2010 Television Upfront: CBS's 2010-2011 Lineup Full of Changes

How the mighty have fallen. Oh, not CBS, which announced its primetime schedule today, but rather NBC, something evident in CBS's lineup. With its new schedule, the Eye network has opted to try to establish a comedy bulkhead on Thursday nights – NBC's domain for years (decades) on end. The new schedule CBS delivered features a whole bunch of timeslot changes and new programs. If one didn't know better they might think that CBS didn't perform well this past season.

Before we get into the details, it must be stated that Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer, Numbers, Gary Unmarried, and The New Adventures of Old Christine all found the chopping block this year. There were certainly some hints that such would happen with a few of these shows (Rob Morrow is in a pilot picked up by another network), but it is sure to upset some of the series' more devoted fans. Additionally, both CSI spinoffs found their ways to new nights as did Survivor. Aggressive may not accurately describe CBS's new schedule which has only left Tuesday nights untouched.

Said schedule is as follows:

	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
7:00	60 Minutes
7:30
8:00	The Amazing Race	How I Met Your Mother	NCIS	Survivor	Big Bang Theory	Medium	Drama Repeats
8:30		Rules of Engagement			$#*! My Dad Says
9:00	Undercover Boss	Two and a Half Men	NCIS: Los Angeles	Criminal Minds	CSI	CSI: NY
9:30		Mike & Molly
10:00	CSI: Miami	Hawaii Five-0	The Good Wife	The Defenders	The Mentalist	Blue Bloods	48 Hours Mystery
10:30

Looking at the comedies first, CBS has added two to their fall lineup – Mike & Molly and $#*! My Dad Says (apparently that first word is "BLEEP"). Both air out of established comedies, although the latter is going to be on CBS' new Thursday hour comedy block.

Mike & Molly is brought to us by Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory) and features a couple who find love at Overeaters Anonymous. Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy star as the titular couple, with Mike being a cop and Molly being a fourth grade teacher. Both have friends and family in their life, and Molly even has Swoosie Kurtz playing her mother. How the show will handle the sensitive issue of weight may play directly into the series' success or failure.

$#*! My Dad Says stars William Shatner as the father who says a bunch of crazy things, something Shatner has shown to excel at in his most recent television role on Boston Legal. As a sign of the times, the sitcom is based on the Twitter feed of Justin Halpern (yes, a Twitter feed). The father, Ed, has two sons, one of whom, though an adult, is forced to move back in with him. The series comes from David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, the creators of Will & Grace.

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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