CBS is generally the most stable of any broadcast network (since it has more ratings than anyone else), but there are some pretty big changes coming to the 2014 fall schedule, executives revealed Wednesday. That’s mostly a result of Thursday night primetime football, moving from the NFL Network to CBS, running from Sept. 11 to Oct. 23.
As a result, CBS’s biggest hit “The Big Bang Theory” will move from Thursday to Monday at 8 p.m. for the first eight weeks of the fall, leading into “Mom,” which has a permanent new 8:30 p.m. time slot. When football ends, “Big Bang” gets shipped back to Thursdays and “2 Broke Girls” gets the spot, formerly home to “How I Met Your Mother.” And “NCIS: Los Angeles” leaves its cozy post-”NCIS” time period on Tuesdays for Mondays at 10 p.m., formerly home of some disappointing ratings last season with “Hostages ” and “Intelligence.” (They weren’t up to CBS standards, execs explained: “And we have pretty high standards.”)
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Other changes: “Amazing Race” is now on Friday nights. Shows including “Mike & Molly,” “The Mentalist” and “Undercover Boss” will debut later in the season. Oh, and it’s the last season of “Two and a Half Men.” No, no one knows if Charlie Sheen will make an appearance.
Four new dramas and one new comedy will join the schedule this fall. Adding to the Thursday night schedule is “The McCarthys,” about a loud, sports-crazed Boston family with a dad who’s a high school basketball coach. Dramas include yet another spin-off, “NCIS: New Orleans” (which gets the post-”NCIS” spot on Tuesday), starring Scott Bakula. That’s in addition to “Stalker” on Wednesday at 10 p.m., in which Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott star as a crime-fighting team against stalkers. “Scorpion,” on Monday at 9 p.m., is about an eccentric genius who works in homeland security.
Plus, there is “Madam Secretary” starring Tea Leoni as a female secretary of state, loosely inspired by the real-life examples (Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Madeline Albright). That takes “The Amazing Race’s” old home, Sunday at 8 p.m.
A new series later this season (CBS says there’s no more “midseason” because their programming is year-round) features a remake of “The Odd Couple,” with Matthew Perry as Oscar and Thomas Lennon as Felix. Later, the “CSI” franchise gets a new show with “CSI: Cyber,” and cop drama “Battle Creek” stars Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters as, well, an odd couple partner duo working to clean up the streets of a town in Michigan.
Canceled shows: “Bad Teacher,” “The Crazy Ones,” “Hostages,” “Intelligence,” “We Are Men.” Otherwise, the schedule stays pretty solid. Here’s a look:
FALL PRIME-TIME LINEUP ON CBS
New shows are in bold
MONDAY
8 p.m. The Big Bang Theory*/2 Broke Girls*
8:30 p.m. Mom*
9 p.m. Scorpion
10 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles*
TUESDAY
8 p.m. NCIS
9 p.m. NCIS: New Orleans
10 p.m. Person of Interest
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Survivor
9 p.m. Criminal Minds
10 p.m. Stalker
THURSDAY
8 p.m. Thursday Night Football (Sept. 11-Oct. 23)/The Big Bang Theory (Oct. 30)
8:30 p.m. The Millers
9 p.m. Two and a Half Men (last season)
9:30 p.m. The McCarthys
10 p.m. Elementary
FRIDAY
8 p.m. The Amazing Race*
9 p.m. Hawaii Five-0
10 p.m. Blue Bloods
SATURDAY
8 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
9 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
10 p.m. 48 Hours
SUNDAY
7 p.m. 60 Minutes
8 p.m. Madam Secretary
9 p.m. The Good Wife
10 p.m. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation*/CSI: Cyber (later in the season)
* Moved to a new time slot
(This post has been updated.)
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