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SitcomsOnline.com 2010-11 Upfront Preview: CBS; More Network Notes

CBS continues to do well in total viewers with their crime dramas. But will they finally move that Wednesday comedy hour to another night, perhaps Sundays? And the major question though is will Charlie Sheen be on Two and a Half Men? That is a major issue.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com CBS 2010-11 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
Already Renewed Returning Series: The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, How I Met Your Mother, NCIS: Los Angeles, Survivor, Two and a Half Men.
Likely Returning Series: 48 Hours Mystery, 60 Minutes, Criminal Minds, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, The Mentalist, NCIS, Rules of Engagement.
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: Accidentally on Purpose, Cold Case, NUMB3RS, Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Miami Medical, and Three Rivers.
Likely New Series Pick-Ups: Chaos (drama), Hawaii Five-0 (drama), The Defenders (drama), Bleep My Dad Says (sitcom), True Love (sitcom), John Wells Medical Drama (mid-season), Criminal Minds Spin-off (mid-season drama), Mike & Molly (mid-season sitcom).

OUR FALL 2010 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM Two and a Half Men
8:30PM Bleep My Dad Says (NEW!)
9:00PM Undercover Boss
10:00PM Chaos (NEW!)

Mondays
8:00PM How I Met Your Mother
8:30PM Rules of Engagement
9:00PM The Big Bang Theory
9:30PM True Love (NEW!)
10:00PM CSI: Miami

Tuesdays
8:00PM NCIS
9:00PM Hawaii Five-0 (NEW!)
10:00PM The Good Wife

Wednesdays
8:00PM NCIS: Los Angeles
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM The Defenders (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM CSI
10:00PM The Mentalist

Fridays
8:00PM Ghost Whisperer
9:00PM Medium
10:00PM CSI: NY

Saturdays
8:00PM Crime Repeats
9:00PM Crime Repeats
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery

Comments: CBS is the number one network in total viewers once again. The Super Bowl certainly helped and launched Undercover Boss to become a hit. There are a few other holes still to fill and some long-running series are starting to show their age. I'll dissect night by night on what I think they will do. The sitcom block will certainly have a play on what Charlie Sheen will do. Will he stay on Two and a Half Men or not? If he does, then I think they should move the series to Sundays and try and launch a comedy hour there instead of Wednesdays, which has not done well. If Sheen doesn't return, it looks like the show will go on since the deal goes through 2012. So I then think the show will have to stay on Mondays because without Sheen it could falter on another night. So my prediction is going by that Sheen WILL return. How I Met Your Mother and Rules of Engagement should still start out the night. I think Rules deserves to be on the fall schedule at least once. The Big Bang Theory would move into 9pm hour and would make the half-hour younger for sure (but losing a few million in total viewers from Men). The younger skewing comedy pilot True Love (or is it called Mad Love now?) would be a perfect fit out of Bang. At 10pm, I think CSI: Miami will stay in the hour, but it could move now that it is declining for a newer series, like Hawaii Five-0. But I don't think it will move.
As for Tuesday, veteran NCIS will for sure remain at 8. However, I think the 9pm hour will be different again. They should go with their number one pilot, and that is Hawaii Five-0 with NCIS: LA moving to another night. At 10pm The Good Wife is likely staying put, as I don't think it would work on Friday.
For Wednesdays, instead of opening the night with two sitcoms that keep going down each season (especially now that ABC has Comedy Wednesday), they should move NCIS: Los Angeles here leading into Criminal Minds at 9pm. At 10pm, I think a change is needed. CSI: NY would be on the move, and I think male driven The Defenders starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell (so humor will probably be in there) would work at 10.
CBS Thursdays will probably stay the same. I can see them making changes, but I don't think they will. Survivor, CSI, and The Mentalist are all doing decent still, even though CSI is struggling in 18-49. Again Hawaii Five-0 would work here, but I think it is needed on another night more.
Fridays will probably still start off with Ghost Whisperer and Medium but there is word that Ghost Whisperer could be canned or moved to ABC (as they own half the show). At 10pm, instead of NUMB3RS or Miami Medical, I think CSI: NY would be the best option and would win its hour.
Saturdays would still have crime repeats and 48 Hours Mystery at 10pm.
And as for Sundays, CBS did well in the second half with Undercover Boss being boosted by the Super Bowl. I certainly think that show can't go a full season though and 22 episodes is out of the question. So, I think it will share a slot with Amazing Race at 9pm. So what about 8pm? CBS could try to open a second night of comedy on this night. Two and a Half Men and the new William Shatner sitcom Bleep My Dad Says would air in the 8pm hour after 60 Minutes and before Undercover Boss. Once Undercover Boss ends they can bring back one cycle of Amazing Race at a new time of 9pm. At 10pm they should try and launch a new drama out of Boss, perhaps the CIA drama Chaos?
It's time for CBS to cut its ties with Old Christine & Gary Unmarried. I don't think they are doing good enough for a renewal and CBS seems to have better comedies in development. I think Accidentally on Purpose won't come back either. Drama wise, looks like Cold Case and NUMB3RS will also end. A few questions besides the Sheen issue are, will these new dramas work and will Undercover Boss be even close to what it was this past season? We shall see.

Remember, next Wednesday (May 19) is the actual date when we will find out CBS's plans for the 2010-11 season. So, come on back next Wednesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for our last preview, a preview on The CW's upfront.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!


ABC is pulling next week's (May 19) episode of the horror-mystery drama happy town. The series will still be on the schedule tonight at 10/9 central, though. Instead of happy town next week, ABC will air a special episode of the hidden camera scenario series Primetime: What Would You Do?, which had its season premiere this past Friday and was #1 for the night in A18-49. The following week, ABC had already previously scheduled the network television premiere of the movie Transformers from 8-11pm on May 26.
After tonight's airing, happy town will return for its final five episodes starting Wednesday, June 2 through Wednesday, June 30 at 10/9 central. It looks very bleak for a renewal, though, as it only did a 1.2 A18-49 last week.
Moving on to some CBS notes, they still have not announced their summer schedule. However, special repeats are being scheduled early on. A two-hour repeat of Cold Case is slated for May 30 from 9-11pm, while Old Christine is airing on Wednesday, June 2. Both series are on the bubble for next season, but it really doesn't mean anything if they are airing the first week of summer. I have a feeling both won't return. And on Thursday, June 3, CBS will air special night repeats of How I Met Your Mother and Rules of Engagement in the 8pm hour. Stating June 10, CBS will likely go with an original series for the summer...stay with us for the CBS summer schedule.