UPFRONTS 2018: CBS's Official Fall Schedule

Here is the official CBS schedule!

Past CBS Upfronts: 2017   2016   2015   2014   2013   2012   2011

MONDAYS
8:00 THE NEIGHBORHOOD
8:30 HAPPY TOGETHER
9:00 MAGNUM P.I.
10:00 Bull (3rd season)

CBS was pretty mad about Mondays this season and has overhauled the entire night. Only one show that aired on this night in 2017-18 was even renewed and that show (Man with a Plan) was held for midseason. CBS has cut down its comedy hour to one and will try entirely new comedies with Cedric the Entertainer's The Neighborhood and Damon Wayans Jr.'s Happy Together. CBS is relying on these shows being self starters but that's a tall order for two new sitcoms that, although more diverse, seem like pretty typical CBS sitcoms. The better move is Magnum P.I. at 9pm. I like that CBS is launching a promising drama at 9pm and 10pm and this should be a good self starter even if the comedies fail. It can get a lot of Sunday football promotion. At 10pm is Bull, which has to strike out on its own night after two years behind NCIS. This show didn't quite break out, but held its own against This is Us. It doesn't quite feel like a 10pm show to me though and if it had to move to 10pm, I would have kept it on Tuesdays and moved NCIS: New Orleans here.

TUESDAYS
8:00 NCIS (16th season)
9:00 F.B.I.
10:00 NCIS: New Orleans (5th season)

CBS is giving another new show the glow of the NCIS lead-in. This time it is the Dick Wolf drama F.B.I. I would guess that it will have a high total viewer count but also skew old, like Bull, especially because it has to air against This is Us. It will be interesting to see how a Dick Wolf show does on CBS. At least on paper, it seems like a perfect match with NBC's procedural king coming to the network that loves procedurals more than anything. Two of the NCIS shows bookend the night again with the mothership entering its 16th season.

WEDNESDAYS
8:00 Survivor (37th edition)
9:00 SEAL Team (2nd season)
10:00 Criminal Minds (14th season)

Wednesday nights stay put for CBS. This isn't surprising but it is disappointing. SEAL Team did nothing to show that it deserved the chance to stay at 9pm. It didn't catch on with audiences and I don't think another year in the same situation is going to change things. The beginning and end of the night are also the same with two longtime veterans: the timeless Survivor and the 14th season of Criminal Minds. It is not necessarily the final season, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that end up being the case.

THURSDAYS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory (12th season)
8:30 Young Sheldon (2nd season)
9:00 Mom (6th season)
9:30 MURPHY BROWN
10:00 S.W.A.T. (2nd season)

CBS had a very successful year on Thursday nights so they are keeping the status quo for the most part but possibly strengthening themselves at 9:30pm with the revival of Murphy Brown, which has a 13 episode season. I have been down on the Murphy revival because I just don't think people are clamoring for a revival of this show. It hasn't been a syndication smash like Roseanne and, to a lesser extent, Will & Grace. It appears that CBS is hedging its bets with this show too with its slot. It is not being used as an anchor and I think that's smart. If it does surprise, they can use it as an anchor down the road but I think it's smart to protect it and not be embarrassed by a revival potentially failing. Just like Criminal Minds, next year could be the final season for The Big Bang Theory so it makes sense to keep Young Sheldon paired with it for another year. Maybe the most surprising comedy move was that Mom also gets to keep its slot. It had a very strong season and is rewarded by CBS but I'm surprised it wasn't moved to pump up Monday.

FRIDAYS
8:00 MacGyver (3rd season)
9:00 Hawaii Five-0 (9th season)
10:00 Blue Bloods (9th season)

Once again, CBS keeps the status quo on Fridays. It's a third straight year on Fridays for the entire lineup, the 6th straight year for Hawaii Five-0, and the 9th straight year for Blue Bloods. With other Friday possibilities on the schedule like Bull, an NCIS show, or Magnum P.I., it wouldn't shock me if this was the last year that these three get to stay together on a night especially after some declines this year, even if they were small.

SATURDAYS
8:00 Crimetime Saturday
10:00 48 Hours (32nd season)

SUNDAYS
7:00 60 Minutes (51st season)
8:00 GOD FRIENDED ME
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles (10th season)
10:00 Madam Secretary (5th season)

CBS is giving its Sunday post-football, post-60 Minutes slot to another new drama. This has worked at times and not worked at other times. This year, it is God Friended Me, which seems like an ABC show on CBS. It tonally seems very off brand, but if CBS wants to make it work, this is the best slot for it. After all, it is the old Touched by an Angel slot. It seems like CBS is a big believer in this show so they're really giving it a chance. 60 Minutes keeps the 7pm slot it seems destined to have forever, while NCIS: Los Angeles and Madam Secretary keep their slots as well. This is probably good considering Madam Secretary will probably have to start over half an hour late for half of its fall episodes.

MIDSEASON: THE CODE, FAM, THE RED LINE, The Amazing Race, Big Brother: Celebrity Edition, Elementary, Instinct, Life in Pieces, Man with a Plan
CBS has quite a bit on the bench though some are bridge shows like Big Brother: Celebrity Edition and The Amazing Race and others like Elementary will probably be held until very late spring again. Still, they have three new shows to slot so a lot will depend on how the fall newbies do. With decent slots for the newbies, it seems hard to imagine the fall dramas not getting a full season so I wonder what that will mean for The Code and The Red Line.

CANCELLED/ENDED: 9JKL, Living Biblically, Kevin Can Wait, Me Myself and I, Scorpion, Superior Donuts, Wisdom of the Crowd

FATES TBA: Code Black, Ransom

TO SUM UP:
I think this schedule in general gets a shrug from me. I don't think it's great but I also don't think it's terrible. I like their Tuesday lineup (though I would have put Bull at 10pm) and I'm good with Friday staying put. I'm also good with the Thursday lineup even though Mom or Murphy Brown or both could have been used elsewhere. Monday needed a big shakeup but I'm not convinced that CBS's solution is the way to go. I also think God Friended Me is a huge gamble. If it pays off, it could help CBS get a more diverse identity with their dramas. But if it doesn't, it seems like they should have used that slot for F.B.I. or Magnum P.I. CBS is still trying to find the next big hits to replace their many aging veterans. They may have found one this year in Young Sheldon, but the search continues in the drama department.