CBS sets post-strike surge for Feb. 11

One TV network now has an answer to viewers’ biggest question: When will the real season start?
For CBS, it starts Feb. 11. Over the next eight days, 17 shows will open their seasons, with a few more following soon.
Some people might have hoped for something quicker, now that the actors’ strike has been tentatively settled. But for CBS, this is all timed to the Super Bowl on Feb. 11.
That game will be followed by the debut of the Justin Hartley show “Tracker”; it’s one of only two new CBS shows this season, alongside “Elsbeth” (shown here). A week later, “Tracker” settles into a cozy Sunday slot between “Equalizer” (which drew a huge audience for its own post-Super-Bowl debut) and a transplanted “CSI: Vegas.”
Only a few shows won’t debut that week: “Survivor” starts its new edition on Feb. 28, with “The Amazing Race” two weeks later … “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours” have already started … and “Elsbeth” will debut Feb. 29.
Two previously planned shows are now being pushed back to next season – a “Matlock” reboot with Kathy Bates and a “Poppa’s House” comedy with Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Here’s the schedule for openings:
— Sunday, Feb. 11: “The Tracker,” after the Super Bowl.
— Monday, Feb. 12: “The Neighborhood,” 8 p.m.; “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8:30; “NCIS,” 9; “NCIS: Hawaii,” 9:30.
— Tuesday, Feb. 13: “FBI,” 8 p.m.; “FBI: International,” 9; “FBI: Most Wanted,” 10.
— Thursday, Feb. 15: “Young Sheldon,” 8 p.m.; “Ghosts,” 8:30; “So Help Me Todd,” 9’ “Tracker” reruns its opener, 10.
— Friday, Feb. 16: “SWAT,” 8 p.m.; “Fire Country,” 9; “Blue Bloods,” 10.
— Sunday, Feb. 18: “Equalizer,” 8 p.m.; “Tracker” takes its regular timeslot, 9; “CSI: Vegas,” 10.
— Also: On Wednesdays, “Survivor” opens with two-hour episodes on Feb. 28 and March 6. On March 13, it returns to 90-minute episodes, with “Amazing Race” opening its season at 9:30.
— And at 10 p.m. Thursdays, “Tracker” reruns its second episode on Feb. 22; “Elsbeth” debuts Feb. 29.