No. 1-rated CBS is doing less deck-shuffling than its rivals, but will still make some significant changes in the coming year.
The network announced that four new series will be joining its new mix, although Paula Abdul's previously announced Live to Dance basically is a place-holder for Survivor as Wednesday night's lead-off hitter.
The notable eviction is William Shatner's $#*! My Dad Says, which had been nestled behind The Big Bang Theory on Thursdays. The $#*! will last hit the fan on Feb. 17. On the following Thursday, its 8:30 ET replacement is Rules of Engagement, which has been airing on Mondays between How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men.
CBS says that Dad Says "will have completed its on-air order for the season" when it leaves the network. That leaves the door open a crack for renewal next season. But in truth, CBS has never been entirely comfortable with either the title of the show or its fall-off among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Big Bang currently ranks seventh in that key demographic with an average of 9.8 million 18-to-49-year-olds per episode Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, with Dad Says falling at 8:30 ET to 31st with 7.6 million viewers.
Starting Feb. 21, Rules of Engagement will be replaced at 8:30 ET Monday by the new comedy Mad Love. Jason Biggs of American Pie fame heads the cast in this saga about a "quartet of New Yorkers, two of whom are falling in love while the other two despise each other."
CBS also is adding Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday on Feb. 16. Forest Whitaker and Janeane Garofolo head the network's latest crime-solving team.
Moving from Wednesday to Friday is The Defenders, starting Feb. 4. In the interim, Tom Selleck's Blue Bloods cop drama gets a four-week run in The Defenders' 10 p.m. ET Wednesday slot (Jan. 19-Feb. 9). It will then move back to its previous home -- Fridays at 10 p.m. ET. Out of luck on Friday is Medium, which ends its run Jan. 21, to be supplanted by Defenders in the 8 p.m. ET leadoff spot.
Abdul's Live to Dance launches on Tuesday, Jan. 4 with a two-hour edition before moving to its regular Wednesday 8 p.m. ET spot the following night. On Jan. 19, it will be pitted directly against the Season 10 premiere of Fox's American Idol. Dance so far is scheduled for just a six-week run, with Survivor: Redemption Island starting up on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
The fourth new series, Chaos, is set for a Friday, April 1 premiere in that night's lead-off slot. Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under) and Eric Close (Without A Trace) star in what CBS describes as a "comedic drama about a group of rogue CIA spies in the Office of Disruptive Services who combat threats to national security amidst bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting."
Sounds just like Congress, but CBS isn't about to break away from its tried-and-true crime and punishment format. All 12 of its scripted one-hour series are in that genre
Read more by Ed Bark at unclebarky.com