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Fall 2005-2006 CBS TV Network Programming Schedule

 Descriptions and Analysis

New Series in blue.

Click on underlined titles for information.

Here's the link to CBS' Official 2005-2006 Fall Preview Page.

Midseason: Courting Alex, Love Monkey

CBS New Series

Close to Home:  Yippee, another Bruckheimer crime series, this time set in the dark and dangerous world of suburban America, where depraved serial killers lurk near every neighborhood park, psycho husbands torture their families, and clearly almost nobody gets out alive.  Enter Annabeth Chase, new mother and tough criminal prosecutor, to put things right.  Jennifer Finnigin, (Crossing Jordan, The Bold and the Beautiful, Committed), John Carroll Lynch (The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire, but I love him best in the movie Volcano where he gets devoured, legs first, by lava in an L.A. subway tunnel), Kimberly Elise (John Q, Diary of a Mad Black Woman -- somebody at CBS mined that movie for Elise and Criminal Minds' Shemar Moore), and Christian Kane (Angel, Into the West mini) star.  Admitted, Bruckheimer's got a good eye for talent, but his taste in material is unceasingly sensationalistic and in it for the nasty thrills.  Though I don't believe TV violence necessarily begets real-life crime, it does weary the soul.  Do we need this?  The question might better be, can we stomach it?  Get ready for another uptick in the female TV body count.  Premieres Tuesday 9/20.  Update 11/7:  Struggling in the ratings, Close to Home is moving into Threshold's Friday night slot, looking for a boost from Ghost Whisperer.  Oh, and it hasn't gotten its full season order yet, either.  Update 12/1:  Close to Home has bettered the now-cancelled Threshold's Friday numbers and will remain in the slot for the rest of the season.

Criminal Minds: Just what the American viewing public needs: another show where people -- and especially women -- are flayed and splayed, abused and brutalized in the name of entertainment.  It's probably not fair to pick on Criminal Minds, which takes place in the FBI's profiling unit, as it's just the latest in a long line of excruciatingly well-detailed crime dramas, but I'm thinking enough is enough with the killing, already.  In its favor, this series has a good cast -- Mandy Patinkin (Chicago Hope, but I'll always love him most as Che in the original U.S. stage version of Evita -- wow!), Thomas Gibson (Dharma and Greg, Chicago Hope, Tales of the City), Mathew Grey Gubler (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), Shemar Moore (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, The Young and the Restless), and Lola Glaudini (The Sopranos, The Handler) -- and at least isn't produced by either Dick Wolf or Jerry Bruckheimer; it's time to spread the wealth, ya know?  Normally I'd say this is a shoo-in, but it's running opposite Lost, but like that show has an out of place comedy lead-in which could put a whammy on the 9pm hour.  Of course, there's the good point that you'll be seeing a couple of TV's best actors from 9 - 11pm in Patinkin and CSI: New York's Sinise.  You could do worse, but oh...the humanity!  Premieres Wednesday 9/21.  Update 10/13:  CBS has given Criminal Minds a full-season order.  Update 12/1:  Effective immediately, repeats of Criminal Minds will fill the now-cancelled Threshold's Tuesday night slot (which used to be Close to Home's slot), at least until they find a permanent replacement and on weeks when the slot isn't filled by specials.

Ghost Whisperer: CBS threw out its previous feel-good (and was good) pet show Joan of Arcadia after its sophomore season for this Jennifer Love Hewitt (Party of Five, The Tuxedo) Medium-wannabe series about a newlywed who communicates with dead people. David Conrad (Boston Public, Miss Match) is her sensitive and adorable husband, and Aisha Tyler (24, C.S.I., Friends, Talk Soup) her skeptical but supportive best friend.  Based on the experiences of real-life psychic James Van Praagh -- who unfortunately couldn't make his own half-hour syndicated talk show click a few seasons back -- this show looks to be heading for more emotional territory than NBC's successful Medium but with much less adrenaline-punched excitement than Fox's recent and similarly-themed on-again and now permanently off-again Tru Calling.  Ghost Whisperer will be competing with NBC's Three Wishes for the sentimental viewers in the audience, but if CBS can sell their entire Friday night line-up as a destination, it could provide good cover for its lead-out, the new Threshold.  Premieres Friday 9/23.  Update 10/13:  Good initial numbers have prompted CBS to hand Ghost Whisperer a full-season order.

How I Met Your Mother: Created and written by a couple of Letterman alumni, How I Met Your Mother -- with a father recounting for his children, years later, his search for true love, their mother -- aims to be a romantic comedy with some time-altering twists.  Never mind that this gimmick didn't work in WB's drama Jack and Bobbie last season, but let's see if it takes better in a sitcom.  The cast is good, including Alyson Hannigan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American Pie fame, playing a part based on Mother show co-creator Craig Thomas' wife, and Neil Patrick Harris, best known to TV fans as Doogie Howser, M.D. but also making a mark with terrific stage performances in demanding Sondheim musicals. Josh Radnor (who was on Broadway in The Graduate opposite Kathleen Turner) is the lead, with Coby Smulders (Veritas, The L Word) as his dream girl/future wife and Jason Segel (Freaks and Geeks) as Hannigan's fiance.  Though Everybody Loves Raymond is no more, CBS could and should continue to have a strong Monday comedy block, even with two new shows in the mix.  Premieres Monday 9/19.  Update 10/13:  How I Met Your Mother is holding its own in the crucial Monday night block and has received its full-season order.  

Out of Practice:   It's a good cast -- Henry "The Fonz" Winkler, still an American TV icon and always working (recent Arrested Development appearances, lots of producing gigs); The West Wing's Stockard Channing, getting a chance to exercise her comic chops again; the immensely likeable but can't-get-a-hit-series Christopher Gorham (Jake 2.0, Medical Investigation, Odyssey 5); the also-so-far-hitless Paula Marshall (Hidden Hills, Cupid), and Ty Burrell (Dawn of the Dead, Black Hawk Down) star as yet another comically dysfunctional family.  From a Frasier-packed production team, two of whom had a CBS flop Bram and Alice a couple of years ago (which I thought was pretty decent and nicely acidic, though), Out of Practice has a super timeslot following Two and a Half Men (which unfortunately loses its Raymond lead-in this year, tho') and before CSI: Miami, so if TV hammocks still work, OoP could be sitting pretty.  Out of Practice's milieu -- they're all doctors of some variety -- obviously isn't going for any salt-of-the-earth appeal, but this is an appealing cast -- I've always loved Gorham's geeky charm -- and this one is all about time period.  If they don't blow it, Out of Practice could settle in nicely for CBS.  Premieres Monday 9/19.  Update 11/04:  Out of Practice has been picked up for the entire season.

Threshold:  What's with all the aliens being obsessed with H2O this season?  In NBC's Surface they're discovered in the ocean, ABC's Invasion has them blowing in during a wet and wild hurricane, and here on Threshold they're turning up on a Navy ship at sea.  Whatever happened to flying those saucers in over D.C.?  Oh, I forgot...Lost was a hit for ABC...it's set on an island...islands are surrounded by water...I get it.  In any case, Threshold has it all over its alien-ated brethren this season, at least in terms of who's who:  Carla Guigino (the Spy Kids movies, the late lamented series Karen Sisco -- from a couple of seasons ago when ABC forgot how to handle a good drama, a skill since re-learned), Charles S. Dutton (Roc, The L Word), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Independence Day), Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent, Elf), Rob Benedict (Felicity), and Brian Van Holt (Blackhawk Down, Basic, S.W.A.T.).  If Threshold takes itself seriously and delivers adult thrills in a believable manner, this could be a nice lead-in for the smart-ish NUMB3RS.  Let's hope that Ghost Whisperer can deliver a decent audience to Threshold, and then maybe CBS will have another night to beat.  Premieres Friday 9/23.  Update 11/7:  Though it will be pre-empted for several weeks, Threshold is moving into Close to Home's Tuesday 10pm time period, where CtH hasn't been holding the Amazing Race lead-in.  Threshold has not received its full season order to date.  Update 12/1:  Threshold has been cancelled, CBS evidently not happy with its numbers even with its move to Tuesday night, plus the fact that Close to Home was able to increase Friday ratings in Threshold's time period.  The show will cease production after the initial 13 episodes, not all of which may air.

Returning Series

Cold Case: Is there any way this show isn't going to work?  From the same production line that created the CSI shows and Without a Trace, this is their latest model, wherein Philadelphia detectives go to work on old cases, the titular cold cases, that nobody's been able to crack...yet.  Canadian TV has their own smash drama series with this same premise called Cold Squad (which premiered in 1998, and unfortunately nobody's running it here in the U.S.), and Britain has its Waking the Dead (started in 2000), which luckily is available here on BBC America and is well worth checking out.  As for Cold Case, with a largely unknown cast -- except for Kathryn Morris (Minority Report) and former Calvin Klein model Justin Chambers -- the technique is the thing here and this appears to be procedural television stripped down to its essence.  Although it will have direct police show competition in ABC's 10-8, the 60 Minutes lead-in is perfect for Cold Case, plus CC will look great promoted inside the rest of the CBS line-up, especially its sister shows.  Premiere date:  9/28.  Update 8/20:  Some slight negative buzz on this after an evidently less-than-impressive session at the Critics Tour.  Update 8/25:  Actor Danny Pino (Desi in Lucy TVM, guest shots on The Shield) will join the series in the 6th episode as the detective partner of Lily Rush (Morris).  Will he add the needed spice to kick this show up a notch?  Review 10/3/03:  As expected, Cold Case performed well in its premiere week, thanks to a great lead-in but primarily by delivering on its crime-solving promise.  Despite qualms (after Critics Tour reports of cast ennui during the show session there; check out the interviews on the CBS website you can see that Ms. Morris' strength doesn't seem to be PR babbling) Kathryn Morris brought some nice wry touches to her role as a detective who's reluctantly thrown into cold case territory.  You could almost watch her get her sea legs during the pilot, easing out of a tough gal cop cliche interpretation to showing signs that she might indeed have what it takes to turn this woman into something special.  Bringing the old crimes to life through flashbacks works well, and especially so when the detectives meet the suspects for the first time; in that very brief instant the contemporary faces meld with their historical file images, and the effect is intriguing.  There's the requisite police workplace full of  assorted grumblers, hot dogs and a father figure -- you know, the kind where the lead character can go up and take the coffee cup right out of his hand, drink, and hand it back to him, without asking (do people really do that?).  Of course you've seen it all before, but thanks to the Philadelphia setting and a slightly weary wash over the whole thing, Cold Case turns it all into something watchable.  Producers Bruckheimer et al are still new enough at this crime show franchise-creating game that their shows don't yet seem to be completely created by cookie cutter, as do Dick Wolf's, and I'd put Cold Case's pilot down as evidence that maybe they're going to let this series develop its own rhythm.  I could watch this again.  Once in a while a show actually deserves the ratings it inherits from a lead-in; Cold Case is a great example.  Update 10/17/03:  Although a full season order hasn't come down yet, CBS has requested more scripts of Cold Case.  Update 10/28/03:  Cold Case has received its full season pick-up.  Update 5/20/04:  Cold Case will be back in its same time period for another season.  Update 6/05:  It's back again for its third season.

CSI: New York:  The CSI franchise spins off yet again, this time to the Big Apple, the last CSI: Miami episode this year introducing the new cast, and it's a good one.  The intense and generally no B.S. actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Truman, The Stand) gets top billing here, with series TV veteran Melina Kanakaredes (Providence) by his side.  Carmine Giovinazzo (Blackhawk Down), Hill Harper (The Skulls, Soul Food), and Vanessa Ferlito (24, CSI: Miami) round out the regular cast.  CBS is feeling pretty good about this one -- they're throwing it right into the ring opposite the original Law & Order, which will be losing Jerry Orbach and gaining Dennis Farina (and that doesn't seem like a tit for tat substitution to me).  I smell vulnerability here.  Heaven knows nothing is going to fatally smite L&O's dominance, but the original may be getting a little frayed around the edges (popular opinion seems to be that it's been eclipsed by its spin-offs) and if anybody should be worth watching this season, Gary Sinise is it.  The other two CSIs have been gigantic hits and made huge stars of their lead actors, and nobody deserves a piece of that more than Sinise, who's a better actor than either of them.  God, I hate CSI and I might even have to watch!  Premiere Date:  9/22/04.  Update 7/05:  Well, I don't watch it, but it will be back for a second season so I'll have plenty more chances.  

Navy CIS (NCIS):  The solid and successful Jag has finally spawned, and if people get the initials of this new show confused with that other top-rated franchise, hey, who's complaining?  Sliding into Jag's timeslot and hopefully inheriting its loyal audience, NCIS' focus is on the investigation of Navy crimes, which then presumably Jag, in its new Friday at 9pm berth, will sometimes handle in the courtroom.  Mark Harmon -- longtime TV favorite (The West Wing) who made a guest appearance on Jag in April to introduce his character -- stars, along with the legendary and uniformly superb David McCallum, who will always be Illya Kuriakin to those of us of a certain age.  Michael Weatherly from the cult series Dark Angel also stars.  Jag, which has been the quiet little engine that could for the past eight seasons, may be one of those shows you've never watched, but rest assured that plenty of folks do, and they'll be thrilled to have a spin-off in the offing.   Update 7/1/03:  Official show title now seems to be NCIS.  Update:  Title is officially Navy NCIS.  Premiere date:  9/26.  Update 10/28/03:  The show has gotten a full season pick-up from CBS.

Two and a Half Men:  Charlie Sheen is one lucky guy; CBS has handed his new show the best time slot on the entire schedule.  Unless the thing is a steaming pile of dung (and maybe even if it is), this is a sure thing if ever there was one.  Nestled in tight between Mr. Romano's personal 40 million dollar bonanza Everybody Loves Raymond and David "The Comeback Kid" Caruso's CSI: Miami, Sheen's new family comedy appears sure to please everybody from audiences to the more-important advertisers.  Charlie (Sheen), a hotshot commercial writer living in a Malibu Beach dreamhouse, has his life turned upside down -- novel idea, that -- by the arrival of his nearly-divorced younger brother and his 10-year-old son.  In addition to Sheen, who's proven his comedy chops on Spin City and in many movies during his shockingly prolific career, the cast features Jon Cryer (quasi-Brat Packer, veteran of several well-reviewed but unwatched sitcoms over the past decade or so) and the always welcome Blythe Danner, who's as good in comedy as she is in straight drama.  After her short-lived experience in Presidio Med last year, it's about time this terrific actress gets a chance to stick around awhile.   Update 7/8/03:  Bye bye Blythe, hello Holland Taylor!  Ms. Danner has been replaced in the role of Charlie and Jon's mother by veteran actress Holland Taylor, who's been a TV and movie favorite for over twenty years.  If you're old enough you no doubt remember her as Tom Hanks' boss in Bosom Buddies way back in 1980; lately she's been a regular on The Practice and in the Spy Kids feature films.  Always a delightful and mordant presence, Ms. Taylor will no doubt be wonderful in the show but it's a shame that another wonderful actress had to get pushed aside.  That's show biz....  Premiere Date:  9/22.  Review 10/7/03:  CBS' Monday night is their bastion of family comedy, and lo and behold they've even managed to turn bad-boy actor Charlie Sheen into a shill for a ten-year-old boy.  Two and a Half Men is impeccably produced, flawlessly acted, and just about impossible to watch if you're not already a fan of the shows that come before it in the schedule.  The kid really stays in the picture here, and any kind of criticism of a show like this, especially one that's well-done, just comes off as churlish.  It's nice to see talented performers doing well with the same kind of trite family schtick -- except for the gay jokes, which are this season's mantra -- that less-talented casts struggle to pull off, and Sheen and Cryer do give their Odd Couple bit some appealing touches.  Two and a Half Men is working like a charm, and even if I'm not going be able to stomach it, hurrah to CBS for adding one more perfectly-crafted half-hour of household hilarity to their arsenal.  Most intriguing thing about the show:  Charlie's obsessed ex-girlfriend is played by Melanie Lynskey; film buffs will remember her amazing performance in Peter Jackson's incredible 1994 film Heavenly Creatures as one of a pair of teenage killers, the other played by Kate Winslet.  Highly recommended, and especially so as an antidote to shows like Two and a Half Men!  Update 10/28/03:  CBS has acknowledged the show's terrific ratings performance with a full season pick-up.  Update 6/04:  In for a second season.  Update 6/05:  Back for a third season, this time without Everybody Loves Raymond as a lead-in.  Review Update 8/05:  I'll occasionally tune in for a few minutes to this show, and find the humor wincingly sleazy and raunchy to the point of being inappropriate for something that's supposed to be a family(ish) comedy.  However, it's now the linchpin for Monday night and no matter however tainted the formula is, it's working for CBS.