Schedules Plus, CBS Monday

Schedules Plus is another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. Right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

CBS Monday is revered for its two-hour comedy block, now the longest-running active block on TV (though it's breaking up in fall 2014!). However, the lineup historically hasn't had anything like the ratings dominance of NBC Thursday during the Must See TV years. In fact, in the years after Everybody Loves Raymond and before How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory came to life, the two-hour average actually went below the league average! But the night's ratings were long propped up by one of the A18-49+ era's strongest 10/9c programs, CSI: Miami.

CBS Monday

	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2001-02	King of Queens	Yes, Dear	Everybody Loves Raymond	Becker	Family Law		119
	120	123	179	128	80
	122		154
2002-03	King of Queens	Yes, Dear	Everybody Loves Raymond	Still Standing	CSI: Miami		132
	100	108	155	121	153
	104		138
2003-04	Yes, Dear	Still Standing	Everybody Loves Raymond	Two and a Half Men	CSI: Miami		136
	87	101	149	137	172
	94		143
2004-05	Still Standing	Listen Up	Everybody Loves Raymond	Two and a Half Men	CSI: Miami		137
	78	76	155	144	183
	77		149
2005-06	King of Queens	How I Met Your Mother	Two and a Half Men	Out of Practice	CSI: Miami		119
	85	87	127	105	157
	86		116
2006-07	How I Met Your Mother	The Class	Two and a Half Men	The New Adventures of Old Christine	CSI: Miami		115
	88	82	127	92	149
	85		109
2007-08	How I Met Your Mother	The Big Bang Theory	Two and a Half Men	Rules of Engagement	CSI: Miami		124
	106	99	150	123	134
	102		136
2008-09	The Big Bang Theory	How I Met Your Mother	Two and a Half Men	Worst Week	CSI: Miami		133
	126	133	170	104	132
	130		137
2009-10	How I Met Your Mother	Accidentally on Purpose	Two and a Half Men	The Big Bang Theory	CSI: Miami		142
	125	110	176	187	127
	118		181
2010-11	How I Met Your Mother	Rules of Engagement	Two and a Half Men	Mike and Molly	Hawaii Five-0		132
	133	122	176	132	115
	128		154
2011-12	How I Met Your Mother	2 Broke Girls	Two and a Half Men	Mike and Molly	Hawaii Five-0		160
	172	180	210	158	121
	176		184
2012-13	How I Met Your Mother	Partners	2 Broke Girls	Mike and Molly	Hawaii Five-0		124
	152	98	160	137	99
	125		149
2013-14	How I Met Your Mother	2 Broke Girls	Mike and Molly	Mom	Hostages		111
	180	134	115	111	63
	157		113
2014-15	2 Broke Girls	Mike and Molly	Scorpion		NCIS: Los Angeles		116
	120	116	135		95
	118
Avg	116		143		127		129

2014-15 Update: This may only be the 12th best CBS Monday in 14 years, but to lose How I Met Your Mother and still grow year-to-year was a win. NCIS: Los Angeles improving on the dreadful year-ago occupants was a given, but the real victory came in the other hours. 2BG and Mike and Molly held up just fine with no HIMYM, and the decision to kill another comedy hour paid off as Scorpion was one of the biggest new CBS dramas this generation.

The Big Bang Theory and newbie Life in Pieces air here for just over a month before moving to Thursday; Supergirl takes over at 8/7c for the late fall.

Notable midseason replacements:

• Rather than rehash every single year of the night's most common midseason replacements, I'll just point to their War of 18-49 pages: Old Christine and Rules of Engagement.

The 2013-14 lineup listed above does not include initial 8:30 occupant We Are Men (101). Because it was pulled so quickly, its two-episode average had an even bigger A18-49+ than Partners, though I think it was an even bigger failure.

See here for more explanations/disclaimers about Schedules Plus.