veteran doesn't mean it is proven, marginal renewals have often happened if a network doesn't have anything better to bring back. Modern Family was the biggest sitcom hit of the 2010s besides TBBT, it anchored an hour from the very beginning as a freshman. ABC's only returning sitcoms that year were Scrubs and Better Off Ted. If either of them had anchored at 9:00 with Modern Family pushed to 9:30 results would have been a lot different.

NCIS: Sydney never would have aired on CBS period if the strikes hadn't happened, it was filler. They wouldn't waste Fire Country moving to 10:00 either out of its anchor slot. If FC moves it will be an hour earlier to 8:00 to lead into Sheriff Country.

Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage is likely leading off since Young Sheldon fans are used to watching them there. Ghosts really doesn't seem like an 8PM show (or 8:30 either but they are still paying for cutting the 2 hour Thursday block). And if it is the right sitcom a freshman can anchor, what ABC should have done being ready with Tim Allen's new comedy at 8:00 on Wednesdays instead of reality garbage. And while I wish it were on Tuesday, Happy's Place with Reba is a much better choice to lead off NBC Fridays than Lopez vs. Lopez which has been low rated from the start. Just because a sitcom is a veteran doesn't mean it is proven, marginal renewals have often happened if a network doesn't have anything better to bring back. Modern Family was the biggest sitcom hit of the 2010s besides TBBT, it anchored an hour from the very beginning as a freshman. ABC's only returning sitcoms that year were Scrubs and Better Off Ted. If either of them had anchored at 9:00 with Modern Family pushed to 9:30 results would have been a lot different.

Here is one crazy scenario I'm imagining for next season (all because I'm hesitant to see the wrong shows become long-runners):

The other three Thursday shows (Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, the 2024 version of Matlock, and Elsbeth) drag-down the viewership for Ghosts, and all of them end up cancelled next May due to insufficient viewership, leaving CBS to start over on Thursday nights in Fall 2025, with Ghosts leading off at 8 pm. You ask me which shows I want to move there, I would choose FBI: International, NCIS: Origins (if that one actually does become a multi-season series), Fire Country (to make room for Sheriff Country), or maybe Tracker or the 2021 version of The Equalizer.

Also, why I'm suggesting Georgie & Mandy's and Ghosts switch timeslots at midseason is because I'm not going to have a freshman in an anchor slot be a single-season failure. During the 2013-14 season, on the Thursday at 9 hour, CBS had The Crazy Ones on the anchor slot, and veteran Two and a Half Men on the hammock slot (which is usually seen as a burial for a veteran show that has always occupied anchor slots. After the Sochi Olympics, Crazy Ones and TaaHM did end up swapping their timeslots (mainly because Crazy Ones tried to drag down TaaHM's ratings, and Crazy Ones's viewership started getting beaten by that of TaaHM after the former's seventh episode), and at the end of the season, The Crazy Ones was cancelled. Roseanne, during its freshman season, only got an anchor slot because Moonlighting's ratings were on the decline and it (Moonlighting) ended up being moved from Tuesdays to Sundays.

The real Alphabet network already has CSI, NCIS, and FBI franchises. They could always start CIA, ATF, and TSA franchises. :lol:

Two of CBS's most recent serieses to premiere after the Super-Bowl had both been previously scheduled to return for their next seasons on October 27. Now, the season two premiere of Tracker will instead kick off CBS's Premiere Week on October 13, leading into the season 26 finale of Big Brother. The 2021 version of The Equalizer will premiere its season five on October 20 (60 Minutes will air a special 90-minute episode on the same day).

https://tvline.com/news/tracker-season-2-release-date-the-equalizer-season-5-premiere-cbs-1235295754/

CBS unveils “You’re Laughing at CBS" comedy campaign (https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/cbs-comedy-brand-youre-laughing-ghosts-neighborhood-1236147577/)

“People will say that CBS is old and stodgy, but actually, if you look at our programming, it’s really not,” says CBS president/chief marketing officer Mike Benson of the tagline that will be used on shows like Ghosts and The Neighborhood. “I think we’ve got a lot of work to do, from a brand perspective, to show that we can have a lot of fun. That we are willing to poke fun at ourselves as much as we want people to come in and laugh at the shows that we’ve got.”

CBS unveils “You’re Laughing at CBS" comedy campaign (https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/cbs-comedy-brand-youre-laughing-ghosts-neighborhood-1236147577/)

:(What is the point of getting into CBS or any of its comedy division right now if it'll never be given a ratings boost after the end of The Big Bang Theory five years ago by having one of its comedies air after the Super Bowl? Yes, I will never stop being so hung-up over the post-SB timeslot being wasted on drama while CBS acts like they're just forbidding their own sitcoms from getting that same opportunity, and God help CBS when the 2027-28 season comes. At this point, I am just about ready to give up on CBS altogether.:crying:

It is bad enough Tracker will be delayed by football on weeks CBS has the 4:30 game. On a week with no sports overruns Tracker will be delayed to 8:30/7:30 on October 20 because of a 90 minute episode of 60 Minutes. :rolleyes:

CBS has created its own “world” of shows (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/18/arts/television/cbs-ncis-georgie-mandy-elsbeth.html)

This week the network rolled out an “NCIS” spinoff, a “Young Sheldon” spinoff, a “Good Wife” spinoff and … “Matlock”?

By Mike Hale
Oct. 18, 2024

CBS is reconvening this week, premiering a dozen of its dramas and comedies, including 10 of last season’s 15 most-watched scripted shows. You might dismiss the network’s dominance of the broadcast ratings as a case of being the top dog on a small playground, but the seven million to 10 million viewers each of those shows drew — before any streaming numbers were added — probably don’t care much about your opinion.

Along with the returning CBS hits this week come two new shows, “NCIS: Origins” and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” and one that still feels new, “Elsbeth,” which premiered in February and is starting its second season.

These additions to the schedule are nominally very different from one another, contributing to the diverse menu a big-box television outlet needs to offer: a sentimental buds-and-blood crime procedural set on a California military base (“NCIS: Origins”); a wacky-Texas-family sitcom (“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage”); and an archly comic case-of-the-week detective series set in New York (“Elsbeth”).

But their differences are less notable than the thing they have in common: Each has emerged from the CBS ecosystem, spun off from one of the network’s existing franchises. “Origins” is the sixth “NCIS” show; “Georgie” follows “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon”; and “Elsbeth” stars a character who was introduced in “The Good Wife” and later appeared in “The Good Fight.”

There are a couple of ways to look at that. You can see timidity and lack of imagination, and an overreliance on proven quantities like the sitcom mogul Chuck Lorre (“Georgie”) and the smart-drama mavens Michelle and Robert King (“Elsbeth”). But you can also see shrewd strategy at a time when seemingly unlimited choice and the associated fracturing of the audience make viewers’ desires for familiarity and comfort stronger than ever. All of the major streamers could take lessons in brand management from CBS.

The network does not have a “universe” in the sense of Marvel’s crisscrossing superhero stories or the byzantine timelines of the “Star Wars” franchise. But it has a sensibility that is actually more consistent, across a variety of genres and creators. There may not be a CBS universe, but there is a CBS world, a zone with a common language and values. Traveling from “Blue Bloods” to “Fire Country” to “Tracker,” you won’t have any problems at the border.

The shows arriving this week — to which we can add “Matlock,” also in its first season, and “Tracker,” another February arrival — hew to the brand, similar in ways that are hard to quantify but still visible. Easiest to see is the attribute that makes the shows easy for many to dismiss: They are resolutely formulaic, each following a familiar path in nearly every episode. That is not to say that they are entirely predictable, from moment to moment, but they avoid rude surprises.

That is a timeworn observation about shows across all broadcast networks. More particular to the CBS shows is how they balance what can be seen as appeals to Middle American conservatism with nods to blue-state values.

Amid the standard investigation and suspense motifs of “Origins,” we see the crusty team leader, Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid), reluctantly facing up to issues of gender and race in the workplace; but his retrograde attitudes and jokes are still woven, at face value, into the show’s humor. (To be fair, it takes place in 1991.)

“Georgie,” set in the mid-1990s between “Young Sheldon” and “The Big Bang Theory,” focuses sympathetically on the efforts of Mandy (Emily Osment) to find a job while making clumsy jokes about the importance of her breasts in the imagination of Georgie (Montana Jordan), a notion we are probably meant to see as natural given that he is 12 years younger than she is. (The presentation of Georgie as both an adolescent, good-old-boy dimwit and a well-meaning, deceptively smart striver encapsulates the straddle CBS is always trying to pull off.)

In “Matlock,” the lawyer played by Kathy Bates nearly derails her firm's pursuit of a sexual-harassment case when she admits that her age and experience led her to distrust the young plaintiff.

In “Elsbeth,” Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth Tascioni, a Chicagoan temporarily attached to the New York police, is an awe-struck tourist in the big city (probably an experience familiar to many viewers) who also maintains a visitor’s critical distance. In Thursday’s season premiere, she falls in love with opera under the tutelage of a murderer charmingly played by Nathan Lane, but does not plan to go back to the opera house anytime soon — once or twice a year is enough, she notes with asperity.

All of the plot elements or throwaway lines involving social or cultural values are written without any reference whatsoever to actual politics or events in the larger world, of course; reality is in every case subsumed by formula and genre. This relates to another notable characteristic of the CBS shows: the way in which they seem to exist both in and out of time. They take place in specific moments on the calendar, but those time frames seem relevant only as a framework on which to hang jokes, references, costumes and props.

That free-floating quality points to a central truth about the CBS shows: Their universe is the world of broadcast TV itself. They occupy a timeless, homogeneous zone that is comfortably self-referential without being meta in a way that could be distracting or challenging.

“Elsbeth” is derived not just from the Kings’ earlier shows, but also from the template set by the beloved 1970s NBC detective show “Columbo.” “Matlock” plays with the folksy-lawyer premise of its namesake, the 1980s-’90s “Matlock” on NBC and ABC.

“Georgie” is strongly reminiscent of one of the most popular shows during the era in which it is set, ABC’s “Roseanne.” (The sympathetic father and father-in-law played by Will Sasso is a direct gloss on John Goodman’s Dan.) “Tracker” carries some DNA from the great Fox series “The X-Files.” It also directly invokes the CW bellwether “Supernatural,” with Jensen Ackles guest-starring in a role practically identical to the caustic, protective older brother he played in that earlier series (and driving a very similar black Chevy).

All that really matters for these shows is executing on their premises and formulas; if they keep faith, they will find an audience waiting for them. If you want to make distinctions, though, the edge probably goes to the featherweight but amusing “Elsbeth,” which has the polish and some of the wit that the Kings usually supply. (Its mysteries are almost offensively simple minded, though.) “Matlock” has a clever season-long premise to generate suspense and engaging performances by Bates and by Skye P. Marshall as a fierce younger lawyer; the case-of-the-week plots are undercooked, however, and Beau Bridges, as the firm’s alpha partner, is severely underused.

“NCIS: Origins” has some surface interest as a darker than usual variation on the “NCIS” blueprint, which usually calls for a mix of light buddy-cop banter and grisly homicide. Austin Stowell, playing the central character Leroy Jethro Gibbs at the beginning of his law-enforcement career, is about as expressive as Mark Harmon was when he played Gibbs on “NCIS”; Harmon made it work for 19 seasons, but Stowell may not get as much time to perfect his deadpan. (Harmon, who left the original series several seasons ago, returns here as narrator.)

“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” has the misfortune of having the slenderest connection to its predecessors. The center of gravity of both “Big Bang” and “Young Sheldon,” the comically obsessive scientist Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons as an adult and Iain Armitage as a child), is not present, and without him it is hard to see much of a purpose in the spinoff. (The show adds a Sheldon surrogate in the person of a twitchy, obsessive musician played by Dougie Baldwin; in the first few episodes it looks like a miscalculation.)

Georgie, Sheldon’s older brother, and Mandy run through achingly familiar sitcom scenarios of working-class travail, leavened only by the performance of Rachel Bay Jones (an Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner for “Dear Evan Hansen”) as Mandy’s disapproving mother. But it is still a good bet that more than a few of the nine million people who watched the last season of “Young Sheldon” will make the painless journey to “Georgie.”

CBS has created its own “world” of shows (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/18/arts/television/cbs-ncis-georgie-mandy-elsbeth.html)

This week the network rolled out an “NCIS” spinoff, a “Young Sheldon” spinoff, a “Good Wife” spinoff and … “Matlock”?

By Mike Hale
Oct. 18, 2024

CBS is reconvening this week, premiering a dozen of its dramas and comedies, including 10 of last season’s 15 most-watched scripted shows. You might dismiss the network’s dominance of the broadcast ratings as a case of being the top dog on a small playground, but the seven million to 10 million viewers each of those shows drew — before any streaming numbers were added — probably don’t care much about your opinion.

Along with the returning CBS hits this week come two new shows, “NCIS: Origins” and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” and one that still feels new, “Elsbeth,” which premiered in February and is starting its second season.

These additions to the schedule are nominally very different from one another, contributing to the diverse menu a big-box television outlet needs to offer: a sentimental buds-and-blood crime procedural set on a California military base (“NCIS: Origins”); a wacky-Texas-family sitcom (“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage”); and an archly comic case-of-the-week detective series set in New York (“Elsbeth”).

But their differences are less notable than the thing they have in common: Each has emerged from the CBS ecosystem, spun off from one of the network’s existing franchises. “Origins” is the sixth “NCIS” show; “Georgie” follows “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon”; and “Elsbeth” stars a character who was introduced in “The Good Wife” and later appeared in “The Good Fight.”

There are a couple of ways to look at that. You can see timidity and lack of imagination, and an overreliance on proven quantities like the sitcom mogul Chuck Lorre (“Georgie”) and the smart-drama mavens Michelle and Robert King (“Elsbeth”). But you can also see shrewd strategy at a time when seemingly unlimited choice and the associated fracturing of the audience make viewers’ desires for familiarity and comfort stronger than ever. All of the major streamers could take lessons in brand management from CBS.

The network does not have a “universe” in the sense of Marvel’s crisscrossing superhero stories or the byzantine timelines of the “Star Wars” franchise. But it has a sensibility that is actually more consistent, across a variety of genres and creators. There may not be a CBS universe, but there is a CBS world, a zone with a common language and values. Traveling from “Blue Bloods” to “Fire Country” to “Tracker,” you won’t have any problems at the border.

The shows arriving this week — to which we can add “Matlock,” also in its first season, and “Tracker,” another February arrival — hew to the brand, similar in ways that are hard to quantify but still visible. Easiest to see is the attribute that makes the shows easy for many to dismiss: They are resolutely formulaic, each following a familiar path in nearly every episode. That is not to say that they are entirely predictable, from moment to moment, but they avoid rude surprises.

That is a timeworn observation about shows across all broadcast networks. More particular to the CBS shows is how they balance what can be seen as appeals to Middle American conservatism with nods to blue-state values.

Amid the standard investigation and suspense motifs of “Origins,” we see the crusty team leader, Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid), reluctantly facing up to issues of gender and race in the workplace; but his retrograde attitudes and jokes are still woven, at face value, into the show’s humor. (To be fair, it takes place in 1991.)

“Georgie,” set in the mid-1990s between “Young Sheldon” and “The Big Bang Theory,” focuses sympathetically on the efforts of Mandy (Emily Osment) to find a job while making clumsy jokes about the importance of her breasts in the imagination of Georgie (Montana Jordan), a notion we are probably meant to see as natural given that he is 12 years younger than she is. (The presentation of Georgie as both an adolescent, good-old-boy dimwit and a well-meaning, deceptively smart striver encapsulates the straddle CBS is always trying to pull off.)

In “Matlock,” the lawyer played by Kathy Bates nearly derails her firm's pursuit of a sexual-harassment case when she admits that her age and experience led her to distrust the young plaintiff.

In “Elsbeth,” Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth Tascioni, a Chicagoan temporarily attached to the New York police, is an awe-struck tourist in the big city (probably an experience familiar to many viewers) who also maintains a visitor’s critical distance. In Thursday’s season premiere, she falls in love with opera under the tutelage of a murderer charmingly played by Nathan Lane, but does not plan to go back to the opera house anytime soon — once or twice a year is enough, she notes with asperity.

All of the plot elements or throwaway lines involving social or cultural values are written without any reference whatsoever to actual politics or events in the larger world, of course; reality is in every case subsumed by formula and genre. This relates to another notable characteristic of the CBS shows: the way in which they seem to exist both in and out of time. They take place in specific moments on the calendar, but those time frames seem relevant only as a framework on which to hang jokes, references, costumes and props.

That free-floating quality points to a central truth about the CBS shows: Their universe is the world of broadcast TV itself. They occupy a timeless, homogeneous zone that is comfortably self-referential without being meta in a way that could be distracting or challenging.

“Elsbeth” is derived not just from the Kings’ earlier shows, but also from the template set by the beloved 1970s NBC detective show “Columbo.” “Matlock” plays with the folksy-lawyer premise of its namesake, the 1980s-’90s “Matlock” on NBC and ABC.

“Georgie” is strongly reminiscent of one of the most popular shows during the era in which it is set, ABC’s “Roseanne.” (The sympathetic father and father-in-law played by Will Sasso is a direct gloss on John Goodman’s Dan.) “Tracker” carries some DNA from the great Fox series “The X-Files.” It also directly invokes the CW bellwether “Supernatural,” with Jensen Ackles guest-starring in a role practically identical to the caustic, protective older brother he played in that earlier series (and driving a very similar black Chevy).

All that really matters for these shows is executing on their premises and formulas; if they keep faith, they will find an audience waiting for them. If you want to make distinctions, though, the edge probably goes to the featherweight but amusing “Elsbeth,” which has the polish and some of the wit that the Kings usually supply. (Its mysteries are almost offensively simple minded, though.) “Matlock” has a clever season-long premise to generate suspense and engaging performances by Bates and by Skye P. Marshall as a fierce younger lawyer; the case-of-the-week plots are undercooked, however, and Beau Bridges, as the firm’s alpha partner, is severely underused.

“NCIS: Origins” has some surface interest as a darker than usual variation on the “NCIS” blueprint, which usually calls for a mix of light buddy-cop banter and grisly homicide. Austin Stowell, playing the central character Leroy Jethro Gibbs at the beginning of his law-enforcement career, is about as expressive as Mark Harmon was when he played Gibbs on “NCIS”; Harmon made it work for 19 seasons, but Stowell may not get as much time to perfect his deadpan. (Harmon, who left the original series several seasons ago, returns here as narrator.)

“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” has the misfortune of having the slenderest connection to its predecessors. The center of gravity of both “Big Bang” and “Young Sheldon,” the comically obsessive scientist Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons as an adult and Iain Armitage as a child), is not present, and without him it is hard to see much of a purpose in the spinoff. (The show adds a Sheldon surrogate in the person of a twitchy, obsessive musician played by Dougie Baldwin; in the first few episodes it looks like a miscalculation.)

Georgie, Sheldon’s older brother, and Mandy run through achingly familiar sitcom scenarios of working-class travail, leavened only by the performance of Rachel Bay Jones (an Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner for “Dear Evan Hansen”) as Mandy’s disapproving mother. But it is still a good bet that more than a few of the nine million people who watched the last season of “Young Sheldon” will make the painless journey to “Georgie.”

Also, why I'm suggesting Georgie & Mandy's and Ghosts switch timeslots at midseason is because I'm not going to have a freshman in an anchor slot be a single-season failure.Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage is doing very well. Last night it was a strong 0.53 rating, by far the best of the night on any network. Ghosts is not being hurt by its lead-in either, at 0.47 the only other Thursday show that was not under 0.4.

Jesse Lee Soffer was better than I thought he would be as FBI: International's new lead. He is no Luke Kleintank, but better than the temporary lead at the end of last season.

BREAKING NEWS: The Grammy Awards will leave CBS after 2026 in favor of a 10-year broadcast deal with the Walt Disney Company which will see ABC be the official broadcaster of the Grammy Awards after 2027.

https://deadline.com/2024/10/the-grammys-move-cbs-to-disney-10-year-deal-1236162518/

There goes whatever young-demo viewership CBS has left. Enjoy struggling to get above an 0.4 for your regular primetime programming after the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

After 52 years and 55 years on CBS, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are both moving to NBC this year.

https://tvline.com/news/rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-moving-nbc-schedule-air-date-time-1235373594/

Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage is airing their Thanksgiving episode with several Young Sheldon cast members reprising their roles on November 14, a full two weeks before Thanksgiving. Why not the 21st? CBS is taking the Hallmark route and airing a new Christmas movie then. :wallbang

^^According to The Futon Critic (http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/georgie-and-mandys-first-marriage/listings/), Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage's Thanksgiving episode will be repeated on November 28 (the actual Thanksgiving holiday itself, no less), only two weeks after its original airing.

After that new Christmas movie (Nugget is Dead? A Christmas Story) which aired on the 21st, repeats of both Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage and the American version of Ghosts aired on the 10 pm hour. To be fair, I don't understand why they couldn't have just aired that new Christmas movie from 9 to 11 pm, either.

Almost similarly, that one-hour Christmas episode of the American version of Ghosts that will air on December 19 will be repeated (http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/ghosts-cbs/listings/) just five days later, on Tuesday, December 24, at 10 pm. Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage won't air at all on December 19.

Elsbeth was called a hit drama in today's blog. :rofl: It is so much of a hit Elsbeth will likely be two seasons and done like So Help Me Todd was, the clear weakest link in their Thursday lineup now. Thursdays 8-10 will probably stay the same fall 2025 with Fakelock leading into a new drama.

CBS has quietly added an Andrea Bocelli special on Christmas Eve that was not originally listed. It would have been nice to premiere this a night earlier on Monday December 23 which is all repeats, would have been easier for me to watch live then. As a result the Ghosts encore has been moved two days later to December 26 where CBS will repeat both hourlong Christmas episodes.

BREAKING NEWS: The Hollywood Squares Reboot Will Get a Special Airing After an AFC Divisional Playoff Game On CBS

Originally slated to premiere Jan. 9, the Hollywood Squares reboot's debut was pushed by a week due to the devastation from the Los-Angeles-area wildfires. The show will air originals on Thursday Jan. 16 and Jan. 23 before moving to its regular Wednesday-at-10-PM time slot Jan. 29 as part of CBS Game Night. The special Jan. 19 airing will also be an original episode.

https://deadline.com/2025/01/hollywood-squares-afc-divisional-playoff-cbs-1236256567/

Deadline can't get simple facts straight. CBS sure isn't premiering Walker, try Watson. :crazy: I attempted twice to comment but my comment disappeared both times. :rolleyes:

CBS will be airing a soon to be announced special on Friday, January 31. Mystery content :p is postponing the NCIS: Sydney season premiere by a week to February 7. Fire Country and S.W.A.T. at its later time will still return with new episodes on the 31st.

https://tvline.com/news/ncis-sydney-season-2-premiere-postponed-reason-cbs-1235399813/

I am not impressed with the new version of Hollywood Squares, the Tom Bergeron and Whoopi Goldberg version was a lot better (I never saw the classic Peter Marshall and Paul Lynde version). But I will stick with current HS for now, Jay Leno hasn't appeared yet.

CBS is making their affiliates air golf on a Friday. As a result, the conclusion of Jeopardy's champions wild card tournament won't be seen here until 2:37AM.

Hey, if "StrikeMageddon" had not happened last season and NCIS: Hawaii was able to air a full third season on 20-plus episodes and somehow got a fourth season this year, where would you slot it? Sundays or Fridays? Even if NCIS: Hawaii's cancellation had to wait a whole year, and even with NCIS: Origins still getting a series order?

When Hollywood Squares moves to Wednesdays next week, it will still be leading off the night instead of the originally announced 10:00 (because it is so an 8PM show NOT). The Price is Right and Raid the Cage will both move an hour later to 9:00 and 10:00. Hollywood Squares will also be airing daytime repeats in the 2PM hour January 27-31 where another hour of The Price is Right had been waiting for Beyond the Gates to premiere. The pilot hour of HS will be repeating twice there, on Monday and on Friday.

The Neighborhood has really jumped the shark this season. All the baby focus was bad enough, but they hit a new low with the filth garbage 2 parter that just aired. I no longer care that CBS doesn't advertise this anymore and will be unliking The Neighborhood's Facebook page.

Well, CatsRule/IceCream is getting his wish, even with my own continued agitation over CBS making room for more spinoff shows on their primetime schedule (which could potentially mean S.W.A.T. 2017 is in danger of yet another cancellation even though I'd rather see it continue for seasons nine and ten): CBS has given a straight-to-series order to a new Blue Bloods offshoot/sequel series named Boston Blue, featuring Donald Wahlberg reprising his role as Danny Reagan.

https://deadline.com/2025/02/blue-bloods-series-boston-blue-donnie-wahlberg-danny-reagan-1236293667/

After a rocky start, NCIS: Origins has been getting pretty good. I would have liked Origins' Facebook page if it had a solo one tonight. But it is all lumped together in an "NCIS-verse" page, how stupid. :rolleyes:

Elsbeth was called a hit drama in today's blog. :rofl: It is so much of a hit Elsbeth will likely be two seasons and done like So Help Me Todd was, the clear weakest link in their Thursday lineup now. Thursdays 8-10 will probably stay the same fall 2025 with Fakelock leading into a new drama.

I guess Elsbeth is a hit by CBS standards to get a third season.

https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2025/02/cbs-renews-9-additional-series-for-2025.html

I guess Elsbeth is a hit by CBS standards to get a third season.

https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2025/02/cbs-renews-9-additional-series-for-2025.htmlI guess it did well enough for renewal. But I still wouldn't call Elsbeth a hit, by far the weakest link and lowest rated of their Thursday lineup.

I have some renewal news that has recently been announced:
In addition to Elsbeth getting renewed for a third season alongside Matlock getting a early S2 renewal and FBI having a 3 season renewal, we have the 3 currently running NCIS shows coming back next TV season: the main series for S23, Origins for S2 and Sydney for S3, Tracker for S3, Fire Country for S4, Hollywood Squares '25 for S2, Ghosts for 2 more seasons and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage for S2, leaving FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, The Equalizer, S.W.A.T., The Neighborhood and freshman sitcom Poppa's House in limbo atm.
As for next TV season, CBS have planned 2 new dramas, both spun off from their parent shows: Sheriff Country, a spinoff of Fire Country and Boston Blue, a extension of the Blue Bloods universe.

Well, CatsRule/IceCream is getting his wish, even with my own continued agitation over CBS making room for more spinoff shows on their primetime schedule (which could potentially mean S.W.A.T. 2017 is in danger of yet another cancellation even though I'd rather see it continue for seasons nine and ten): CBS has given a straight-to-series order to a new Blue Bloods offshoot/sequel series named Boston Blue, featuring Donald Wahlberg reprising his role as Danny Reagan.

https://deadline.com/2025/02/blue-bloods-series-boston-blue-donnie-wahlberg-danny-reagan-1236293667/S.W.A.T. is a mixed bag. Hondo, Deacon, and Hicks are the heart and soul of the show. But tonight's episode airing now blows chunks. Niko Pepaj is one of the most boring actors I have ever seen, I couldn't care less about Alfaro and his former crew. If S.W.A.T. returns for a season 9 I hope they get rid of him for good, don't even need to hire a replacement as Gamble and especially Powell are missed tonight.

I'd love to see S.W.A.T renewed for several more seasons.

It probably is very expensive to produce compared to some of the other garbage they have renewed...

If it comes down to FBI: Most Wanted or S.W.A.T. for one renewal, I would definitely prefer for FBI: Most Wanted to return.

My thoughts on the un-renewed veterans vs. planted spinoffs situation at CBS:

The consideration of CBS planning so many spinoffs for 2025-26 is a clear failure to understand how tight their schedule space is. Curse the real possibility of killing a spinoff, or even a parent show, for another spinoff, and curse the nature of this business in general. I wouldn't want to give series orders to ANY of the planted spinoffs under consideratiion right now, besides the two that have already been confirmed (Sheriff Country and Boston Blue), and just go ahead and pick up that Einstein show with Matthew Gray Gubler for this fall.

On The Neighborhood and the 2021 version of The Equalizer: Is CBS really going to cancel both of those with no proper send-offs and replace their timeslots with their planted spinoffs? If renewals for either of those for 2025-26 are confirmed, It'll likely be for farewell seasons. If The Neighborhood does gets cancelled without a proper sendoff like 2 Broke Girls did, Beth Behrs should NEVER work on a CBS show again.

As for the 2017 version of S.W.A.T., that one being in realistic cancellation danger is making its surprise renewal for season eight look like a mistake. I want to renew it for seasons nine and ten, but the excessive spinoff consideration (in addition to Paramount Global's acquisition by Skydance) will hurt those chances. The 2017 version of S.W.A.T. will end up not being given a proper sendoff at all, unless CBS orders a two-hour wrap-up movie like they did with the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

And on the two FBI spinoffs: If CBS ends up cancelling neither Most Wanted nor International, I'm open to both of them only working short seasons going forward and being on the same timeslot, with one airing in the fall and the other airing in the spring.

I agree Einstein should be ordered to series, as well as the DMV set sitcom which would definitely be unique. One way of freeing up space would be to stop making Wednesdays all reality, bloated 90 minute episodes was a terrible decision.

My thoughts on the un-renewed veterans vs. planted spinoffs situation at CBS:

The consideration of CBS planning so many spinoffs for 2025-26 is a clear failure to understand how tight their schedule space is. Curse the real possibility of killing a spinoff, or even a parent show, for another spinoff, and curse the nature of this business in general. I wouldn't want to give series orders to ANY of the planted spinoffs under consideratiion right now, besides the two that have already been confirmed (Sheriff Country and Boston Blue), and just go ahead and pick up that Einstein show with Matthew Gray Gubler for this fall.

On The Neighborhood and the 2021 version of The Equalizer: Is CBS really going to cancel both of those with no proper send-offs and replace their timeslots with their planted spinoffs? If renewals for either of those for 2025-26 are confirmed, It'll likely be for farewell seasons. If The Neighborhood does gets cancelled without a proper sendoff like 2 Broke Girls did, Beth Behrs should NEVER work on a CBS show again.

As for the 2017 version of S.W.A.T., that one being in realistic cancellation danger is making its surprise renewal for season eight look like a mistake. I want to renew it for seasons nine and ten, but the excessive spinoff consideration (in addition to Paramount Global's acquisition by Skydance) will hurt those chances. The 2017 version of S.W.A.T. will end up not being given a proper sendoff at all, unless CBS orders a two-hour wrap-up movie like they did with the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

And on the two FBI spinoffs: If CBS ends up cancelling neither Most Wanted nor International, I'm open to both of them only working short seasons going forward and being on the same timeslot, with one airing in the fall and the other airing in the spring.

Well James, we have 2 new cancelations, as FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International are officially canceled after its 6th and 4th seasons, respectively, with the CIA spinoff planned out, to further prove your point.

Well James, we have 2 new cancelations, as FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International are officially canceled after its 6th and 4th seasons, respectively, with the CIA spinoff planned out.

I just don't want FBI: CIA getting a series order; It's just going to eventually suffer the the same fate as FBI's two existing spinoffs, cancelled without a proper sendoff as soon as it reaches the minimum number of seasons/episodes for syndication. This proves how big of a waste of primetime-schedule space spinoffs are on the American broadcast networks. I'd much rather have Einstein scheduled on Tuesday at 9 after FBI. At least give Most Wanted a proper sendoff (because filming on its current sixth season hasn't wrapped yet) and send International to another outlet.

I was not expecting BOTH FBI spin-offs to get cancelled in one season. :( CBS was terrible about not giving them individual ads. Most Wanted doesn't even get solo ads during parent FBI. :rolleyes:

BREAKING NEWS: The 2017 version of S.W.A.T. is being cancelled after its current eighth season.

At this point, there is no indication that it will get a proper send-off or if filming of its current eighth season has already wrapped, even with confirmation that CBS was not willing to engage in renewal talks with S.W.A.T. 2017's lead studio, Sony Pictures Television, and has opted instead to end the series outright. This makes that season eight renewal look like a big mistake now.:(

https://deadline.com/2025/03/swat-canceled-no-season-9-showrunner-reacts-1236313400/

S.W.A.T. being uncancelled a third time would be funny, but I don't see it happening. What I would schedule for next season

Sundays
7:00 60 Minutes
8:00 Tracker
9:00 CIA- Drop the FBI part that makes it a limited show for longevity. Just make a straight up drama about the CIA.
10:00 Watson

Mondays
8:00 The Neighborhood final season
8:30 Malcolm and Marty spin-off
9:00 NCIS final season
10:00 NCIS: Origins

Tuesdays
8:00 FBI
9:00 Einstein new drama
10:00 Elsbeth- I would much rather have FBI: Most Wanted remain here. :mad:

Wednesdays September
8:00 Survivor
9:30 The Road

Wednesdays January
8:00 NCIS: Sydney
9:00 Wednesday Night Movie

Wednesdays March
8:00 Survivor
9:00 The Amazing Race
10:00 The Equalizer final season

Thursday
8:00 Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage
8:30 DMV new sitcom
9:00 Ghosts
9:30 Hollywood Squares- Format makes it easy to have half hour episodes. And it fits with a sitcom block that can start expanding again.
10:00 Matlock

Fridays
8:00 Sheriff Country spin-off
9:00 Fire Country
10:00 Boston Blue spin-off

Dropped and not picked up- 2nd Fire Country spin-off with Jared Padelecki, one spin-off of that crap is bad enough.

Daytime Only- The Price is Right

Cancelled/Ended
Blue Bloods
FBI: Most Wanted
FBI: International
S.W.A.T.
Poppa's House
Raid the Cage

Today, as you alluded to it, The Neighborhood will be coming back in the fall for Season 8, and it'll be the final season.
https://deadline.com/2025/03/the-neighborhood-renewed-final-season-8-cbs-cedric-1236320507/

Today, as you alluded to it, The Neighborhood will be coming back in the fall for Season 8, and it'll be the final season.
https://deadline.com/2025/03/the-neighborhood-renewed-final-season-8-cbs-cedric-1236320507/Who were the original actors in the scrapped pilot? I didn't know Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs were recasts. :eek:

Who were the original actors in the scrapped pilot? I didn't know Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs were recasts. :eek:
The 2 actors that were in the scrapped pilot were Josh Lawson and Dreama Walker, who were later replaced with Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs, respectively.
The original pilot preview is still on YouTube if you really want to watch it.

Season and series finale dates include 2 episode finales in May sweeps for Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, S.W.A.T., and The Neighborhood. The Amazing Race will have its season finale on a Thursday.

https://tvline.com/lists/cbs-season-finale-dates-list-2025/the-equalizer-season-5-finale-spoilers-cbs/

Watson, starring Morris Chestnut, will be coming back for a 2nd season:
https://deadline.com/2025/03/watson-renewed-season-2-cbs-1236351509/

Meanwhile, After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson will be ending due to Tomlinson wanted to focus more on her stand-up:
https://deadline.com/2025/03/after-midnight-canceled-cbs-taylor-tomlinson-1236351453/

Its final episode will air in June, and its timeslot will most likely be given back to the affiliates, with them either airing another program or rebroadcasts of their late local news.

Poppa's House is cancelled, making two Damon Wayans sitcoms that have only lasted one season on CBS. Happy Together was the first, airing after The Neighborhood's very first season. The Summit is also cancelled, still no word on The Equalizer. The DMV set sitcom has been ordered to series, as well as the Einstein drama starring Matthew Gray Gubler.

So neither of the planted spinoffs of The Neighborhood and The Equalizer 2021 will get a series order. GOOD!

As of tonight, The Equalizer with Queen Latifah was canceled, with its series finale set to air this Sunday:
https://deadline.com/2025/05/the-equalizer-canceled-cbs-no-season-6-queen-latifah-1236384408/

As of tonight, The Equalizer with Queen Latifah was canceled, with its series finale set to air this Sunday:
https://deadline.com/2025/05/the-equalizer-canceled-cbs-no-season-6-queen-latifah-1236384408/

:angryfireWell, I bet this will get CBS execs wishing that they had gotten The Neighborhood to air after Super Bowl LV instead of going with the series premiere of a drama with the network's drama division being as strong as it was (and still is) in the post-The-Big-Bang-Theory era. By having the 2021 version of The Equalizer die without a real sendoff after being obligated to get it to a good-sized syndication package, CBS has fxxked up royally this time. They could've just given it another 12 episodes for next midseason instead, given that Queen Latifah was willing to take a pay cut for what could have been its final season no matter what. I hope the CBS executive or executives who forever shafted The Neighborhood out of any Super Bowl lead-out opportunities gets fired, and I also hope CBS doesn't go with another series premiere (especially yet another drama) for their next Super Bowl telecast (LXII, in 2028).

The series finale of S.W.A.T. was actually advertised during all three FBIs this week. First time CBS has advertised S.W.A.T. in a very long while.

Well, the 2017 version of S.W.A.T. may have left the CBS locker room last Friday (May 16), but late yesterday evening, a new spin-off of S.W.A.T. 2017 has just been ordered to series, to be titled S.W.A.T.: Exiles. Appropriate title, given that CBS wasn't willing to engage in renewal talks with Sony Pictures Television this time around when the last cancellation announcement came down early last March. Curiously, this was announced only by Sony TV, and no network or streaming outlet was confirmed to be attached yet. Shemar Moore will reprise his role as Hondo from the original series alongside a new cast, and production on this 10-episode sequel series will begin this Summer.

Source: Deadline. (https://deadline.com/2025/05/swat-spinoff-sony-shemar-moore-returns-hondo-1236403674/)

Well, the 2017 version of S.W.A.T. may have left the CBS locker room last Friday (May 16), but late yesterday evening, a new spin-off of S.W.A.T. 2017 has just been ordered to series, to be titled S.W.A.T.: Exiles. Appropriate title, given that CBS wasn't willing to engage in renewal talks with Sony Pictures Television this time around when the last cancellation announcement came down early last March. Curiously, this was announced only by Sony TV, and no network or streaming outlet was confirmed to be attached yet. Shemar Moore will reprise his role as Hondo from the original series alongside a new cast, and production on this 10-episode sequel series will begin this Summer.

Source: Deadline. (https://deadline.com/2025/05/swat-spinoff-sony-shemar-moore-returns-hondo-1236403674/)Shemar Moore sure is arrogant, called himself the Tom Brady of S.W.A.T. :rolleyes: Jay Harrington is just as important to the show, without him as a regular S.W.A.T. Exiles won't be nearly as good.

With After Midnight ending in 2 weeks, CBS announced that they'll bring back Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, which was a temporary replacement for The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2023 and due to the writers and actors strikes that delayed AM's premiere:
https://deadline.com/2025/05/comics-unleashed-with-byron-allen-cbs-late-night-2-1236411297/

CBS had originally said they would give After Midnight's hour back to the affiliates. So much for Person, Place, or Thing possibly moving an hour earlier here its last months before going away for good.

CBS had originally said they would give After Midnight's hour back to the affiliates. So much for Person, Place, or Thing possibly moving an hour earlier here its last months before going away for good.
They technically still will do so, as CBS will re-debut Comics Unleashed on September 22, meaning that the local affiliates will do their own programming in-between the end of After Midnight and the re-debut of Comics Unleashed.

BREAKING NEWS: Atlanta's Channel 46 to Disaffiliate with CBS and Become and Independent Station

This August 16, CBS programming in the Atlanta area will move to WUPA (channel 69). WANF's owner, Gray Media, Inc., plans to turn it (WANF) into a news-intensive independent station.

WANF had been previously known as WGCL prior to 2022 (when it adopted its current "Atlanta News First" brand), and WGNX before 2000. WUPA had been a CBS O&O since the Paramount Stations Group was folded in favor of the Viacom Stations Group in 2000, but has never affiliated with the Timpani Network; CBS tried to get Channel 69 to be its new affiliate for Atlanta after WAGA (channel 5) switched to FOX Broadcasting in 1994 before ending up with Channel 46. Upon Channel 69's switch to CBS, a new CBS News Atlanta streaming channel will also launch next fall.

Sources: WANF (Atlanta News First) (https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/06/02/atlanta-news-first-set-expand-news-footprint-end-its-affiliation-with-cbs-network/) and Paramount Press Express (https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-news-and-stations/shows/stations/releases/?view=111517-cbs-strengthens-local-footprint-in-atlanta-with-new-oo-network-home-wupa).

What a bunch of liars at CBS. Not only are they keeping the 12:37AM hour in the fall, they are keeping it in the summer as well with After Midnight repeats. So much for giving it back to the affiliates. :rolleyes: