Upfronts Week: CBS

This is Upfronts Week, the time when all five major networks unveil their fall schedules to advertisers, and, of course, the public. Each day I'll be taking a look at the network schedules and weighing in on what we see and new shows. Today is CBS' turn.

CBS
Best Scheduling Move:
I didn't care for the re-boot of "Magnum P.I.," but whether you did or not, it was fair to feel it didn't fit on Mondays at 9 p.m. I like that CBS swung it to Friday nights, between Hawaii-set "Hawaii 5-0" and the Tom Selleck vehicle "Blue Bloods." If it's going to succeed, this feels like the place. It also gives them a solid Friday night of shows that all focus on crime and characters who are family. It felt like a somewhat genius move.

Most Curious Scheduling Move:
CBS didn't really do anything that seemed off, so this is nitpicking a bit. But I'll talk about the Monday night schedule. It didn't work great in the 2018-19 season, and CBS is shaking it up a little by putting two new shows in there. While "All Rise" might fit better with "Bull" in terms of subject matter, it still seems like a tough sell to have it and the new comedy "Bob Loves Abishola" in the middle of the night. "The Neighborhood" is a comedy that got better through the season, but it's not a huge anchor. It will be interesting to see if they have any better luck with this lineup.

Most Promising New Show:
CBS has five new Fall shows, breaking the deadlock of three. They are launching two new dramas and three new comedies. The best of these, to me, is "Evil." The show is about a psychologist—and non-believer—teaming with investigators from the Catholic Church to explore evil, and whether it is human evil or demonic. This is a big concept swing, but I was taken by the idea, and moved by the trailer. This is also right up my ally, personally. CBS had a show last year, "God Friended Me," that ended up being my favorite because of the way it considered faith and our lives. I feel like this one could as well. It also comes from Michelle and Robert King ("The Good Wife," "The Good Fight"), so I trust it will be done well. It got a time slot (Thursdays at 10 p.m.) that could be tough, but I liked the potential here.

Least Promising New Show:
CBS is starting a season in the Fall for the first time in more than a decade that doesn't include "The Big Bang Theory." In fact, they only have three returning sitcoms in the fall—"Young Sheldon," "Mom," and "The Neighborhood"—and none of them are ratings powerhouses. So it's looking for the next big thing, and adding three new comedies in the Fall is a way to try to get that done. However, none of the three trailers looked great. They all appeared to have some serious challenges. The one I'm going to single out here is "Carol's Second Act," which stars Patricia Heaton. She plays a woman who, later in life after her children are grown and her marriage crumbles, attempts to live out her dream by becoming a doctor. As the series starts, she's the "old intern." The show also features Kyle MacLachlan, but the trailer was as painful to watch as the premise was to read.