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| The cast of The Equalizer |
Any other year, CBS’ 2020-21 schedule would be considered very conservative, with three nights left intact and the other three undergoing only minor changes, including adding two new series, drama The Equalizer starring Queen Latifah and Chuck Lorre comedy B Positive, and holding S.W.A.T. for midseason.
But in the year of COVID-19, this could be considered a risky schedule, as all entertainment series in CBS’ fall lineup, except for The Amazing Race installment already in the can, are yet to be filmed with a restart of Hollywood production still in limbo. CBS’ fall schedule is in stark contrast with the other two broadcast lineups announced so far, as both Fox and the CW relied predominantly on already produced content, including acquisitions, for fall, pushing the launch of their regular rosters to January and beyond.
“We don’t view this schedule as risky, we view this schedule as very strong and very proven,” CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl told Deadline. “In terms of production, we would say ‘fall’ with quotes; I don’t know if everything would start the third week of September. Yet we are very hopeful that we would get into production at some point this summer, and we would have the majority of our lineup for the fall.”
Here is CBS’ schedule, followed by more insight into what the network’s fall may look like and possible contingency plans, as well as descriptions of CBS’ three new series picked up so far. (The Silence of the Lambs sequel Clarice is held for midseason).
CBS FALL 2020-21 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE)
MONDAY
8-8:30 PM — The Neighborhood
8:30-9 PM — Bob ♥ Abishola
9-10 PM — All Rise
10-11 PM — Bull
TUESDAY
8-9 PM — NCIS
9-10 PM — FBI
10-11 PM — FBI: Most Wanted
WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM — Survivor
9-10 PM — The Amazing Race
10-11 PM — SEAL Team
THURSDAY
8-8:30 PM — Young Sheldon
8:30-9 PM — B POSITIVE (N)
9-9:30 PM — Mom
9:30-10 PM — The Unicorn
10-11 PM — Evil
FRIDAY
8-9 PM — MacGyver
9-10 PM — Magnum P.I.
10-11 PM — Blue Bloods
SATURDAY
8-9 PM — Crimetime Saturday
9-10 PM — Crimetime Saturday
10-11 PM — 48 Hours
SUNDAY
7-8 PM — 60 Minutes
8-9 PM — THE EQUALIZER
9-10 PM — NCIS: Los Angeles
10-11 PM — NCIS: New Orleans
“I think the main thing is incredible stability,” Kahl said of CBS’ 2020-21 schedule, whose only moves include The Equalizer replacing canceled God Friended Me on Sunday; Lorre and Marco Pennette’s B Positive getting the hammock 8:30 PM slot between Lorre’s two Thursday series, Young Sheldon and Mom, with The Unicorn moving to 9:30 PM; and Wednesday reverting to the late spring 2018-19 lineup of Survivor, The Amazing Race and SEAL Team, temporarily displacing S.W.A.T.
"Our Monday night, our Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, Sunday night are only down single digits (in total viewers this season), which in this environment is pretty good,” Kahl said about the rationale behind the very few changes. “The biggest thing we had to deal with was simply the loss of The Big Bang Theory, which was a hard show to replace, but the rest of the lineup performed incredibly well and is incredibly resilient.”
The departure of Big Bang made for steeper year-over-year viewership declines on Thursday, so “trying to strengthen Thursday again this year, that is a priority for us,” Kahl said.
He suggested that the fall 2020 rollout may be fluid but expressed confidence that, with some adjustments, including possible shorter fall runs, CBS’ entertainment programs could deliver originals in the fourth quarter.
“I think it’s unrealistic to think that there will be one week when everything all of a sudden is ready, and I don’t think that it also needs to be the case,” Kahl said. “Even if shows start (production) a little later in the summer than usual, it doesn’t mean that the whole schedule is pushed back by that same amount of time. Shows can turn around pretty quickly. What it might mean is, instead of 10 episodes in the fourth quarter, you get 8, but shows can certainly make late September, October launch assuming that they get into production at some point even later in the summer.”
The broadcast networks’ fall 2020 schedule already was expected to be disrupted. “Being a presidential election year, there are a lot of breaks built into the schedule for election night, for debates. That would give these shows some break, it’s not like they need to come on the air and necessarily be on 10 weeks in a row,” Kahl said. “We are hopeful we can get into production, and we are hopeful we can put this fall schedule on the air pretty close to as is.”
If that doesn’t happen as hoped, then CBS has backup plans.
CBS is currently mining the library of new corporate sibling Paramount Pictures for blockbusters to anchor its recently resurrected Sunday movie night, which has done well for the network.
Additionally, CBS is yet to schedule Season 2 of summer adventure drama series Blood & Treasure, with Kahl indicating that it may be held as a contingency for fall. “We are simply keeping our options open,” he said, not elaborating whether acquisitions of foreign English-language series is also on the table.
Also providing flexibility later in the season will be S.W.A.T., the only returning CBS series not to land on the fall schedule.
The 2019-20 season marked the end of several long-running CBS drama series, including Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, and Madam Secretary. Because of the uncertainty surrounding Hollywood production, the network brass is nowhere near discussing possible endgames for any veteran series next season, Kahl said.
The 2019-20 season was also marked by solid new series launches with five out of CBS’ eight freshman scripted series making it to Season 2. Kahl is confident the 2020-21 lineup will perform as well.
CBS is unveiling its 2020-21 schedule to advertisers in a video upfront presentation this afternoon. More new series for midseason would likely be added later this summer as the network makes more decisions on its 2020 pilots, grounded by the pandemic.
**This article is courtesy of Deadline.com
