At a time when other networks are timid, CBS is giving its schedule a full-scale renovation.
Gone are “Magnum P.I.” “Bull,” “Good Sam,” half the Thursday comedies and several reality shows. Arriving are three new dramas (including “Fire Country,” shown hre) and a dating show.
Others are changing nights, as the network shifts its philosophy. For instance:
— Wednesdays will now be all-reality. “Survivor” leads into “Amazing Race” and then to the dating show, dubbed “The Real Love Boat.”
— The notion of starting Fridays with a reality show has been abandoned. This season, CBS tried “Undercover Boss” and the current “Come Dance With Me”; next year, it will be back to all-action: “SWAT” takes that 8 p.m. slot, followed by a new firefighter show (“Fire Country”) at 9, with “Blue Bloods” remaining at 10. That leaves a Sunday slot, which goes to a new cop show, “East New York.”
— And the last bastion of traditional comedies is now gone.
Such comedies are done in front of a studio audience, using multiple cameras – a style that thrived, from “I Love Lucy” to “Seinfeld” and “Friends” to “The Big Bang Theory.” As other networks abandoned multi-cam shows, CBS stuck with them, especially on Thursdays. Not any more.
The two Monday multi-cams (“The Neighborhood” and “Bob Hearts Abishola”) will stay, but all of the Thursday ones – “B Positive,” “United States of Al,” “How We Roll” are gone.
Instead, CBS will start Thursdays with the two successful comedies that are filmed movie-style, without an audience – “Young Sheldon” and “Ghosts.” It will follow with it calls a “witty drama”; “So Help Me Todd” has Marcia Gay Harden as a lawyer, with her son (played by Skylar Astin) as her detective. “CSI: Vegas” – rebooted last season from the old “CSI” hit – follows at 10.
Another light adventure, “True Lies,” is waiting for mid-season, along with several reality or game shows – “Superfan,” “Lingo,” “Tough as Nails” and “Secret Celebrity Renovation.” And after having two Christmas movies last year – its first made-for-TV movies in a decade – CBS will have three more;
The schedule, announced Wednesday (May 18):
— Mondays (unchanged): “The Neighborhood,” 8 p.m.; “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8:30; “NCIS,” 9; “NCIS: Hawaii,” 10.
— Tuesdays (unchanged): “FBI,” 8 p.m.; “FBI International,” 9; “FBI: Most Wanted,” 10.
— Wednesdays: “Survivor,” 8 p.m.; “The Amazing Race,” 9; “The Real Love Boat,” 10.
— Thursdays: “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m.; “Ghosts,” 8:30; “So Help Me Todd,” 9; “CSI: Vegas,” 10.
— Fridays: “SWAT,” 8 p.m.; “Fire Country,” 9; “Blue Bloods,” 10.
— Saturdays: Reruns and “48 Hours.”
— Sundays “60 Minutes,” 7 p.m.; “The Equalizer,” 8; “East New York,” 9; “NCIS: Los Angeles,” 10.