2014 Upfront Answers, CBS

Last week, I asked "Upfront Questions" to preview each network's fall 2014 schedule. With the schedule now official, here are the "Upfront Answers"!

CBS' upfront previews: True Power Rankings | Upfront Questions

Other Upfront Answers: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW

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MONDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00-8:30 PM              THE BIG BANG THEORY/2 Broke Girls
8:30-9:00 PM              Mom (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM            SCORPION (N)
10:00-11:00 PM          NCIS: Los Angeles (NT)

My Question: How much veteran help does a post-How I Met Your Mother Monday need?

As recommended, it will get that veteran help in the 10/9c hour, and CBS chose the show that would require the fewest moves. Also as recommended, The Big Bang Theory is on Monday, but only temporarily. And it'll use that time to try to boost the modest sophomore Mom, which a lot of people insist is worthy of such a berth creatively.

But even with both those things happening, it's still a surprising Monday schedule, because CBS broke up its very long-running two-hour Monday comedy tradition. It looked probable after pickup season that CBS was gonna kill a comedy hour. That's what happens when you pick up two comedies and a million dramas. But would it happen on Monday or Thursday? Especially with Scandal now at 9/8c, the Monday hour is the far riper one for a drama. So this is the better choice, at least competition-wise. I was afraid CBS' long-running Monday tradition would win out.

However, once TBBT is gone, it's gonna be the same situation that CBS ran into on Mondays at 10/9c: a modest comedy hour leading into a new drama. Scorpion seems kinda Intelligence-esque, not necessarily the kind of concept that would attract a ton of attention on its own, but we'll see how the trailer looks. CBS had better hope it gets off and running in the early fall.

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TUESDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00-9:00 PM              NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM            NCIS: NEW ORLEANS (N)
10:00-11:00 PM          Person of Interest

My Question: Is a third NCIS the only thing that could kick LA out of the cushy slot?

Yes! And it kicks it to Monday, rather than to 10/9c in a tri-NCIS night. I like that decision, but I was not confident it'd happen.

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WEDNESDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00-9:00 PM              Survivor
9:00-10:00 PM            Criminal Minds
10:00-11:00 PM          STALKER (N)

My Question: Could CBS' development keep Wednesday intact for a little longer?

Nope. Even amid a bunch of unexpected developments, CSI to Sunday just made too much sense not to happen. And Kevin Williamson's Stalker seems like a pretty perfect fit with Criminal Minds, even if it will be a rather gruesome two-hour experience.

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THURSDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00-8:30 PM              The Big Bang Theory (RTP) (As of Oct. 30)  
8:30-9:00 PM              The Millers (As of Oct. 30)
9:00-9:30 PM              Two and a Half Men (As of Oct. 30)
9:30-10:00 PM            THE McCARTHYS (N) (As of Oct. 30)
10:00-11:00 PM          Elementary (As of Oct. 30)

My Question: Which comedy gets The Big Bang Theory's lead-in once football is over?

Sigh. It's The Millers.

It's pretty clear from pickup season that CBS had its second miserable comedy development season in three years. It's not quite the crushing blow that it was two years ago when the returnee comedy strength was so massive, but it's still pretty bad that they felt The Millers was their best option for this slot. How I Met Your Dad and The Odd Couple both missing out on CBS' fall schedule is one of the biggest upfront surprises in recent memory, and not in a good way. And one would think even The McCarthys would beat out The Millers if CBS had much real hope for it.

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FRIDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00-9:00 PM              The Amazing Race (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM            Hawaii Five-0
10:00-11:00 PM          Blue Bloods

My Question: Is there any reason to change anything?

Yes! As I said last week, Undercover Boss has always struggled to churn out a full season of episodes, which is why its slot on the fall schedule didn't seem 100% safe. And as I've pointed out several times this season, The Amazing Race has really had a weak couple of cycles this season. I figured we were a year away from that becoming a factor, but clearly CBS noticed it too and wanted to make better use of the Sunday football overruns. This is unexpected, but it seems pretty reasonable to me.

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SUNDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
7:00-8:00 PM              60 Minutes
8:00-9:00 PM              MADAM SECRETARY (N)
9:00-10:00 PM            The Good Wife  
10:00-11:00 PM          CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (NT)/CSI: CYBER (N)

My Question: Will any Sunday option get CBS to move The Good Wife from its "prestigious" 9/8c slot?


Nope. But CBS still saw the value in the Madam Secretary pairing with The Good Wife and got creative, putting Madam Secretary in the 8/7c hour rather than at 10/9c. This means Madam Secretary will have to deal with the same start-time uncertainties always seen on Sunday. However, being at 8/7c, much closer to the NFL lead-in, makes it worth it. We've said in the past that the NFL overruns are a net positive for the first two hours, neutral at best for the 9/8c show, and bad for the 10/9c one.

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GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

It's clear from the news coming out of the conference call that CBS is "blaming" this schedule upheaval on Thursday Night Football. But, with the exception of The Big Bang Theory's jerk to Monday and back, I call shenanigans on that. It's only a little over a month of the regular season. What really caused a lot of this was another nightmare in CBS' comedy development. How I Met Your Dad and The Odd Couple both clearly came in well below expectations, with one of them (probably) dead for good and the other held off for some tinkering. That's left them with Monday and Thursday schedules that seem fairly sub-optimal, and it will be up to their new dramas to try to salvage it. Not sure that they could've done a lot better, but it feels disappointing nonetheless.

On the other hand, I'm kind of a fan of the creative Friday/Sunday shifts. The Amazing Race is easily CBS' strongest Sunday property right now, but it's still struggling, and the first half of Sunday is a potentially untapped opportunity during NFL season. This was really the only way to give Madam Secretary a good shot.