CBS may be on a roll, but network brass says they won’t coast. This season, the network is tops in total viewers and adults 25-54 and within striking distance of 18-49 leader Fox. Still, CBS is marching on with the mission Viacom Co-President and Co-COO Leslie Moonves started in 1996 to win every demo and get younger. “Our plan was to do it brick by brick, show by show, night by night,” Moonves said at CBS’ May 18 upfront presentation. “Next year, we’ll be even stronger.” (Also a little strong, in the minds of some onlookers at the upfronts, were the barbs directed at NBC’s Jeff Zucker, which veered from funny to nasty.)
To increase its heft, CBS is adding six series for fall. In CBS fashion, all looked solid and safe. As expected, upstart sitcom Two and a Half Men takes the mantle from Everybody Loves Raymond, moving to Mondays at 9 p.m. King of Queens switches from Wednesdays to lead off Mondays at 8 p.m., and two new comedies, Out of Practice and How I Met Your Mother, round out the night.
What’s Next:
Close to Home (drama, Tuesdays, 10 ): A suburban district attorney (Bold and the Beautiful star Jennifer Finnigan): prosecutes violent crimes that rock her own tranquil town. From Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Warner Bros. Television
Criminal Minds (drama, Wednesdays, 9): Three FBI profilers (Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson and Shemar Moore) try to get inside the heads of criminals. From Touchstone Television and Paramount Network Television.
Everything I Know About Men (comedy, midseason): Dharma & Greg’s Jenna Elfman is a sexy secretary looking for love and trying to understand the opposite sex. From Touchstone Television and Paramount Network Television
Ghost Whisperer (drama, Fridays, 8.): Party of Five alum Jennifer Love Hewitt is a young newlywed who communes with ghosts. The psychic drama takes Joan of Arcadia’s former slot. Moonves theorizes the audience for a young woman talking to ghosts will skew younger than for one who talked to God. From Touchstone Television and Paramount
How I Met Your Mother (comedy, Mondays, 8:30 ): A father (voiced by Bob Saget) flashes back to present day to explain to his children how he went from bachelorhood to, well, meeting their mother. From 20th Century Fox Television
Out of Practice (comedy, Mondays, 9:30): A family of doctors tries to diagnose the problems afflicting their own dysfunctional brood. Starring Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler. From Paramount
Threshold (drama, Fridays, 9.): A Navy unit finds a UFO in the Atlantic Ocean and prepares for an invasion. From Paramount
The Unit (drama, midseason):Action-drama with a twist: It shows a crack special forces team on covert missions and also their families left behind at home. From Twentieth Century Fox Television
