CBS has announced their new schedule for the 2009 – 2010 season. The network has the most viewers overall so they don’t have to make a lot of changes. But, because they’re in such good shape, they can still afford to shake things up a bit. That means dumping some shows whose ratings weren’t too bad.
The network has also picked up Medium which was cancelled by NBC. CBS says that they’re targeting a younger demographic next season but their choice of new shows doesn’t wholly reflect that philosophy.
With the largest number of returning shows of all five networks, CBS has renewed 48 Hours, 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Flashpoint, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother, Medium, The Mentalist, NCIS, The New Adventures of New Christine, Numb3rs, Rules of Engagement, Survivor, and Two and a Half Men.
Returning this Summer are Big Brother and Million Dollar Password (which is unlikely to return for season two). New series for the Summer months include Do You Trust Me? and Jingles.
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Next season, the Tiffany network has a fair number of new shows on the way as well. They include Accidentally on Purpose, Arranged Marriage, The Bridge, The Good Wife, Miami Trauma, Three Rivers, and Undercover Boss. You can also expect the NCIS spin-off, NCIS: Los Angeles.
And now, for the shows that won’t be back next season. Interestingly only a couple of these had really bad ratings. When you’re at the top of the heap, you can be choosy.
Eleventh Hour
A brilliant biophysicist helps the government investigate strange cases. The ratings weren’t too low and the show has a devout following but CBS execs cancelled it after 18 episodes.
The Ex List
A psychic tells a young woman that she’s already dated the man of her dreams and, if she doesn’t marry within a year, she’ll always be alone. The series was pulled after four installments but all 13 episodes were completed for a possible DVD release.
Game Show in My Head
A hidden camera show from Ashton Kutcher in which everyday people perform crazy stunts in public to try to win up to $50,000. The show enjoyed a brief eight episode run in January and won’t be back with more.
Harper’s Island
This murder mystery show started out pretty strong but quickly lost viewers. CBS is burning off the existing 13 episodes on Saturday nights. If there was going to be another season, it would have revolved around a new mystery.
Swingtown
A drama that follows three families in the swinging seventies. CBS ran it during the summer months and it attracted a small but devoted audience. The network tried to find another outlet for season two but couldn’t.
The Unit
This beloved military drama followed the lives of both a special forces team as well as their family members at home. A victim of cost-cutting measures, Dennis Haysbert and company won’t be returning to fight again.
Without a Trace
This venerable crime drama about the FBI’s New York Missing Persons Squad is about to go missing itself. Due to budget cuts and sinking ratings, the show won’t be back for season eight.
Worst Week
Thankfully, we got to see unlucky Sam and his bride have their baby together. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see if Sam’s klutziness is hereditary. The show has been cancelled after 15 episodes. There was talk of renewing the show as a cheaper, multi-camera sitcom but it didn’t work out.
Will you miss any of these cancelled shows? Has CBS made any mistakes or have they gotten these right? See any they shouldn’t have renewed but did? Please don’t forget to leave your comments below!
Note: CBS later changed the name of new series Miami Trauma to Miami Medical.
Here are updated cancelled/renewed listings for the five networks: ABC | CBS | The CW | FOX | NBC
Images courtesy CBS.
Why is it that most of the shows that I think are worth watching get cancelled. 11th Hour, Jrericho (Still hate you for this CBS) The Unit, Without a Trace and now possibly Numb3rs. You are losing my loyalty, I think I will go back to ABC and NBC to sample their dramas.
I’m still really bent about the cancelling of The Unit. It was one of the VERY few tv shows worth watching. Like others, my husband and I kept watching for the season opener, but sadly came to the conclusion that the idiots had cancelled it. There are a lot of programs that could have been and should have been trashed before this quality show.
Really dissapointed to see the Unit go. This was one of the most exciting and entertaining shows on tv. Hope someone comes to their senses and brings this back!
Please bring back Harpers Island! I loved that show, and I loved the mystery of each week.. not knowing who was going to get killed. It definetly beat out the 9 thousand shows on forensics, or cop dramas. Please.. bring back a show that actually kept me interested.
Please, please bring back Flashpoint. My husband & I really miss this show.
It was heartwarming & not just junk like so many shows.
The Unit, I can say was one of the best shows broadcasted. A show I would tell my friends and family to stay-tuned for…Now its gone.
To the thinking men in control, bring it BACK!
I WON’T WATCH SITCOMS UNTIL THEY GET RID OF CANNED LAUGHTER. IF ITS FUNNY IT DOESN’T NEED THAT EXTRA NOISE. AND BESIDES, IT BLOTS OUT WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE SAYING MOST OF THE TIME. NOT GOOD.
I don’t think The Unit should have been canceled and no it is not only viewed by 55 year olds, I am only 44 and have been watching it since Season 1. The Nielson Ratings needs to get more comments from different age groups. If 9.67 Million viewers was not enough, there’s a problem somewhere. There was no other show like The Unit which not only gave us a look into “Special Forces”, but the drama that goes on behind the scenes with their families. I also liked Harpers Island. I am glad that CBS picked up Medium, they did… Read more »
I still am shocked that we will not see more of the Unit. What a great show and wonderful cast. With all of the buzz about losing such a great show, will you please change your mind and bring it back???????
It figures The Unit is a great show so lets cancel it. Lets put on some more crap reality shows or how about another CSI (crap). Networks are idiots. Still waiting for someone to realize Firefly was awesome
It’s a real shame that The Unit was canceled….this was one of the most exciting TV series ever produced. The show had superb writing, acting, production, sound, effects, romance, humor, lots of hard work done by all the cast and crew…just tossed away? And for what? Well, at least Dennis Hayspert (sp?) has a great gig with Allstate insurance ads…he’s smiling. But what about all the other great actors in the series? I hope they all get good gigs somewhere because that much collective talent should not want for work. I hope The Unit can be revived at some point,… Read more »
I cannot believe The Unit was cancelled. I kept thinking maybe they were just late getting it back on the air. I couldn’t wait to see the next show every week. So sad to hear it was truly cancelled. Please bring it back this year, please, please, please!
My husband, Dad & I really liked “The Unit” & other than “Survivor” & the Olympic Coverage, we usually watch anything on the CBS network except CBS News Coverage.
Enough with Old or New Christine, 2 & 1/2 Men, The Good Wife, & some of the other “fluff-ball” stuff that should have gone by the way of the Dodo & put “The Unit” back on CBS – If “M*A*S*H” can make a record run because of the Military (active & retired) so can “The Unit”.
I certainly have missed Without a Trace. The stories were interesting and the casual peek
into the characters personal lives was in good taste and well done. The stories captured
my interest from the time you see the Person vanishing until whoever it was turned up,
either alive or sadly, deceased. What on earth prompted these execs to cancel it? Yes,
sometimes a show does lose a few viewers but given time they become better. If you
don’t like the viewer numbers, don’t cancel the show, fire the writers and find those
writers who are more skillful in creating plots.
THE UNIT … REALLY … it’s one of the few shows my husband will watch. It took me a while but I finally got him to sit down & watch an episode ( good thing I DVR’d it) because he wanted to see it from the beginning … every episode from then on we watched together … Now it’s over
PLEASE BRING BACK …. THE UNIT