First impressions: CBS does what CBS does
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CBS executives talked a lot Wednesday about how stable their schedule is and how nearly all the network's new shows will have established hits around them. And with good reason -- the network is very good at designing a schedule that gives its shows a good chance to succeed.
The crop of newbies on the network next season doesn't take any big swings, with a spinoff of one of its most popular shows ("NCIS: Los Angeles"), two shows with well-known stars ("Accidentally on Purpose" with Jenna Elfman and "The Good Wife" with Julianna Margulies) and one featuring a lead actor with an adoring fan base ("Three Rivers" with Alex O'Loughlin).
It's not especially sexy, but it will probably be effective. Here's a rundown of the four fall shows and two midseason series CBS previewed Wednesday.
FALL SHOWS
"Accidentally on Purpose" (watch a clip)
Elfman is a very watchable actress, and she seems to have decent chemistry with Jon Foster as the younger guy with whom a one-night stand results in a pregnancy. His slacker buddies, though, look more like than ill-conceived attempts to draw a younger audience than actual characters. I also kind of wonder what might happen after the baby arrives.
"The Good Wife" (watch a clip)
It's got a really intriguing premise: The wife (Margulies) of a scandal-ridden politician (Chris Noth) restarts her long-dormant professional life after he's sent to prison. Margulies can convey a lot of emotion with just a look, and it serves her well here. But based on the trailer we saw, the show might be served better if those emotions were a little more raw. Still curious to see the full pilot.
"NCIS: Los Angeles" (watch a clip)
Fans of the original "NCIS" already have an idea what to expect from this show thanks to the two-part spinoff setup that aired a few weeks ago. Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J are your two leads, and they had a pretty fair amount of buddy-cop chemistry in the setup. If they can keep it up, that will go a long way toward making the new show a success.
"Three Rivers" (watch a clip)
O'Loughlin fans are excited to have their guy back on TV, but the show CBS has placed him in looks almost painfully earnest. Perhaps the full pilot will play better -- and exhibit a sense of humor -- but the trailer was designed to make sure you knew how dedicated, caring and generally awesome the doctors at a transplant center in Pittsburgh are. It might as well have put halos around their heads.
MIDSEASON SHOWS
(CBS also has two other midseason shows, a medical drama called "Miami Trauma" and the reality show "Arranged Marriage," but didn't show any footage to the audience Wednesday.)
"The Bridge"
This Canadian import stars "Battlestar Galactica's" Aaron Douglas as a beat cop who becomes head of the union for his fellow officers and takes on all the burdens that entails. Douglas shows a ton of charisma in the role, and it's a slightly different take on the typical cop show that could make it worth checking out.
"Undercover Boss"
CEOs and other top-level executives come out of the corner office and work with rank-and-file employees of their companies in this reality show. It's a good concept for the times -- the bosses' eyes are invariably opened to the issues facing their workers -- and will undoubtedly end up being pretty good PR for the companies that take part.
Medical transplant shows have failed in the past. I believe there was one on TNT that was cancelled. Three Rivers has a tough hill to climb cause most people really don't get into this type of show for long with such dark subject matter. CBS should have kept Alex in Moonlight. Three Rivers is destined to be like another CBS medical show 3lbs cancelled.
CBS cancel The Unit and Without a Trace so I'm not going to watch any new shows on the network. I hope they all tank badly.
It's always funny how fans always think that threatening a network with "never watching them again" when they cancel a low-rated show because people aren't watching it in high enough numbers is somehow going to have any weight...
That said I agree that Three Rivers sounds pretty slim as a premise.
Of course, it's all in the execution, but I'm not an Alex O'Laughlin fan and think he is vastly over-rated in his ability to appeal beyond the very dedicated Moonlight fans.
yes, its funny how intelligent fans of quality television shows reject mediocrity in entertainment, hillarious indeed.
Network television must be revolutionzed!
Cable comrades, unite!
The bigger they are, CBS, they harder they fall.
NBC learned that lesson the hard way, and now, despite the Leno experiment, they are poised to survive a televisual holocaust.
On the other hand, when the revolution comes, CBS will burn like the Hindenburg and sink like the Titanic.
Hm, I know my proclamations of anger at the networks will have no effect, but god damn it feels good to vent.
Have a nice day. :)
Dear utp,
How's life in Cloudcookooland? Are you having the same problems with mortgage foreclosures that we're having down here?
Less facetiously, if CBS does suddenly lose m***ive chunks of audience - to which I say, fat chance - it won't be because they cancelled "Without A Trace."
I have no idea what sort of holocaust you think NBC can weather. Really, the only thing keeping them as high as fourth place is the CW's insistence on serving a narrow niche audience. The NBC fall schedule is timid and uninspiring. I can't completely blame them, because "Parenthood" was the only pilot proposal that I thought looked promising, so there wasn't much to choose from. It does demonstrate, though, that the potential hits aren't even calling on NBC anymore.
CBS may have been shortsighted enough to cancel Eleventh Hour, but the Campaign to bring it back is not over. If you love EH like we do, check out this new link at our new site. There are still possibilities to save this show but we need each and every fan to help!
http://forum.planet-hood.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52
They should have just brought back Moonlight. It was better than anything they have tried in its place. A good looking hero with super powers working with the police to solve crimes. Sounds like a good premise for a show.
Thanks, Alan.
yeah, it's pretty bad up here too, the unemployment is... sky high...
the trouble with CBS - the Communist Broadcasting System - is that they are stuck in the old way of demanding brand loyalty from their viewers. They keep offering more of the same stale crap that has kept people watching in the past. Well, the 21st Century American can not be monopolized like that.
As we all saw in the news, staying brand loyal worked out really well for the car dealers who signed up with only one company up in Detroit. Those guys stayed loyal to the bitter, soul-crushing end when they got the Dear Dealer letters from their manufacturers.
Same thing with CBS: those commies still want us to just watch all CBS all the time like brainless automotons and shop in servitude to their advertizers. In return, they promise to never change the formula of the gruel in the trough from which we are to gorge ourselves.
That is the old paradigm. Sure, there are places in our country where this is still status quo, but more and more people are feeling free and safe to admit that they are loyal to quality, and are not mindless consumers of their fathers and grandfathers brands.
The Tiffany network is an antique. CBS is a dinosaur. It must evolve, or it will be stuffed on display with a rod up its *** at the Television History Museum.
I believe Alex will mesmerize me and audience with his talent. I will be watching Alex in three Rivers this fall
CBS is gutless and stale. The new lineup shows it.
The Unit could have been saved, just fire everybody liberal, then hire conservatives to make it. But gutless don't play that!
Moonlight was great, how stupid are they up there in CBS land? Very, it seems.
Looking forward to CBS's slide into the bowl.