Question: I know CBS has won every week of the season. I bet they'll win every week until ABC's Bowl season starts. I bet they'll also win every week, with the exception of the Super Bowl week and the two weeks of the Olympics. Should CBS really celebrate this? Of course! However, once people get tired of the crime dramas, the whole schedule will collapse. I mean, they have nine procedurals on their schedule (excluding Saturday repeats of, you guessed it, more procedurals), so it's bound to happen. I hope that it does. I can't even watch CSI anymore because of how much I now hate procedurals. But to my question: Do you think that the same thing that happened to ABC with its multiple airings of Millionaire will happen to CBS? If so, when? Because I can't wait!
Answer: I'm not quite as bloodthirsty about the prospect as you seem to be. But to me the most depressing outcome of the season so far has not been the cancellations of promising shows like Threshold and Just Legal (most of the
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Pauley Perrette and Michael Bellisario, NCIS
For the second year in a row, ABC has the most talked-about shows: Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy. But guess what? CBS has been No. 1 in viewers every week. It's the first time since 1988 that a network has opened with 11 consecutive weekly ratings wins. CBS has been on ABC's tail in the race for advertiser-coveted viewers in the 18-to-49 age group, too. (They were tied for first place during November sweeps). One CBS show after another has been scoring all-time highs this season. The Biz talked with Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president of programming operations for CBS, to get some insight on why the Eye has it this year.
TVGuide.com: You have two shows that are in their third season and scoring their best ratings ever. How do you explain that?Kelly Kahl: [Yes,] Cold Case and NCIS. I think some shows benefit from simply being on. It's a highly fragmented TV audience, and it takes time,
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Tracie Thoms
Newcomer Tracie Thoms hasn't had much luck when it comes to picking TV parts that get picked up. The 30-year-old landed gigs on the short-lived series As If and Wonderfalls. But it seems like things are turning around for the Baltimore native: This week alone, she's starring in the big-budget musical adaptation of Rent and she's landed a plum part as a series regular on CBS' Cold Case (Sundays at 8 pm/ET). TVGuide.com just had to know: Did she get any tips from Law & Order star Jesse L. Martin — who cost
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Tracie Thoms, who can be seen in the upcoming film version of Broadway's Rent, has been added as a series regular on CBS' Cold Case, where she has been recurring as Kat Miller. The former narcotics detective is going to be joining the homicide team in the Nov. 20 episode.
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Question: Well, CBS has done it again. I was interested in watching Category 7: The End of the World tonight (Sunday), but apparently because of a late football game, it started 10 minutes late. This has not only messed up my TV watching for tonight, but how many people have TiVos who are not going to catch the end, since they'll cut off at 11 pm? Also, CBS has sacrificed one hour for four since Category 7 is a two-parter set to finish next week (Nov. 13). If I can't watch the first part, I won't be interested in tuning in for the second part next week. NBC's NASCAR coverage ran over by 20 minutes, but they adjusted Dateline so it ended at 8 pm/ET to accommodate a top-of-the-hour start time for The West Wing. If NBC can do it, why can't CBS? Just another example of the networks not giving a flip about the audience. Your thoughts?
Answer: Rule of thumb when planning to record either CBS or Fox on Sundays during football season, on VCR or DVR: Set ample time on either end, because
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Question: I just heard that a new episode of Grey's Anatomy will be screened after the Super Bowl next year on ABC. You know, I've always wondered why the networks choose to place one of their most established hits in this coveted time slot, since it almost always only gives the show a minor bump that doesn't really sustain itself long enough to affect the season average by much. I don't think Alias, The Simpsons and Survivor: All-Stars (past occupants of this slot) really saw such exposure translate into higher ratings. Plus the fact that Grey's Anatomy is really an established hit, given how it managed to grow its numbers from its Desperate Housewives rerun lead-in this week. Earlier this season the series premiere of Criminal Minds successfully launched behind CSI, and look how it's doing now (admirably, against Lost). Since most established shows already have their own followings, why not save the post-Super Bowl slot to launch one of ABC's mid-season shows instead? I'm especially ...
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Question: After some stellar episodes last season — the final two in particular — Cold Case has become my only must-see "procedural." (SVU would be on that list, too, but I go to bed early.) Oct. 9's episode was a little weak, but Oct. 2's frat-house fire episode was incredible. How emotional — repulsive yet poignant. The actress who played the victim (I think she may have been the same one who played the female wrestler who died on Boston Public back in the day) really captured the essence of a character that is usually limited. I know there is no chance for any recognition for her, but she deserves it. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Cold Case is a Top 10 show; I didn't realize it was doing so well. Your thoughts?
Answer: At the moment, I would probably put Without a Trace and Cold Case atop my list of fave procedurals — and I can't wait for football season to be over so the overruns won't get in the way of my enjoyment of Cold Case. (I'm watching so much on Sundays that I
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The happy-go-lucky Parents Television Council has released its annual list of worst prime-time shows for family viewing. Fox had six out of the top (bottom?) 10, with The War at Home, Family Guy, American Dad, those horn dogs on The O.C., Arrested Development and That '70s Show. Rounding out my new Must-See TV list are CSI (too grisly), Desperate Housewives (too slutty), Cold Case (too graphic) and Two and a Half Men
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Question: I'd like to know why CBS doesn't get rid of its Sunday movies and maybe put some shows on that complement Cold Case, like maybe move its very good 48 Hours Mystery to Sunday, and have Saturday all repeats. 48 Hours seems to dovetail well with both 60 Minutes and Cold Case, and judging by its ratings this summer, 48 does pretty well on a decent night. Other than 48, I'm not sure what could go there. Could you provide some insight into this?
Answer: Part of me (maybe the old-fashioned part) is glad someone is still in the TV-movie game on a regular basis. If CBS gave it up, it would be beyond dead. Some weeks, it even works as counterprogramming (though not much lately). It would be awfully risky for CBS to get into the series game against the ABC powerhouses, though 48 Hours would at least be a low-cost alternative. And the last thing CBS needs is to add more crime-oriented programming to its schedule. So for now, I imagine CBS will keep playing it safe, and now and then, ther ...
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The sophomore-season premiere of ABC's Desperate Housewives drew 28.2 million viewers, falling just shy of the series' May finale numbers. The adventures of Bree, Gaby, Susan, Lynette and Betty's strange cellar dweller, coupled with a two-part Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (16.3 million) and Grey's Anatomy's own premiere (19.5 million), led ABC to an easy Sunday-night win. Elsewhere, CBS' Martha Behind Bars TV-movie, handicapped by the football-delayed Cold Case debut, turned out not to be a good thing, with fewer than 10 million samplers, while the fifth-season opener of NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent posted its lowest mar
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