UPFRONTS 2013: CBS's Official Fall Schedule

And finally, the CBS lineup!

MONDAYS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother (9th Season)
8:30 WE ARE MEN
9:00 2 Broke Girls (3rd Season)
9:30 MOM
10:00 HOSTAGES

After a declining spring, Mondays are getting an overhaul with only the 8pm & 9pm anchors returning. The final season of How I Met Your Mother airs at 8pm and it will be followed by one of two new single camera comedies - We are Men. I thought Friends with Better Lives might go here but that show is on deck in case Men goes the way of Partners, which it might. 2 Broke Girls returns to the 9pm anchor slot as CBS is not ready to admit they moved it too soon. It is paired with one of the hottest comedy prospects, Chuck Lorre's Mom starring Anna Faris. I thought this would go to Thursdays but instead it will be counted on to help revitalize Mondays. Hawaii Five-0 is gone from Mondays and instead the drama Hostages will air followed by Intelligence at midseason as both shows are envisioned as having a limited numbers of episodes per season. Believe it or not, Hostages is the ONLY new drama CBS is premiering after they have premiered three for years. There is a big focus on comedy this time around. Mondays is a big gamble with three new shows on the night but CBS needed to do something after the drops seen this season and with How I Met Your Mother ending after next season.

TUESDAYS
8:00 NCIS (11th Season)
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles (5th Season)
10:00 Person of Interest (3rd Season)

CBS is not premiering a new drama on Tuesday night for the first time in several years. Instead, they are bringing Person of Interest over from Thursdays and pairing it with the NCIS twins. The Tuesday 10pm slot has been tough recently for CBS but they are solidifying it by bringing a popular Thursday drama over. This should help CBS be very strong on the night from top to bottom though I'm a little surprised they didn't move Person to 9pm and Los Angeles to 10pm.

WEDNESDAYS
8:00 Survivor (27th Edition)
9:00 Criminal Minds (9th Season)
10:00 CSI (14th Season)

CBS is also keeping Wednesdays with veterans. In fact, the only nights they are airing new shows are Mondays and Thursdays. The Survivor/Criminal Minds/CSI trio will air for the third year in a row on Wednesdays and CSI is now the only show left in its franchise. This should continue to be reliable but not spectacular.

THURSDAYS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory (7th Season)
8:30 THE MILLERS
9:00 THE CRAZY ONES
9:30 Two and a Half Men (11th Season)
10:00 Elementary (2nd Season)

CBS is going with two hours of comedy on Thursday as expected. However, they will not move The Big Bang Theory to 9pm like many expected. Instead, they will leave the top rated show at 8pm. This will continue to help that hour but I have a hard time believing it's going to make the rest of the night stronger. It is followed by two new sitcoms - multi-cam The Millers with Will Arnett and single-cam The Crazy Ones starring Robin Williams. Despite being a single-cam, which they haven't been able to make work in the past, CBS is giving it a prime slot as they try to expand their comedy. New shows rarely get anchor slots in a two hour comedy block so CBS is taking a chance here. It's also worth  noting that it's the only single-cam and paired with three multi-cams while it's the exact reverse on NBC on the same night with the multi-cam Sean Hayes sitcom going against Crazy Ones. The 9:30pm slot is going to Two and a Half Men which did well airing after The Big Bang Theory and will be called on to prop up this new hour and provide a good lead-in to Elementary. Elementary had trouble this season at 10pm airing against the red-hot Scandal but the comedies might actually be a better lead-in than the darker Person of Interest. CBS really wants to make Elementary work so it will be interesting to see how it does airing after comedies.

FRIDAYS
8:00 Undercover Boss (5th Season)
9:00 Hawaii Five-0 (4th Season)
10:00 Blue Bloods (4th Season)

CBS is trying to shore up Fridays by bringing a different existing drama on the night. Undercover Boss will continue at 8pm while Blue Bloods will continue at 10pm. At 9pm is Hawaii Five-0 which started to fall apart on Mondays. The show was supposed to be the next big thing when it premiered in 2010 but it has only ever been average. It will now get demoted to Fridays. That is bad for Hawaii but possibly good for CBS as it might be a better option than CSI: NY and definitely a better option than the many failed new dramas that have aired on this night.

SATURDAYS
8:00 Comedy Encores
9:00 Drama Encores
10:00 48 Hours (27th Season)
CBS is even pumping its comedies on Saturday where they will encore them in the 8pm hour on a rotation much like they currently do with their dramas. This fall is all about comedy for the Eye Network and they need it to be because too many of their comedies are getting up there in age.

SUNDAYS
7:00 60 Minutes (46th Season)
8:00 The Amazing Race (23rd Edition)
9:00 The Good Wife (5th Season)
10:00 The Mentalist (6th Season)
Perhaps the biggest surprise on the CBS schedule is the fact that they are not doing anything with their Sunday lineup. I thought they needed to at least flip The Good Wife and The Mentalist but they will not even do that. Expect a fall of high NFL overrun fueled numbers for 60 Minutes, decent numbers from The Amazing Race, and more disappointing numbers from their dramas.

MIDSEASON: Mike & Molly, FRIENDS WITH BETTER LIVES, INTELLIGENCE, RECKLESS
As usual, CBS does not leave much on the bench. The one big note is Mike & Molly which has a full season order but is not on the fall schedule. It will be the first sub-in if (when?) one of their four new comedies tanks. Also on tap is another multi-camera sitcom Friends with Better Lives. So CBS is definitely committed to the two hours of comedy. Intelligence will take Hostages' spot at midseason while Reckless is the other drama waiting in the wings. There's still a possibility of another show getting picked up but that's looking more and more unlikely.

CANCELLED: CSI: NY, Golden Boy, The Job, Made in Jersey, Partners, Rules of Engagement, Vegas