Fall TV: CBS Adds Eight New Series, Makes Big (and Medium!) Changes
Johnny Galecki, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Haysbert
CBS announced eight brand-new series for the 2009-10 TV season, including ones starring Chris O'Donnell, LL Cool J, Julianna Margulies and Alex O'Loughlin, and swooped in and picked up NBC's castoff Medium.
The Eye ordered a full 22-episode season of Medium, slotting it after Ghost Whisperer on Fridays. As CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler says, "If Ghost Whisperer and Numbers had an offspring, Medium would be it."
CBS also has tinkered with its Monday lineup in unexpected ways. How I Met Your Mother will now lead off the night, leading into the new Jenna Elfman comedy Accidentally on Purpose. The Big Bang Theory boys will now geek out at 9:30, following Two and a Half Men.
Asked about the Big move, Tassler told TVGuide.com that it's a bid to further bolster the surging sitcom, and offer Men a solid lead-out.
NCIS: Los Angeles, starring O'Donnell and Cool J, will air after NCIS on Tuesdays. That means The Mentalist will now see Thursdays-at-10 as its new home.
The Good Wife, starring ER alum Margulies as a woman who returns to work as a lawyer when her hubby is incarcerated, will air Tuesdays at 10. (Without a Trace is canceled).
CBS' Wednesday roster remains unchanged: Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds and CSI: NY. Thursday kicks off with Survivor: Samoa, followed by (of course) CSI and The Mentalist.
On Sunday, The Amazing Race will lead into Three Rivers, a medical/organ transplantation drama starring Moonlight's O'Loughlin. With The Unit canceled, Cold Case gets moved to the 10 o'clock slot.
Slated for midseason are Rules of Engagement, Miami Trauma, The Bridge, and a pair of new reality series.
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