As I reported earlier today, CBS has axed Battle Creek, Stalker and The McCarthys, but it’s time for almost every other showrunner working on the network to pop open the champagne. Renewed for the 2015-16 season are stalwarts The Good Wife, NCIS, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-O, NCIS: Los Angeles, Criminal Minds, Elementary and Person of Interest, along with freshman entries CSI: Cyber and The Odd Couple. More seasons of Survivor, The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, 60 Minutes and 48 Hours have also been ordered.
Not on the schedule, however, is flagship series CSI. CBS is plotting an endgame for the long-running police procedural, and that will likely come in the form of a two-hour movie. Fans of CSI was shocked when it was announced that the series was ending, especially given that season 15 just left off on a cliffhanger, but CBS is sure to provide closure even if it’s rearing to wind down the mothership in favor of new shows. Spinoff CSI: Cyber started solid for the network, and it’s expected to continue well into the future.
Despite its disappointing fall premieres, which included the underwhelming Battle Creek and critically reviled Stalker, CBS is in a much more comfortable position than its competing networks thanks to the staying power of its long-legged dramas. The Good Wife is the most critically beloved of the bunch (albeit one of the lowest-rated), but every one of the renewed vets has earned a steady fan following that makes CBS’ confidence in their futures understandable.
As for the newcomers, CSI: Cyber stars Patricia Arquette fresh off her Oscar win for Boyhood, and the actress’ presence alone probably would have been enough to guarantee renewal had the show not opened, as it did, to a very good 10 million viewers and averaged 12.5 million throughout its season. The Odd Couple, with Matthew Perry, has also held up during its run and seems very much in line with the safe, syndication-friendly comedy CBS is known for.
