Upfronts Week — CBS

Today begins a week where hope springs eternal for all the major networks as they unveil the trailers for new shows and set their schedule for the fall. Each day I'll take a look at the network's presentation and offer some thoughts.

CBS:
Everyone wants to be CBS — at least they have this century. The network again leads in total viewers, and is a close second to NBC in the 18-49 demographic for the season. And in the 2015-2016 season they're almost guaranteed to win that demographic, too, as they have the NFL for eight Thursday nights in September and will have the Super Bowl in February. Not to mention they have the highest rated comedy, "The Big Bang Theory," and most of the most-watched programming. But that programming is getting long in the tooth. "NCIS" is on to year 13 in the fall, and "CSI," which wrapped its 15th season in February, is ending with a two-hour movie in September. CBS, like all networks, is seeking to attract younger viewers and build its stable of newish shows. They continue to operate from a position of strength — and having the NFL on Sundays and Thursday nights helps — but the network continues to look for new shows that resonate with the younger crowd. Looking at this fall slate — which features five new shows in the fall — it's hard to see how that's going to happen. CBS will probably be No. 1 in 2015-2016, but you can't help but wonder how many of these new shows will stick, and how many veteran shows will continue to stick around.

Most Interesting Scheduling Move: The "NCIS" block on Tuesdays from 8 to 10 p.m. is a good lead-in for some show, and seeing as how "Person of Interest" has struggled in the ratings there for a couple seasons, it makes some sense to use that block to launch a new series. CBS is doing that with "Limitless," based on the movie and featuring Bradley Cooper — three time Academy Award nominee — in a recurring role. This seems like the kind of bold move CBS needs to build on the viewer base it has and, possibly, launch a high-concept new show.

Riskiest Scheduling Move: Comedy on Network TV is dying. CBS once, reliably, had a two-hour comedy block on Monday nights. This season that dropped to a single hour, and in November CBS won't have any comedy on Monday night and will have only two hours of comedy — on Thursdays — on its fall schedule. It's holding reliable comedy anchors "Two Broke Girls" and "Mike & Molly" to mid-season (or whenever something is cancelled) and putting "Supergirl," its most demographic friendly series, in a brutal time slot on Mondays at 8 p.m. (Beginning in November). At that time, the Monday lineup will be "Supergirl," "Scorpion," and "NCIS: Los Angeles." Not to mention "Supergirl" is the network's most ambitious new show and it's being tossed out against "The Voice," "Gotham," and "Dancing With The Stars." It will be interesting to see how it fares.

Most Intriguing New Show: There are a couple options here, and I like the thinking behind all three new dramas being rolled out this fall. But I think the clear winner here is "Supergirl." Superhero shows are a hot commodity, as superhero movies are hot commodities. If CBS can find a way to build a successful superhero show around a tough female character, it will have really done something here. That's a big if right now given the time slot and that the show hasn't begun, but it feels like the kind of bold risk you can take when you're on top and plan to stay that way.

Least Intriguing New Show: CBS continues to underwhelm when it comes to comedies. Last year it was "The McCarthy's." This year it's "Angel From Hell." I think the title pretty much sums it up — especially if you replace the word "Angel" with "Comedy" — but this feels like a rough concept that is doomed to fail. And it's in an odd slot on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. — behind "Mom" — beginning in November. Considering CBS is only airing two hours of comedy in the fall, it seems odd that this is 25 percent of that total.