Comments on: CBS Eyes “Back to You”

By: Sammy

Sammy — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:25:46 +0000

I loved Back To You. It was refreshing and the jokes were not all about Sex, like in Old Christine. It had class, style and genuine humor. It was the first comedy our household looked forward to watching in quite a while! I'm sorry they won't give it a chance. All those reality shows are really getting ho hum.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:58:55 +0000

I'm sad that New Amsterdam didn't make the cut- not really surprised, but still sad. I enjoyed the show. If it wasn't for Family Guy I wouldn't even be watching Fox. I just can't depend on Fox to give a good show a chance (RIP Firefly, Wonderfalls, the list could go on and on).

By: dave

dave — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:44:32 +0000

I haven't watched all the back to you eps, but from what i saw i was baffled. It had a great cast, decent premise, and the jokes weren't half bad, but add it all up and it was less than the sum of its parts. Not a great show, but than again neither is rules.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:28:03 +0000

I'm not so sure, Shane. If CBS wants to add a second comedy block to the week it's not only possible that both Christine and Rules comes back, it's probable. I'm not sure that taking a flyer on Back to You would make any sense *unless* they were looking to add an additional block, but we won't have to wait long to find out.

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:19:47 +0000

This is a brilliant idea, IMO, because Grammer and Heaton alone represent a majority of Two and a Half Men's audience. It's extremely likely that the pair could attract high ratings depending on its placement in CBS' crowded lineup.

If you bring in Back To You, though, I don't think there's enough room to bring back both Rules of Engagement AND Old Christine. I think it's safe to say that both are great comedies, but Rules of Engagement wins here because it has held more of 2.5 Men's 18-49 demo audience than Christine has. Another factor is that ABC is ready to pick up Old Christine and probably will, seeing as though they can't find too many hits with comedies besides Samantha Who.

This raises the question, to me especially, of whether CBS will introduce another comedy block in a saturated one-hour or elongated two-hour form. They've done this in the recent past, one time on Sundays at 8:00pm before Cold Case began running and on Wednesdays at 8:00 and 9:00 separately. The pros are that it clears up more space to allow other comedies to run their entire season without being interrupted with the risk of losing viewers. The cons are that it potentially alienates one block of shows, leading to lower ratings.

An extra block would probably find itself most reliably on Thursdays. This is a night that CBS can win and I think they even have the potential to win the 18-49 demographic on there, even with LOST and Grey's Anatomy. They should place, I think, two big 18-49 cash cows (perhaps HIMYM and BBT) on Thursdays at 8:00pm and move Survivor to Wednesdays at 8pm. The Thursday at 8pm slot isn't particularly crowded: Ugly Betty has been underperforming ever since its first season, even in the demo; Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? has bright but mostly dull nights, and Earl & 30 Rock don't attract large amounts of viewers at all. Such a move would clear up room for two new comedies, perhaps allowing CBS to spread out their comedies.

A more sensible option (at least for CBS) is to swap out comedies: Rules of Engagement and Back To You splitting episodes over mid-season and such, etc. I think we can all agree, though, that either Rules of Engagement or Old Christine will not be returning. For me, I'd put a wager on Old Christine getting canceled and then moving to ABC.

By: Rob D

Rob D — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:05:02 +0000

I love Heaton and Grammer and they have chemistry………but the show is a typical sitcom with predictable laughs. I would compare it to Christine and Rules of Engagement, which are pretty bad compared to the others. Not all laugh track comedies are predictable (by predictable, I mean- I can pause it and say the punchline). Although I prefer clever non-laugh track shows- HIMYM, Two and a Half Men, and Big Bang Theory are much better choices.

By: Sonia

Sonia — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:51:27 +0000

Back to You is one of the most promising shows of the year with two of the best comedic actors on TV .Heaton & Grammer have terrific chemistry together. Hope CBS gives it a chance!

By: John

John — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:26:06 +0000

I think Patricia Heaton is actually from Everybody Loves Raymond. She was in King of Queens, but only for one episode.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:13:04 +0000

FOX is stupid to let NA go.