The Fall TV Season presentations for all the new network shows take place this week with the fourth announced. Here’s a full breakdown of which concepts have made the final list over on CBS.
With CBS leading in viewers by the widest margin of any network in 23 years, the network has little need to refresh its line-up this year – especially with last season’s successes like “2 Broke Girls” and “Persons of Interest” adding to a solid run of hits in recent years.
Yet it’s not resting on its laurels, ordering six new shows and shifting four existing shows around the schedule to shore up its weak points, in the process teaming its two biggest comedies “Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men” on the one night.
Several other pilots didn’t make the final cut and won’t be seen include cop drama “The Widow Detective”, various comedies about twenty and thirty somethings with the most notable titled “Oh Fuck It’s You”, and an adaptation of Ayelet Waldman’s novels featuring the character of public defender/P.I./single mother Juliet Applebaum.
Elementary
(Quirky Crime Procedural, Thursdays 10pm)
Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD’s most impossible cases.
Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare – a sober companion Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu).
A successful surgeon until she lost a patient and her license three years ago, Watson views her current job as another opportunity to help people, as well as paying a penance. However, the restless Sherlock is nothing like her previous clients.
He informs her that none of her expertise as an addiction specialist applies to him and he’s devised his own post-rehab regimen – resuming his work as a police consultant in New York City under the charge of Capt. Tobias “Toby” Gregson (Aidan Quinn). Watson has no choice but to accompany her irascible new charge on his jobs.
Made in Jersey
(Drama, Fridays 9pm)
A young working-class woman uses her street smarts to compete among her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues at a prestigious New York law firm.
Martina Garretti (Janet Montgomery) finds her firm’s cutthroat landscape challenging, but what she lacks in an Ivy League education she more than makes up for with tenacity and blue-collar insight.
After just a few weeks, firm founder Donovan Stark (Kyle MacLachlan), takes note of Martina’s ingenuity and resourcefulness, as does her sassy secretary Cyndi Vega (Toni Trucks).
With the support of her big Italian family, including her sexy older sister Bonnie (Erin Cummings), Martina is able to stay true to her roots as a bold, passionate lawyer on the rise in a new intimidating environment.
Partners
(Genre, Mondays 8:30pm)
Two life-long best friends and business partners find their “bromance” is tested when one of them is engaged to be married.
Joe (David Krumholtz) is an accomplished architect who leads with his head and not his heart, especially in his love life. That’s in stark contrast to his gay co-worker, Louis (Michael Urie), who is spontaneous, emotional and prone to exaggeration.
Both have found joy in their love lives: Joe is newly engaged to Ali (Sophia Bush), a beautiful and sophisticated jewelry designer, while Louis is dating Wyatt (Brandon Routh), a vegan nurse who Louis insists is just a promotion away from becoming a doctor.
As news of Joe’s engagement settles, time will tell if their business and personal bond can adapt to the addition of two other important relationships.
Vegas
(Drama, Tuesdays 10pm)
It’s the 1960’s and Sheriff Ralph Lamb (Quaid) wants to be left in peace to run his ranch, but Las Vegas is now swelling with outsiders and corruption which are intruding on his simple life.
Recalling Lamb’s command as a military police officer during World War II, the Mayor appeals to his sense of duty to look into a murder of a casino worker – and so begins Lamb’s clash with Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis), a ruthless Chicago gangster who plans to make Vegas his own.
Assisting Lamb in keeping law and order are his diplomatic, even-keeled brother Jack (Jason O’Mara) and his charming but impulsive son, Dixon (Taylor Handley), and an ambitious assistant District Attorney Katherine O’Connell (Carrie-Anne Moss).
MID-SEASON PREMIERES
Friend Me
(Comedy, Mid-Season)
A comedy about two twenty-something best friends who just moved from Indiana to Los Angeles to start cool new jobs, but can’t agree on how to socially engage in their new city. Rob (Nicholas Braun) is eager to embrace the L.A. scene, Evan (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) prefers to socialize online at home in his underwear.
Rob’s had enough of iChatting, and naively posts a flyer seeking new friends on the coffee house bulletin board, despite Evan’s warning that no good can come from meeting strangers in person. Soon the calls start rolling in, some with potential, some just disturbing, and Rob and a reluctant Evan embark on what will be a series of the most epic adventures of their lives.
Golden Boy
(Police Drama, Mid-Season)
As he’s interviewed for a story about his career, Walter William Clark, Jr. (Theo James) flashes back on his hard-fought journey from street kid to the youngest police commissioner in the history of New York City.
After only three years as a beat cop, Clark’s heroics on the job make him bold enough to receive a promotion to Homicide Detective, angering the members of his new department who are eager to see him fail.
These include a veteran lifer (Chi McBride), a moral-free alpha dog (Kevin Alejandro), the only female detective in the unit (Bonnie Somerville), and a well-connected potential ally (Holt McCallany). He soon bases his career decisions solely on his need to succeed as quickly as possible, a decision filled with consequences.
The nightly CBS schedule will be as follows:
MONDAY
8pm: “How I Met Your Mother”
8:30pm: “Partners”
9pm: “2 Broke Girls”
9:30pm: “Mike and Molly”
10pm: “Hawaii Five-0”
TUESDAY
8pm: “N.C.I.S.”
9pm: “N.C.l.S.: Los Angeles”
10pm: “Vegas”
WEDNESDAY
8pm: “Survivor”
9pm: “Criminal Minds”
10pm: “CSI”
THURSDAY
8pm: “The Big Bang Theory”
8:30pm: “Two and a Half Men”
9pm: “Person of Interest”
10pm: “Elementary”
FRIDAY
8pm: “CSI: NY”
9pm: “Made in Jersey”
10pm: “Blue Bloods”
SATURDAY
8pm: “Crimetime Saturday”
10pm: “48 Hours Mystery”
SUNDAY
7pm: “60 Minutes”
8pm: “The Amazing Race”
9pm: “The Good Wife”
10pm: “The Mentalist”
CANCELLATIONS
“CSI Miami,” “A Gifted Man,” “How to Be a Gentleman,” “NYC 22,” “Rob” “Unforgettable.”
About The Critic
