The 2011-2012 Fall Schedule: CBS

The nation’s most watched network boasting television’s number one comedy and drama, CBS has fewer new shows than the other networks. No promos are up of the new series and even the press release is vague as to details. One of the most important things to notice about the current line-up is that the network has moved several popular shows including Rules of Engagement, The Good Wife, and, most interestingly, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

MONDAY
8-8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
8:30-9 p.m. 2 BROKE GIRLS
9-9:30 p.m. Two and a Half Men
9:30-10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10-11 p.m. Hawaii Five-0

Monday essentially remains the same with the only exception being the addition of 2 Broke Girls about two waitresses (Thor‘s Kat Dennings and newcomer Beth Behrs) who form a “unlikely friendship.” Described as an “odd couple comedy,” I’m going to guess that Dennings is sarcastic and Behrs is more girly. As CBS hasn’t broached into the single camera sitcom format, I predict that this show will follow the path tread by its other popular comedy programs.

The other big change is that Rules of Engagement, the married couple comedy starring David Puddy and David Spade, moves to Saturday.

As for Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, I wouldn’t be surprised if at least the first episode of the retooled sitcom attracts viewers who refused to watch the series during its eight year run. For one of the most successful comedies on the air, Charlie Sheen’s winter breakdown brought it a great deal of attention from many who instinctively looked down on the show without ever seeing a minute of it, such as myself. People who know nothing about the series are nonetheless curious how Ashton replaces Charlie (maybe they’ll Three’s Company him by having Ashton wake up in a bathtub after a huge blow out and agreeing to become Jon Cryer and Halfman’s new roommate), if the show will make any “meta” comments about the disappearance of the show’s leader, and to see if audience will respect the crown’s usurper.

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. NCIS
9-10 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles
10-11 p.m. UNFORGETTABLE

Another procedural, Unforgettable stars Poppy Montgomery as a detective with hyperthymestic syndrome, a condition that forces her to remember every detail about her life. Exceedingly rare, hyperthymestic syndrome has become a popular disease as of late (taking over the position held by Asperger Syndrome) obtaining features on 60 Minutes and House. Of course, unless she’s actively involved in the commission of every crime she solves, I doubt remembering what she had for lunch 13 years ago will really help solve a murder. It also stars Dylan Walsh from Nip/Tuck.

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. Survivor: South Pacific
9-10 p.m. Criminal Minds
10-11 p.m. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

The biggest news about Wednesday is that CBS removed CSI from Thursday at 9, the time slot it held for over a decade and where it served as television’s biggest hit. The show has lost a lot of its ratings over the past couple of years and how it competes against fellow long-running flagship franchise procedural Law and Order: SVU and ABC’s new ritzy glitzy soap opera Revenge will determine its fate for future seasons.

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9 p.m. HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN
9-10 p.m. PERSON OF INTEREST
10-11 p.m. The Mentalist

Another odd couple comedy, How to Be a Gentleman stars Entourage’s Kevin Dillon and David Hornsby, best known as Rickety Cricket from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The former plays a brutish personal trainer while the latter plays a upper crusty columnist. At least I assume those are the roles each are playing.

Person of Interest might be the network’s most notable new show (and maybe the season’s most notable new show along with Fox’s mid-season Alcatraz) based primarily on its pedigree consisting of Batman Begins/The Dark Knight screenwriter Jonathan Nolan and television/movie super producer/director J.J. Abrams (who also created Alcatraz). A crime thriller starring Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost) as billionaire who works with a presumed dead CIA agent (ex-Jesus Jim Caviezel) to prevent crimes before they happen, the synopsis does not indicate whether there’s a sci-fi element to this quest (e.g. pre-cogs) or just really good detective work.

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. A GIFTED MAN
9-10 p.m. CSI: NY
10-11 p.m. Blue Bloods

Starring Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson, A Gifted Man is about a top surgeon dealing with his presumed dead ex-wife returning to his life. Presumed to be a drama and not a takeoff of Pet Sematary.

SATURDAY
8-8:30 p.m. Rules of Engagement
8:30-9 p.m. COMEDYTIME SATURDAY
9-10 p.m. CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10-11 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery

As mentioned above, the big change here is that the Rules of Engagement begins its sixth season away from its Monday brethren as a lone show among an hour and a half of encores. Although this probably means death for the Patrick Wharburton series, I do like the name Crimetime Saturday. It sounds like The NBC Mystery Movie, which aired throughout the 70s and rotated new episodes of McCloud, Columbo, and McMillan and Wife, among others.

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. 60 Minutes
8-9 p.m. The Amazing Race
9-10 p.m. The Good Wife
10-11 p.m. CSI: Miami

Critically acclaimed The Good Wife switches its location too and takes over the spot of hokey reality series Undercover Boss, which will return midseason.

Brett Harrison Davinger

To contact me, e-mail brett.davinger@gmail.com.