CBS Shifts Schedule, Unveils Male-Dominated New Shows
Jim Parsons and William Shatner
CBS will add only five new series to its fall lineup, taking an if-it-ain't broke approach that will bring back 18 series, though some of them will be in unproven new time slots. The male-dominated new shows include the previously anticipated Hawaii Five-0 reboot, a new legal drama, The Defenders, starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell, a family cop drama starring Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg, and $#*! My Dad Says, a William Shatner vehicle inspired by a Twitter feed.
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Also joining the lineup is and Chuck Lorre's romantic comedy Mike & Molly, with Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy. Hawaii Five-O already has high expectations not only because of fondness for the original series, but also because the cast include Daniel Dae Kim in his first post-Lost role and Alex O'Loughlin hoping the third time will be the charm after two previous CBS series — Moonlight and Three Rivers — were each canceled after less than one season.
Check out our day-by-day guide to all the networks' fall schedules
The Big Bang Theory, a major success as part of CBS' Monday night comedy block, will move to Thursdays at 8 to launch a new hour of comedy. Survivor will leave Thursdays for Wednesday nights at 8. And, in perhaps the network's riskiest move, CSI: NY will move to Fridays at 9, a timeslot where shows often struggle to thrive. CSI: Miami will move to Sundays at 10.
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The network ordered a Criminal Minds spinoff starring Forest Whitaker for midseason.
Details on the new shows:
Hawaii Five-O: Kim and O'Loughlin's characters solve crimes in a drama CBS president describes as being "character driven with great humor."
The Defenders: In another drama billed as funny and character-based, Belushi and O'Connell play a pair of colorful Las Vegas defense attorneys.
Blue Bloods: Selleck and Wahlberg anchor this NYPD drama about a family so into being cops that their blood runs blue. Not literally.
$#*! My Dad Says: This hard-to-type and harder to pronounce comedy was inspired by a Twitter feed about a dad who says the wrong thing, wears not enough clothes and generally embarrasses his son.
Mike and Molly: Gardell and McCarthy play a cop and teacher who find love at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
CBS' fall schedule:
MONDAY
8 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
8:30 p.m. Rules of Engagement
9 p.m. Two and a Half Men
9:30 p.m. Mike and Molly (new)
10 p.m. Hawaii Five-O (new)
TUESDAY
8 p.m. NCIS
9 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles
10 p.m. The Good Wife
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Survivor
9 p.m. Criminal Minds
10 p.m. The Defenders (new)
THURSDAY
8 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
8:30 p.m. $#*! My Dad Says (new)
9 p.m. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
10 p.m. The Mentalist
FRIDAY
8 p.m. Medium
9 p.m. CSI: NY
10 p.m. Blue Bloods (new)
SATURDAY
8 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
9 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
10 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery
SUNDAY
7 p.m. 60 Minutes
8 p.m. The Amazing Race
9 p.m. Undercover Boss
10 p.m. CSI: Miami
Watch clips from CBS' new series:
Hawaii Five-O:
Mike and Molly:
The Defenders:
$#*! My Dad Says:
Blue Bloods: