CBS Announces Fall Schedule

The Eye is expanding comedy and rearranging shows.

CBS announced that it has cancelled both Moonlight and Shark. Four new dramas and two comedies are being added to the schedule for the 2008-2009 season. All three CSI shows will remain in their current timeslots, but several other series have been shifted.

On Mondays, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men will stay in their usual timeslots. The new comedy Worst Week will take the 9:30pm spot before CSI: Miami. Worst Week is based on a British format and stars Kyle Bornheimer and Erinn Hayes as a couple who must deal with their crazy in-laws as they count down to their wedding.

NCIS remains in the 8:00pm hour on Tuesday, followed by the new drama The Mentalist at 9:00pm. Simon Baker stars in The Mentalist as a man who uses his skills of observation to solve crimes. Relocating to the 10:00pm hour on Tuesdays is returning hit Without a Trace. The 10:00pm slot on Tuesdays has proven troublesome, so the network decided to fill the spot with an established hit.

"We've been looking to expand our comedy lineup, and we now have the depth and development to make the move," CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said in a statement. "Monday is already television's signature night for comedy and we think we can make the case that CBS is the signature network for comedy overall." The network is adding two comedies to Wednesday nights. The New Adventures of Old Kristine moves from its Monday timeslot to Wednesdays at 8:00pm. The sitcom will lead into a new comedy, Project Gary, which stars Jay Mohr as a recently-divorced man who must balance the demands of his ex-wife and children with his attempts to get back on the dating scene. Criminal Minds and CSI: New York will stay in their usual 9:00pm and 10:00pm timeslots, respectively.

Survivor and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation retain their usual slots on Thursday night. Filling the space vacated by Without a Trace at 10:00pm is the new show The Eleventh Hour, starring Rufus Sewell. The drama, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, is another British adaptation which focuses on a government investigator working cases that involve scientific mysteries. Tassler called The Eleventh Hour a "great mystery and a great procedural." Kelly Kahl, the chief scheduler for CBS, went on to say, "There's really no better lead-in to a drama on TV than CSI. It's a chance to create another hit."

With Moonlight out of the way on Fridays, CBS is filling the 9:00pm hour with The Ex List. The new romantic drama stars Elizabeth Reaser as a woman who is told by a tarot card reader that she's already met her soulmate--and that she must marry him soon. Ghost Whisperer and Numbers will remain in their usual timeslots on either side of The Ex List. On Sunday, Cold Case will remain in its usual timeslot, and The Unit is moving to the 10:00pm spot.

CBS is airing a new series each weeknight in the fall. "Stability is important to us, but you also need to refresh your schedule and get some new product on the air," Kahl said. Tassler commented on the network's reliance on procedural dramas like the CSI franchise. "We've added more character to them," she said. "They've taken on a little more humor in some of the procedurals. We've added and revealed more about the personal lives of our characters in others." The fourth drama being produced by CBS is Harper's Island, a murder mystery show about a group of friends who meet on an island off the coast of Seattle for a wedding. The series is set for midseason.

For more information about the new series and the new schedule for CBS and other networks, visit Variety, Zap2It and TV Decoder.

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