CBS is prepping three new dramas and a new Monday comedy for fall and is "optimistic" about extending How I Met Your Mother a final ninth season in 2013-14, entertainment chief Nina Tassler told critics Sunday.
Vegas, starring Dennis Quaid as a real-life 1960s sheriff, and Elementary, starring Jonny Lee Miller as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, and are anchoring 10 p.m. ET/PT slots on Tuesday and Thursday. (Also due are Made in Jersey, a Friday law show, and Partners, a Monday comedy).
The No. 1 network had to clear some shelf space to make room: CSI: Miami and Unforgettable were casualties. Both were "tough decisions," Tassler says. "Saying goodbye to a CSI this year was a very big deal." But Unforgettable won a reprieve and will return next summer.
Despite the success of a few serialized shows on other networks, that genre "has been more of a challenge for us," she says. "We'd prefer it more as an element to our shows than as a driver."
Summer also has been a challenge: Aside from The Big Bang Theory, ratings for once-dependable repeats have declined sharply as DVR use grows. And on the reality front, CBS previewed 3, a new dating show, on Thursday to a meager 2.3 million viewers.
"Summer's been a little bit soft for everybody," Tassler says, and finding new reality hits is "challenging and intriguing in so many ways. You're looking for a headline, for something to get people talking."
