Skip to main content

RENEWAL ALERT: NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, Madam Secretary

At the Winter TCA Tour today, CBS announced early second season renewals for three hit freshmen dramas: NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, and Madam Secretary.

Even before it aired, NCIS: New Orleans was a pretty good bet for success. Nestled after the mothership in a slot that was so good to NCIS: Los Angeles for years and with another graying leading man in Scott Bakula, this was right in the CBS wheelhouse. It debuted to big numbers and is consistently the most watched new show on any network. The demos have been pretty solid most weeks except for when it has had to face The Voice and it just hit its best numbers since the series premiere. Expect it to be around for years to come.

Scorpion was a surprise hit out of the gate airing in a slot that had been comedies for CBS for decades. With a lead-in from The Big Bang Theory for several weeks, CBS gave it a strong chance to succeed and it did quite well despite middling reviews. It dipped for a bit when it got the awful The Millers as a lead-in, but things have gotten better again since The Millers was cancelled and Mike & Molly has stabilized the 8:30pm slot. Scorpion has fit in much better than I thought it would and it has rejuvenated CBS on Monday nights.

Madam Secretary was a big wildcard going into the season. Everyone knew it would skew old and early reviews were not as positive as a show going for prestige might have wanted. But it has been extremely strong in total viewers from day one and that has not wavered, even on weeks when it hasn't had a direct NFL lead-in. The show may not be an awards contender like The Good Wife, but it seems to be delivering the same upscale viewers that Wife does and the total viewer count this fall has been second only to New Orleans among new shows.

This has certainly been the best drama development season for CBS in years. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, there was just one new renewal each year (Person of Interest and Elementary). Last year, there were no drama renewals. This has led CBS's dramas to get older and older, but this year was a turnaround with three promising dramas for the long run. There was a fourth fall drama, Stalker, but its chances look quite slim especially with this news. Still premiering in the drama department are Battle Creek and CSI: Cyber in March.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EPISODE GUIDES: Rhoda Season Five

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Five (the final season) of  Rhoda ! RHODA: SEASON FIVE 1978 13 episodes Rhoda' s final season was a truncated one as the show was cancelled in December 1978 after only 13 episodes had been produced (and only nine had aired). This feels like a continuation from season four in many ways except with the ill-advised split between Ida and Martin (more on that below). While  Rhoda  has an occasional good moment and even a couple decent episodes, it is a show that seems so wildly different from season one and not in a good way.  Rhoda  could never figure out what it fully wanted to be and only made it four and a half seasons as a result. Starring Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Ray Buktenica as Benny Goodwin  (11 episodes) Kenneth McMillan as Jack Doyle  (9 episodes) Nancy Wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Thursdays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1995-96 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Charlie Grace The Monroes Various Programs Oct Murder One Nov Various Programs Dec Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Jan Feb World’s Funniest Videos Before They Were Stars! Mar Apr May NBC was the powerhouse on Thursday nights but ABC still gave it the old college try in the Fall of 1995 with a trio of new dramas that they hoped would help them cut into the Peacock's dominance. Headlining their night was Murder One , a high profile new show from Steven Bochco that received much of the network's attention before the season started. The series focused on one murder case for an entire season, whi...
Post a Comment
Read more

DECADE IN REVIEW: The Best Comedies of the 2010s

During the month of December, I will be looking back at the decade that was the 2010s on TV. I will be sharing my favorite sitcoms, dramas, the best episodes, the best performances and the worst shows of the decade. To be eligible for this list, a show had to air the majority of its episodes in the 2010s. However, for the rankings and determination, all episodes were taken into account, including ones that may have aired before 2010. I will also preface that there are comedies that have aired this decade that I haven't watched yet so this is the best of what I have watched. To be fair, that preface is more true for dramas. There's not a ton of unwatched comedies sitting in my Netflix or Amazon watchlist. So here are my Top 10 comedies of the 2010s! Close Calls:  Master of None (Netflix) - An inconsistent but occasionally fascinating commentary on many life issues done so with innovative storytelling. The Good Place (NBC) - A show that aims high with a fascinating premis...
Post a Comment
Read more