CBS, which climbed from third place to second in the ratings this season (albeit largely at the expense of ABC's collapse) has announced plans to add seven new series to its schedule this fall.
Well, nine - if you count the two sitcoms the network stole out from under ABC.CBS is adding three sitcoms, three dramas and a news magazine - along with familiar faces like Danny Aiello, David Caruso, Bryant Gumbel, Gregory Hines, Judd Hirsch, Bob Newhart and Bronson Pin-chot.
The network left its successful Saturday and Sunday lineups intact but made changes on every weeknight - including moving five returning shows to new nights and/or times.
CBS has overhauled Friday nights, but it will still look familiar to television viewers. The network has put together its own "T.G.I.F." lineup, taking a page and two shows - "Family Matters" and "Step by Step" - from ABC.
Some of the bigger surprises come in the moves of "Chicago Hope" and "Murphy Brown" to Wednesdays and the renewals of the marginally rated "JAG" and "Promised Land."
Unlike ABC, which has no returning series leading off its prime-time schedule on any night of the week, CBS has only returning series at 7 p.m.
"The key to success for any network is p.m. strength and stability," said CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves. "You cannot grow without successful lead-off hitters."
CBS's new dramas are:
- "Brooklyn South" (Mondays, 9 p.m.) is Steven Bochco's ("Hill Street Blues," "NYPD Blue") latest police drama. This one focuses on street cops of Brooklyn, and the ensemble cast includes Jon Tenny, Michael DeLuise, Adam Rodriguez, Gary Basaraba, Titus Well-i-ver, Klea Scott, Yancy Butler, Dylan Walsh, James B. Sikking and Patrick McGaw.
- "Michael Hayes" (Tuesdays, 8 p.m.) features the return of David Caruso, who left "NYPD Blue" early in its second season, to weekly TV. This time, he's an ex-cop turned federal prosecutor "who brings his street smarts into the U.S. court system."
- "Dellaventura" (Tuesdays, 9 p.m.) stars Danny Aiello - fresh off the highly rated "The Last Don" - as a former police detective who's now a private investigator. He takes on cases "the police can't or won't handle," aided by a team of "renegade former cops and con artists."
CBS's new comedies are:
- "George & Leo" (Mondays, 8:30 p.m.) features Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch as "incredibly mismatched" in-laws who are brought together because George's son marries Leo's daughter. Unsurprisingly, Newhart plays stable George, while Hirsch plays Leo - a small-time hoodlum who disappeared years earlier. From the former producers of "Cheers."
- "Meego" (Fridays, 7:30 p.m.) stars Bronson Pinchot ("Perfect Strangers") as a 9,000-year-old alien whose spaceship crashes on Earth. He's adopted by three kids over the protests of their single father (Ed Begley Jr.).
- "The Gregory Hines Show" (Fridays, 8 p.m.) features Hines as the widowed father of a 12-year-old son who is ready to resume his social life a year after the death of his wife.
From the CBS News division comes a new, as yet untitled news magazine anchored by Bryant Gumbel (Wednesdays, 8 p.m.) It joins "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" on the schedule.
CBS also announced one midseason replacement series:
- "Style and Substance" is a sitcom that stars Jean Smart ("Designing Women" as a Martha Stewart-esque host of her own TV show - a "decorating and entertaining machine who believes that every crisis can be solved by a decorative centerpiece." Nancy McKeon ("Facts of Life") co-stars as her producer.
Among the shows CBS canceled were both sitcoms headlined by former "Cheers" stars - Ted Dan-son's "Ink" and Rhea Perlman's "Pearl." Others include "Dave's World," "Feds," "Moloney," "Orleans" and "Temporarily Yours," Shows the network had previously axed are "Almost Perfect," "EZ Streets," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "Public Morals,"
CBS also dropped its Tuesday movie night a week and a half after NBC dropped its Monday movie night.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CBS's fall schedule
New shows are in BOLD, and returning series moving to new nights and/or times are indicated by an asterisk (*). A double asterisk (**) indicates a working title.
Sunday
60 Minutes 6 p.m.
Touched by an Angel 7 p.m.
CBS Sunday Movie 8 p.m.
Monday
Cosby 7 p.m.
Ev. Loves Raymond 7:30 p.m.
Cybill 8 p.m.
GEORGE & LEO 8:30 p.m.
BROOKLYN SOUTH 9 p.m.
Tuesday
JAG* 7 p.m.
MICHAEL HAYES 8 p.m.
DELLAVENTURA 9 p.m.
Wednesday
The Nanny 7 p.m.
Murphy Brown* 7:30 p.m.
BRYANT GUMBEL** 8 p.m.
Chicago Hope* 9 p.m.
Thursday
Promised Land* 7 p.m.
Diagnosis Murder* 8 p.m.
48 Hours 9 p.m.
Friday
Family Matters* 7 p.m.
MEEGO 7:30 p.m.
GREGORY HINES SHOW 8 p.m.
Step by Step* 8:30 p.m.
Nash Bridges 9 p.m.
Saturday
Dr. Quinn 7 p.m.
Early Edition 8 p.m.
Walker, Tex. Ranger 9 p.m.