The Fall TV Season presentations for all the new network shows take place
this week with the third announced today. Here's a full breakdown of which
concepts have made the final list over on CBS.
The old guard remains the winning network on most its shows and important
demographics with proven hits like the "CSI" series and the likes of "Cold
Case", "Without a Trace" not to mention more recent success stories like
"Ghost Whisperer" and "The Unit". Indeed with eighteen shows returning,
six
of which debuted last year, it's surprising they had any room in their
line-up at all for new stuff. Yet they've still managed to squeeze in five
new dramas and two new comedies to debut over the course of the year.
In terms of existing shows the most notable change is Sunday night is
being
beefed up with three long running Bruckheimer-produced hits set to air
back
to back (Amazing Race, Cold Case, Without a Trace) on a new day. Despite
not
being listed, comedy "The King of Queens" will be back mid-season. Here's
there new slate:
JERICHO
A drama about what happens when a nuclear mushroom cloud suddenly appears
on
the horizon, plunging the residents of a small, peaceful Kansas town into
chaos, leaving them completely isolated and wondering if they're the only
Americans left alive.
Fear of the unknown propels Jericho into social, psychological and
physical
mayhem when all communication and power is shut down. The town starts to
come apart at the seams as terror, anger and confusion bring out the very
worst in some residents.
But in this time of crisis, as sensible people become paranoid, personal
agendas take over and well-kept secrets threaten to be revealed, some
people
will find an inner strength they never knew they had and the most unlikely
heroes will emerge.
Skeet Ulrich ("Scream"), Gerald McRaney ("Ike: Countdown to D-Day"),
Ashley
Scott ("Dark Angel"), Pamela Reed ("Proof of Life"), Kenneth Mitchell
("The
Recruit"), Lennie James ("Sahara"), Sprague Grayden ("Six Feet Under"),
Michael Gaston ("Prison Break") and Erik Knudsen ("Saw II") star.
SHARK
Multiple Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner James Woods ("Ghosts
of
Mississippi," "ER") stars as Sebastian Stark, a charismatic, supremely
self-confident defense attorney who, after a shocking outcome in one of
his
cases and a personal epiphany, brings his cutthroat tactics to the
prosecutor's office.
As the head of the Los Angeles District Attorney's High Profile Crime
Unit,
Stark works for Jessica Devlin, (Jeri Ryan, "The O.C."), the ambitious and
accomplished D.A. who despises his ruthless strategies. Devlin teams him
with a group of young prosecutors who are about to have the learning
experience of a lifetime because, though Stark is seeking to redeem
himself,
he has no intention of cooling his underhanded approach to cases just
because he's now working for the "good guys."
Sam Page ("American Dreams"), Alexis Cruz ("American Family"), Sarah
Carter
("Numb3rs"), Danielle Panabaker ("Mom at Sixteen"), Romy Rosemont ("CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation") and Sophina Brown ("Without a Trace") also
star.
Academy Award nominee Spike Lee directs. Academy Award winner Brian Grazer
("A Beautiful Mind," "24"), (David Nevins ("Arrested Development"), Ian
Biederman ("Crossing Jordan") and Ed Redlich ("Without A Trace") are
executive producers.
SMITH
Emmy Award winner Ray Liotta ("ER," "Goodfellas,") stars as a criminal
mastermind in a drama about a close-knit crew of career criminals who plot
and execute intricate and ingenious high-stakes heists across the country.
Though Bobby Stevens (Liotta) appears to be a regular family man with a
nine-to-five job, he's actually an expert thief who is seeking just two or
three more big jobs so he can finally leave the business for a
comfortable,
lawful lifestyle with his wife, Hope (Academy Award nominee Virginia
Madsen,
"Sideways"). Bobby's second family, his core band of partners, each bring
their own areas of expertise to pulling off the biggest and most
sophisticated armed robberies.
The FBI is determined to catch the team but is most interested in
capturing
"Smith," the crew's mysterious leader and the brains behind the entire
operation. It remains to be seen whether Bobby will be able to extricate
himself in time from the scores that give him such a rush, or if his
retirement will be a forced one -- behind bars.
Jonny Lee Miller ("Trainspotting"), Franky G ("Saw II"), Simon Baker ("The
Guardian") and Amy Smart ("Felicity") also star. Emmy Award winner John
Wells ("ER," "The West Wing") is the executive producer.
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THREE LBS (mid-season)
Mark Feuerstein ("The West Wing") stars as a rising-star brain surgeon who
is doing a fellowship under the guidance of a brilliant but unpredictable
surgeon (Stanley Tucci). Armando Riesco ("Fever Pitch"), Indira Varma
("Rome") and Tamara Taylor ("Sex, Love & Secrets") also star in the
project,
which comes from CBS Paramount Network Television and executive producers
Barry Levinson, Paul Stupin, Peter Ocko and Tom Fontana.
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WATERFRONT (mid-season)
Focuses on the quirky mayor (Joe Pantoliano) of Providence, Rhode Island.
Larenz Tate ("Love Monkey"), Lyndsy Fonseca ("How I Met Your Mother"),
Mary
Stuart Masterson ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), Natalia Cigliuti
("All My Children") and William Baldwin ("Fun with Dick and Jane") also
star
in the hour, which comes from creator Jack Orman ("dr. vegas").
THE CLASS
Emmy Award winner David Crane ("Friends") and Emmy Award nominee Jeffrey
Klarik ("Mad About You"), is a comedy about the lives of a group of
20-somethings who are inextricably bound together having shared the same
third grade class.
Now face to face at an impromptu reunion to celebrate the 20th anniversary
of the day they met, they wonder if they'll have anything in common
besides
vague memories of playground kisses and underwear sightings on the monkey
bars. Turns out they do. After two decades apart for most of them, some
are
eager to show off, some want to rekindle old crushes and others just want
to
satisfy their curiosity.
Whatever the case, their lives will intersect from this point forward,
sharing childhood memories and dealing with adult issues -- career,
relationships and the general direction or misdirection life will take
them.
Jason Ritter ("Joan of Arcadia"), Heather Goldenhersh ("The Merchant of
Venice"), Lizzy Caplan ("Related"), Jon Bernthal ("Revenge of the
Middle-Aged Woman"), Sean Maguire ("Eve"), Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Putnam
County Spelling Bee"), Lucy Punch ("Ella Enchanted") and Andrea Anders
("Joey") also star.
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RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (mid-season)
A relationship comedy about a married couple, an engaged duo and a single
guy. Sony Pictures Television and creator Tom Hertz are behind the
half-hour, which stars Kathleen Rose Perkins ("Four Kings"), Megyn Price
("Grounded for Life"), Patrick Warburton ("Less Than Perfect") and Paulo
Costanzo ("Joey"). Happy Madison's Adam Sandler, Doug Robinson and Jack
Giarraputo also serve as executive producers.
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Renewals include "60 Minutes", "The Amazing Race", "Close to Home", "Cold
Case", "Criminal Minds", "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation", "C.S.I.:
Miami", "C.S.I.: NY", "Ghost Whisperer", "How I Met Your Mother",
"N.C.I.S.", "The New Adventures of Old Christine", "Numb3rs", "Survivor",
"Two and a Half Men", "The Unit", "Without a Trace"
Cancellations include "Courting Alex", "Love Monkey," "Out of Practice",
"Still Standing", " Threshold", "Yes, Dear".
More details about the Fall line-up can be found at the network's official
site. The nightly CBS schedule will be as follows:
MONDAY
8pm: "How I Met Your Mother"
8:30pm: "The Class"
9pm: "Two and a Half Men"
9:30pm: "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
10pm: "C.S.I.: Miami"
TUESDAY
8pm: "N.C.I.S."
9pm: "The Unit"
10pm: "Smith"
WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Jericho"
9pm: "Criminal Minds"
10pm: "C.S.I.: NY"
THURSDAY
8pm: "Survivor"
9pm: "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation"
10pm: "Shark"
FRIDAY
8pm: "Ghost Whisperer"
9pm: "Close to Home"
10pm: "Numb3rs"
SATURDAY
8pm: "Crime Time Saturday"
10pm: "48 Hours: Mystery"
SUNDAY
7pm: "60 Minutes"
8pm: "The Amazing Race"
9pm: "Cold Case"
10pm: "Without a Trace"
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