Fall Preview: Four New Shows, Few Changes at CBS

Leslie Moonves on New Drama Shark: "You're going to see charisma jump off the screen. This is an Emmy Award-winning piece for James Woods."

Confused by the ever-changing schedules at the broadcast networks? You're not alone.

"I had one of my affiliates call me and say, 'please renew Earl," CBS Corporation president and chief executive officer Leslie Moonves told reporters Wednesday morning.

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He was referring to NBC's My Name is Earl and was responding to a question from a momentarily confused reporter who asked, after observing CBS' 2006-07 schedule, if Moonves' fall lineup offered the lowest number of comedies (only four) in the history of "NBC," and who then apologized for confusing the two networks.

Still, Moonves' comment made clear the fact that not everyone can keep track of everything happening at the broadcast networks, especially during the fall season, when premieres of dozens of new series and sweeping schedule changes are the norm. NBC and ABC this fall, for example, will each introduce a number of new series (six on NBC, nine on ABC) and make significant changes to many of their lineups. There are big changes on five nights for both networks, including NFL Sunday Night Football on NBC and Saturday Night College Football on ABC. CBS, on the other hand, has only one completely revamped night, Sunday, which will feature four established shows: 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, Cold Case and Without a Trace.

Of the three scripted Sunday shows, Moonves noted they are all from prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer. "We're calling it Bruckheimer Sunday," he said. "From Race to Case to Trace."

CBS next fall will introduce only four new series: A comedy about a group of twenty-somethings who have known each other since third grade titled The Class (Monday at 8:30 p.m.), created by former Friends executive producer David Crane; Smith (Tuesday at 10 p.m.), an action-drama Moonves described as "Usual Suspects Meets Oceans 11," about a group of thieves starring Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen with John Wells (The West Wing) as executive producer; Jericho (Wednesday at 8 p.m.), about residents of a small Kansas town isolated by a mysterious nuclear event; and Shark (Thursday at 10 p.m.), a legal drama starring James Woods, executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and directed by Spike Lee.

Moonves said CBS was "taking swings" with these shows, adding that it would be doing so "in an environment of strength." Certainly, CBS' is the most familiar and stable fall schedule of the Big Three.

Moonves seemed particularly excited about The Class, which will be added to CBS' Monday night comedy lineup. "Having been there at the beginning of Friends," Moonves recalled of his years at Warner Bros. Television, he felt that "David [Crane] was the key" to the show.

Of Monday night Moonves said, "We've got the strongest comedy block on television. Frankly, we've got the only comedy block on television.

"Two and a Half Men is so hot Charlie Sheen is on every magazine cover in America," he joked, in reference to recent tabloid coverage of Sheen's marital problems.

"Remember, there will be no football on Monday night," Moonves noted. "Our Monday night lineup which had been strong will be even stronger."

He was similarly enthusiastic about Shark. "You're going to see charisma jump off the screen," he raved. "This is an Emmy Award-winning piece for James Woods."

He noted that Smith and Jericho are somewhat serialized in their storytelling nature, a departure for CBS, the network of successful series with closed-ended episodes. "We're going to be real careful about making sure people will be able to tune in [at any time]," Moonves said.

"Nothing [NBC and ABC] did surprised us terribly," Moonves said. He called ABC's decision to move Grey's Anatomy to Thursday "a bold one," and said he agreed with ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson's assertion that "two big hit shows can work in the same time period.

"I'm not saying "Grey's" won't ding "CSI" a little bit," he continued. "As Survivor existed against Friends we think that will happen once again."

The duplication of viewers between CSI and Grey's Anatomy is "twenty-five percent for women and fifteen percent for men," CBS research chief David Poltrack told MediaVillage. "HUT levels are going to go up on Thursday nights. I'm almost guaranteeing that CSI and Grey's are going to be the No. 1 and No. 2 shows in playback," he added.

Poltrack's prediction: "CSI will win in total viewers. Grey's may win among younger female viewers."