CBS fall lineup: Matthew Perry stars in 'Odd Couple' remake
CBS' new take on "The Odd Couple" stars Matthew Perry as endearing slob Oscar Madison and Thomas Lennon as uptight neat freak Felix Unger, two former college buddies who become unlikely roommates after the demise of their marriages. Credit: CBS / Cliff Lipson
Like an elephant that has stumbled into a well-ordered room, the NFL on Thursday nights will dramatically reshape prime-time TV's most viewed lineup this fall. CBS on Wednesday said "The Big Bang Theory" will move from Thursdays to Mondays starting Sept. 11, when the Thursday NFL games begin, then move back to Thursdays on Oct. 30 when the NFL run ends.
Separately, the network said "The Amazing Race" will move from its longtime Sunday home to Fridays in the fall, while "CSI" -- the network's veteran drama -- will shift to Sundays, where it will cede 10 p.m. to spinoff "CSI: Cyber" starring Patricia Arquette later in the season. CBS also ordered for midseason a new version of "The Odd Couple" starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon.
For CBS the shift of TV's most popular comedy represents one of those good news/bad news scenarios.
The "good" is that "The Big Bang Theory" may help launch a drama -- newcomer "Scorpion" -- on Mondays this fall. CBS hasn't had a Monday drama on the all-comedy Monday 8-10 block since the 1980s. The (possible) bad outcome: What happens to the Monday lineup, which will no longer have "How I Met Your Mother," when "Big Bang Theory" moves back to Thursdays?
Here's the CBS fall lineup:
MONDAY: "The Big Bang Theory" (8 p.m.); then "2 Broke Girls" returns when "Big Bang" returns to Thursday; "Mom" (8:30); "Scorpion" (9), about tech nerds led by an "eccentric genius at Homeland Security"; "NCIS: Los Angeles" (10).
TUESDAY: "NCIS" (8); "NCIS: New Orleans" (9), the Scott Bakula and CCH Pounder spinoff; "Person of Interest" (10)
WEDNESDAY: "Survivor" (8); "Criminal Minds" (9); "Stalker" (10), Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q are cops who "investigate stalking incidents for the Threat Assessment Unit of the LAPD." CBS Entertainment chief Nina Tassler on Wednesday called it "the scariest show we've ever done."
THURSDAY: NFL (Sept. 11-Oct. 23) (8-11); "The Big Bang Theory" (8, as of Oct. 30); "The Millers" (8:30; Oct. 30); "Two and a Half Men" (9; Oct. 30), which will end after the 2014-15 season; "The McCarthys" (9:30), about a boisterous Boston family whose patriarch (Jack McGee) chooses his gay son (Tyler Ritter, John's son) as the assistant basketball coach on the high school team he coaches; "Elementary" (10).
FRIDAY: "The Amazing Race" (8); "Hawaii Five-O" (9); "Blue Bloods" (10).
SATURDAY: repeats; "48 Hours" (10)
SUNDAY: "60 Minutes" (7); "Madam Secretary" (8), with Téa Leoni as secretary of state; "The Good Wife" (9); "CSI: Cyber" (10)
