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.
I will miss the Unit, can’t stand shows like the amazing race, Big Bang dopes, gay barney scoring with the chicks on how i met my mother.
I can not believe they have cancelled “The Unit!” It and “Amazing Race” were the only reason we watched CBS on Sunday nights at all!
My whole family love watching the unit. It was like watching a movie.
When we had family get togethers, we would talk about the unit. We loves
shows that seems real.
I cant believe they kept the Mentalist over 11th Hour. 11th Hour was so much better. I will miss Worst week, it was sooo funny. I dont like The big bang theory or How I meet your mother, yet they keep coming back. The best allways seem 2 get cancelled. I will miss most of all Samantha Who? That show kept me LMBO. Guess I’ll just have 2 buy the 2nd season and watch it and the 1st when ABC has its crappy shows on. I can say thanks 4 keeping The New adventures of the old Christine. It and… Read more »
You can tell from the online vote and the numerous comments above that “The Unit” should never have been cancelled, because it is in the top 4-5 shows on TV, and “the Eleventh Hour” is close behind, both stories extremely well-written and acted. You guys are our favorite network by a long shot, but this is by far the biggest mistake you guys have ever made.
just ticked that they picked up Medium (one of THE dumbest shows ever) and that they’re moving EVERYTHING around. And they cut Without a Trace but added a ripoff… excuse me, I mean SPINOFF of NCIS? Get real.
I do not understand the reason to cancel W/O a Trace? This show is the only show to beat out Law & Order SUV!!! To Save it I Would Cut a Jack and Sam off the show, and add 1 may be two more agents.
Bring back W/O a Trace in October if possible and put it on Sunday. Put Cold Case, Three Rivers and W/O a Trace. Put Amazing race between Survivors Run, or Saturday.
CBS has decided to cancel The Unit but has kept all THREE CSI shows??? This is a big mistake!
I LOVED the Unit, we would record the unit and watch 4 or 5 episodes at a time
Can’t believe that CBS has cancelled The Unit. This was by far the best show on tv. I sincerely hope that CBS re-thinks this before the fantastic cast is scooped up by other networks.
I can’t believe they cancelled the UNIT!!!! Huge mistake, the show was awesome! I am not a huge fan of military movies or shows, but this show was amazing! My husband got me hooked and I would pick the Unit over any other show! I love it and am going to miss it!
I agree with Jonny (122); “The Unit” is a highly intelligent show. Well written, great plots, spectacular cast, well developed characters, and plenty of action make for a top notch show. A particular plot might not go the way one was expecting at the start of an episode, but leads to an unexpected and better ending, which was a good surprise. I have recommended this show to a lot of friends after the first season and they immediately loved the show. I believe it was one of the better, more realistic military based shows to be on television in the… Read more »
I voted for ‘Eleventh Hour’. That was a the better of all the shows on the poll, and it’s a shame it got canceled. It’s really sad not to see more “reality” show garbage on this cancellation lists.
The Unit was one of the most intelligent, realistic shows ever made. Attention to detail, strong character development, great dialogue (not too wordy), and a lot of action made for a fantastic viewing experience. Rarely did the writers let their own political points of view seep into storylines, but it did happen.
First class all the way! It’s a mistake to let something this good get away!
really unhappy about cancellation of the unit. even though at times i had trouble following the action i loved the characters and backstory. think you made a mistake