From Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily
Les [Moonves] confirmed that, to cut costs, CBS is producing 6 fewer pilot this year compared with 2008. And he says the network only has room for 3 or 4 new shows in its schedule next season.
If CBS only has room for 3 or 4 new shows in its schedule next season, which shows are getting canceled?
The numbers say The Unit, plus two or three of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried and Worst Week, and perhaps Cold Case.
Something to think about for those who thought CBS would be canceling lots more shows in its existing, pretty well performing, line up.
so will rules make a fall debut, or will the post Men slot be a launching pad again?
I still don’t see Cold Case getting the boot.
I really like cold case, I hope it stays!!!
The spaces will open up for two or three dramas.
Likely to go:
The Unit
Worst Week
Gary Unmarried
Might Go:
Eleventh Hour
Old Christine
Cold Case will at least run one more season.
The numbers might be a bit worse for cold case, but I would think that without a trace might go before it simply because without a trace is really declining in quality and the numbers are about equal.
If the choice comes down to Cold Case vs Without a Trace, it’ll probably be Without a Trace that gets canceled. Cold Case is a CBS production, so any syndication/DVD sales go to them, rather than Warners.
Edit: Or is IMDb lying to me? They may both be Warners, in which case Without a Trace wins.
I figured 4-5 shows, so I was more or less on track.
The question is are they figuring 2 comedies and 2 dramas, or 1 comedy and 3 dramas.
A lot of that hinges on whether they want to keep the Wednesday comedy block. If they kill it, they don’t even really have room for one new comedy without canceling Week, Gary, Christine and Rules. If they want to keep it, they could do like they did this year, using one established comedy and one new on Wednesday and introducing one new on Monday. Of course, with the comedies they have, they could have a Wednesday block and still only introduce one new comedy (on either day).
If they go with the latter option, that means three dramas still need to go.
Julia, Futon Critic has both listed as CBS Paramount, Bruckheimer, and Warner Brothers.
I think
The Unit, Gary Unmarried and Worst Week are gone next fall and Flashpoint will comeback at mid-season. That gives 4 new shows to fill up CBS’s fall 2009 schedule.
Cold Case and Without a Trace are doing very great overseas, maybe it will save them this season ?
I love Old Christine! Julia is hilarious in it. If it goes i’ll be sad
but it looks like it’s gonna stay, so yay!
Is the NCIS spin-off included as part of the 4-5 new shows for next season? If so then CBS only has limited choices when it comes to picking new dramas.
If it comes down to Cold Case versus WAT, I expect Cold Case to go as its numbers seem to be on the decline more than WAT? However, I would not be surprised to see WAT cancelled, and Cold Case moved to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST. That time slot will be make-or-break for Cold Case.
I do wonder if CBS will keep WAT, which holds the best Tuesday-at-10 ratings they’ve seen in a long time – due to the Leno experiment. Perhaps they want to keep an established series up against Leno for a while, to really build dominance before experimenting with “new” stuff?
Then again, WAT and CC could both go, and the next NCIS incarnation/spinoff could launch on Tuesdays.
Jon, it’s not entirely clear what the specifics on Moonves’ quote were.
Both cold case and without a trace are in the Top 20 for the season to date shows. Without a Trace is #16 and cold case is #19. both shows will be renewed
tom, it’s all relative. CBS has to choose from shows in *its* line up to cancel, so the position of its shows only matter in relationship to its *other* shows. On those terms, CC is just outside the safe zone, and WAT is just inside the safe zone. It would not surprise me if both were back or if CC was cancelled. After that Moonves quote it would *really* surprise me if both were cancelled.
I really don’t think CBS will dump Cold Case or Without a Trace this season, they might as well keep the duo for next year, since they may still need Case to anchor Sundays at 9 and Trace to hold up Tuesdays at 10.
Whoever predicted
Likely to go: The Unit, Worst Week, Gary Unmarried
Might Go: Eleventh Hour, Old Christine
Thats right on the money. It’s highly likely The Unit, as well as CBS’s freshman comedy duo Worst Week and Gary Unmarried will get the boot. CBS could go either way with Eleventh Hour, but the less than full season renewal and the OK numbers after CSI may make CBS want to try something new. It’s possible Christine could be axed but it still could return.
CBS here’s a thought. If you want to keep your second night of comedy here’s what you should do. If you cancel Gary and Week but return the veteran comedies, it may work out like this
Monday
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
8:30 How I Met Your Mother
9:00 Two and a Half Men
9:30 New Comedy Series
Wednesday
8:00 Old Christine
8:30 Rules of Engagement
That way maybe with two veteran comedies airing wednesday it may not do that badly. Also if CBS keeps their schedule the way it is in terms of dramas, then if they axe The Unit and Eleventh Hour, they will have the 10pm slot on Sundays and Thursdays to fill.
John, Good question. Since he’s talking about lowering their order for pilots, he might mean they will only be ordering 3-4 new shows from those pilots, not including the NCIS spinoff.
Is the NCIS spinoff getting a backdoor pilot? (Lots of those this season!)
What I wonder is if those 3-4 include any mid season replacements.
Julia, Yes, the spinoff will be introduced in a two-part episode of NCIS this season.
I bet CBS were not expecting the immediate success of The Mentalist. Bet thats made the decision harder on what to cancel.
One timeslot can be used for two new shows – one in the fall, another in the winter or spring, even if the fall one does well. Like with Eleventh Hour and Harper’s Island this season.
While I don’t think Old Christine is the best comedy ever however with the state of sitcoms today I really do enjoy the show. Does anyone feel CBS has been less that fair in trying to nurture its growth? It seems like they want it to fail? I wish it had been giving more time on Monday to flourish and find its audience. Julia L-D must be frustrated. Is the show owned by CBS? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I hope CBS keeps it and lets it find its groove.
Regarding the CC and WAT DVD sales, as far as I can tell, CC hasn’t even been released on DVD and WAT only has the first two seasons, which would indicate its sales weren’t great.
@ GBD
The show is owned by Warner Brothers.
I dont understand why the network would not support WORST WEEK?
The ratings are not bad for a brand new show, especially in this climate.
And, it’s well written and has a terrific cast.
Another question we can’t answer: How does Canadian show “The Bridge” fit into all of this? Did they pick it up for summer? I think Flashpoint has only been producing 13 episodes/season. If The Bridge does the same, could they end up sharing the Friday spot?
I think CBS continues the Flashpoint experiment next year; however, it only comes back as a midseason replacement again. CBS probably sticks the other Canadian production they are working on acquiring in that slot on Fridays in fall. Whether that will count as one of those 3-4 shows (it won’t go through the pilot process) is another question.
Similarly, does the NCIS spinoff count towards that 3-4 number (again, no pilot).
Otherwise, I reiterate that CBS’ 10pm network competition now consists solely of whatever ABC puts against them; as a result, CBS will probably be far stricter with what they put in that slot, index be damned.
How I see it working out:
Mondays: Big Bang moves to 9:30; new comedy replaces Worst Week in block at 8:30; Rules kept for midseason.
Tuesdays: New drama/NCIS spinoff takes over at 10.
Wednesdays: WB offers Christine at a price so low CBS keeps it; new comedy replaces Gary at 8:30.
Thursdays: New drama/NCIS spinoff (whichever doesn’t go on Tuesdays) replaces Eleventh Hour at 10.
Fridays: Canadian Show 2 at 9; Flashpoint for midseason.
Saturdays: Repeats.
Sundays: New drama replaces Cold Case at 9; The Unit is canceled at 10 and either WAT or CC take over at 10 (Probably WAT with a cast & cost reduction; the other (CC) is canceled.)
I wish they’d move Old Christine back to the 9:30 Mondays spot. They’ve tried Wednesday comedy hours multiple times and they just don’t work. It doesn’t matter how good the show is. They did it a couple years ago with shows that were previously Mondays at 9:30 (one was that Jenna Elfman show)
“If CBS only has room for 3 or 4 new shows in its schedule next season, which shows are getting canceled?”
I think the other major networks wish that their list was this small.
cold case rocks.
Doesn’t this mean that less shows could get canceled?
CBS might have the best programming of the networks. I was looking at ABC and that might be the worst. I don’t want to sound mean, but I hope they cancel WAT. It’s not doing that good in Latin America, the network that broadcasts it hasn’t even shown new episodes and EH has taken its time slot. WAT stories are not that interesting anymore. Much less the characters’.
Lourdes, if he is correct (and I’m sure he is today, but things change) that declaration puts a cap on the number of shows they are likely to cancel.
@ Lourdes… judging by the number’s I’d say NBC has the worst programming. That said, 75% of the shows I watch are on NBC so go figure. o_O One thing about WAT, the actual amount of violence on that show is extremely low compared to other crime dramas. Infact, more people die in scrubs than in WAT (ok, not really).
WORST WEEK was already canceled. Producers told, etc.
So you can chalk that one up as needing to be replaced. I hear GARY UNMARRIED has a shot of returning.
I believe 11TH HOUR will return too. So lets say COLD CASE & THE UNIT.
What about shows like Amazing Race. This season (unlike last year when it was wasy, way up) its gone down fairly significantly. How do you see its chances.
mswood, down as it may be, Amazing Race still looks to be in good shape, although predicting the renewal of unscripted shows isn’t something we focus on.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/03/03/dollhouse-fans-hope-for-a-strong-finish/13911
I believe CBS premiered 5 fall shows this season (Worst Week – Monday, Mentalist – Tuesday, Gary Unmarried – Wednesday, 11th Hour – Thursday, X-List – Friday) so it looks like they will be doing something similar this fall where they premiere 1 new show a night or at least 3-4 of the nights.
That said, with the Unit gone on Sundays that might save Cold Case especially since I think it will be challenging launching more than one new show here when the other 3 nets are fairly strong in the demos in the fall already.
Worst Week gone on Mondays should open up a slot for the fall.
Tuesdays I’m not sure, Trace I think at this point will be back, but maybe it will move to Sundays @ 10 to try something new on Tuesdays? I can’t see CBS messing with the NCIS/Mentalist combo, so 10 is the only slot to make a change.
Wednesdays – Criminal Minds and CSI: NY should stay put. I still think the likeliest slot for the NCIS spinoff is Wednesdays at 8 which would mean that they would not have a comedy block here, but maybe they try this spinoff Sundays @ 9 and can Cold Case. If CBS does have a comedy block here, I think they should try BBT @ 8 followed by a new comedy. Having Christine try to launch a night followed by a new show obviously didn’t work out, which isn’t surprising since Christine was lead in dependent and wasn’t a lead off or anchor show. I know moving Big Bang is risky but it’s the only option I see that has the best chance of success for CBS if they want a second comedy block. They could then have How I Met Your Mother slide to 8 on Mondays followed by Christine/Gary Unmarried and have Rules of Engagement ready for Midseason again.
Thursdays will remain Survivor and CSI then I think something new. 11th Hour might be back, it is really on the bubble but it has not had good retention out of CSI so I think if it’s back it moves maybe to Sunday or even Friday.
Fridays Ghost Whisperer and Numbers should be back. Not sure about Flashpoint, but even if all 3 return, I think CBS should try having Whisperer at 9 since whatever they put at 9 seems to drag down the night. Whisperer seems to be an anchor show but I guess content wise it works better at 8.
Saturdays – this ones tough
but I think 48 hours and encores of shows maybe.
Whats up with all the Unit haters in here??
I only watch CBS for The Unit and NCIS!!
@ djm… You’re right. What I meant was that ABC has mostly reality shows, and I really don’t like those, some of them are just very silly. But you’re right. However, I think WAT has turned into a boring show. I used to watch it but the whole Samantha/Jack is far from good.
I think it’s pretty clear that Worst Week is definitely gone, so there goes the mystery of one of the comedies… as for Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, I think it’s going to come down to what number Warner Brothers offers to CBS. You would never expect FOX to keep ‘Til Death, but they were persuaded by the cheap price – in Old Christine’s case, it is getting pretty close to syndication – it would be compatible with many channels, so I think CBS has to consider that. I think Gary Unmarried, although being a funny show, just won’t make the cut….
I like Gary ummarried
Dave, Since CBS doesn’t own Christine, so they aren’t likely to renew it based on possible syndication deals. Granted, Warner Brothers could be looking at the syndication possibilities and decide to offer the show to CBS at a serious discount.
GARY UNMARRIED outperforms CHRISTINE, and it’s well liked by CBS and critics. So I think it has a real shot of sticking around or moving to Mondays.
also GARY UNMARRIED is an ABC/CBS produced show. So the costs are lowered for CBS and they own a piece of it, so it makes GARY UNMARRIED look much more enticing to keep around.
gary barely beats christine (and in fact christine occasionally beats gary), and gary airs in a higher HUt time period, so i would argue that christine is actually the slightly stronger show. that being said, they are almost neck and neck, so if one is significantly cheaper to produce, i think thats the winner.
The question of which of those CBS comedies survive has been one of the most interesting (to me) of the entire season. I think its still nip and tuck between Gary and Christine, and I think it will absolutely go down to the wire.
it will most certainly not be worst week. i still remember when a repeat of gary got better numbers in the post-2.5 men slot. of course, every once in a while the networks pull an According To Jim, so i guess never say never
The repeat of Old Christine, when it was aired in the Monday 9:30 slot got better ratings and demos than the Worst Worst finale… that cannot be a positive sign… at all!
Amazing Race was dragged down early on by Presidents Day and Academy Awards competition. It did much better this past Sunday. If that holds up in future weeks, the show should be secure.
I tend to think CBS will instead cancel one from the field of Cold Case, Flashpoint and Numb3rs, don’t have a clue which one just yet.
CBS has managed to basically lock up 2/3rd of Friday night (8pm and 10pm, aside from the occasional 20/20). I don’t see them undoing that by canceling Numb3rs, especially when they’re still trying to strengthen 9pm.
keep gary unmarried!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At lease hoping for a re-newal for EH, has gotten better, would like to see more character development, it has promise.
I know there has been a lot of conversation, between other and myself, about the situation with Old Christine, Gary Unmarried and Worst Week. Nina Tassler recently did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and said the following about those shows:
THR: The Wednesday night comedy hour. Will you continue having that block this fall?
Tassler: It took us such a long time to get to this place that we’re certainly eager and invested in keeping it there. We’ve improved the time period, so it’s something we’d like to stick with.
And about Gary / Worst Week…
THR: Can we expect “Gary Unmarried” or “Worst Week” to return?
Tassler: “Gary” has done really well this season. It’s going to be in there with the discussion of all the shows for next season, but we’re in the middle of shooting pilots. “Worst Week” certainly has a tougher road ahead.
I’ll be posting this in the more recent CBS discussion here, because I think it’s a pretty important piece of information, so pardon me if you read this same post numerous times.
Here’s the link, by the way:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i917a3d5ce882383973f4784604157ba9
I can only say this about the Tassler piece. If Flashpoint is a new business model, they had better stick to the old one and I do not think a show about killing a person every week so we can figure out who done it is entertaining or new. It sounds really old to me. I think I find it the most offensive. Don’t we have enough shows that have people murdering people so other people can fidure who is murdering them. PLEASE. Some times I think these executives are clueless.
I actually think this is easy. The show’s that will get cancelled: Gary Unmarried, Worst Week, The Unit, and Eleventh Hour. These are the shows that haven’t really proven themselves. Eleventh Hour is a low demo performer and probably depends on its lead-in more than shows like Without a Trace. The Unit, while in its 4th season, are getting the lowest ratings for any CBS drama at the moment. Even Flashpoint on Fridays is doing better.
No way Cold Case is going anywhere – I don’t why people think this show is so much of a goner. It gets on average 12 million viewers, if not more, and a 3.0 demo. That’s good. But, if it comes back, it’ll probably (or should) go to Fridays at 9pm. Without a Trace probably isn’t going anywhere, but it could be benched to midseason. Sunday nights are still going to be open. My guess would be Amazing Race, a new drama, and maybe Flashpoint at 10pm. Flashpoint could also be benched to midseason as well. Maybe CBS will decide to move the Wednesday comedy hour to Sundays, and put a new drama on Wednesdays.
For Mondays, CBS needs to choose between Old Christine and Rules of Engagement, and give 1 of them the 9:30 slot. Enough is enough between the 2 – choose one and stick with it. Considering how ROE has done with its 2 episodes this season, I’d think Old Christine would be a tad stronger. Launching new shows in the slot isn’t working. What I would do, though, is maybe air one of the new sitcoms in the slot to launch it, before moving it into another slot on its own.