CBS Renews 11 TV Series for the 2008 – 2009 Season, What About the Rest?

Published: February 15, 2008

Cane The CBS network has announced they are already renewing 11 series for their next season’s schedule – most of which are crime dramas. Only one freshman show from the 2007 – 2008 season has been given a greenlight for a second year. How about the others?

To no great surprise, the network is renewing Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs, Without a Trace, and Two and a Half Men. CBS had previously announced that two new cycles of Survivor and one of The Amazing Race are already in the works.

They’ve also given the go-ahead for another year of The Big Bang Theory, the network’s one new hit of the current season. Where does that leave the rest of the CBS shows? Cancelled?

Big Brother – The latest season just launched a couple weeks ago and isn’t performing very well. The reality series usually does much better in the summer months so don’t expect it to air during the regular season again. Big Brother should be back for another round in the summer.

Cane – The show’s ratings weren’t very good and it hasn’t been put back into production. It’s highly unlikely that CBS will put the money into trying to relaunch a poorly rated series in the fall – nine months after it left the airwaves.

How I Met Your Mother – The sitcom’s ratings have remained about the same this season but aren’t anything to crow about. CBS has put Mother back into production for nine more episodes this season and that’s a vote of confidence. The show needs at least another season to make it attractive for syndication so it seems likely that Barney and friends will be around to “Suit up!” for year four.

Moonlight Jericho – The second season just premiered this week and the ratings weren’t any better than last season’s when it was initially cancelled. It looks unlikely that they’ll improve much, which means it won’t be back next year. Thankfully, the producers have filmed a possible series ending.

Kid Nation – Even controversy couldn’t help this one attract many viewers. Coupled with all of the negative publicity this reality series attracted, it’s highly unlikely that it’ll be back for year two.

Moonlight – Despite being left off the renewal list, the vampire series is going back into production for four more episodes for this season. CBS is likely waiting to see how well the drama performs when it returns in April.

The New Adventures of Old Christine – Nine episodes were completed prior to the writers strike shutdown. It’s not going back into production for the remaining four and that doesn’t look good for the show’s chances of survival. The show’s future will likely be decided once CBS checks out its new sitcom pilots.

Rules of Engagement – The sitcom has gone back into production on six new episodes that will begin airing on April 14th. Episodes were attracting 11 – 12 million viewers when they last aired in November 2007, holding onto most of the Two and a Half Men audience.

The Unit Shark – James Woods and company have gone back to work on four additional episodes for this season, though an air date hasn’t been announced. The drama’s fate will probably be decided based on strength of the network’s new pilots but it’s likely to return for a third season.

The Unit – Only 11 episodes were produced this season and the show hasn’t been put back into production for the rest. The show’s ratings have been about the same as those of year two. The network may decide to try something new next fall as The Unit typically loses a significant percentage of its NCIS lead-in.

Welcome to the Captain – It’s been on the air for two weeks. The reviews have been terrible and the ratings have not been good thus far. Unless things improve, there’s no reason the network would keep this sitcom and dump one of its others.

As always, we’ll keep you posted on the latest news in cancellations so stay tuned!