Make An Argument

What we can learn from this year’s upfronts: CBS

By Eric Hughes

April 20, 2011

Remember how I was going to be a movie star? What happened with that?

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Picking up where I left off two weeks ago, CBS’ drama picks seem to be more of the same for a network that feeds off police procedurals. And, if a show over at CBS happens to be a spin-off of CSI or NCIS or some other arbitrary acronym, even better. It’ll probably get room on the schedule.

Fortunately for us, there are no CSI: Omaha incarnations due this fall. But in place of them are two medical dramas, three police procedurals (two of ‘em based within the NYPD alone) and one about an ex-CIA teaming with a rebel billionaire.

CBS, shall we say, has a formula.

Unlike my column two weeks ago on ABC -- a piece which demanded good time sifting through network prospects in hopes of discovering what could be on the Mouse House schedule come fall -- I’m at a bit of a loss here. All seven dramas are so, um, CBS, and could very well get a 13-episode order.

CBS would say it knows its audience and won’t fix what ain’t broke. I say the network could break its mold a bit and at least attempt to develop something different from what’s already airing Sunday through Friday. CBS, if personified, would be that lazy guy you work with who manages to get his projects done will rubbing elbows with the boss - but lacks the ambition to move ahead.

Anyway, in preparation of next month’s upfronts, I’ll rank CBS’ seven dramas from “least likely to get picked up” to “this will go great paired with NCIS: Los Angeles or Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.”

7) Untitled Susannah Grant Project

Of CBS’ fall slate, the as-yet-untitled Susannah Grant show would be the “risk.” That is, it’s the least like the network’s other shows - even if it’s centered around a competitive surgeon. The man, played by Patrick Wilson, learns about life in the hereafter after his ex-wife passes away.

You could argue that CBS has had shows like it before - Touched By an Angel, Ghost Whisperer, Medium… it’s a valid argument - but digging into the paranormal isn’t something CBS does too often. It’d much rather develop buddy cop dramas or have forensic specialists survey a musty hotel rooms.

Story-wise I’d say this one is a no, but were it to get the pass, it’d be because Jonathan Demme is directing the pilot and former Dexter star Julie Benz is in it.

6) Untitled Medical Drama

Lacking any real star power - Scott Foley! Woo hoo! - CBS’ Untitled Medical Drama tracks a mother’s (Christine Lahti) journey reuniting with her adult children at the family’s med practice. Though I’m not banking on this one getting picked up, it would be, I think, the wholesome family drama largely absent from the schedule.




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5) Untitled Redlich & Bellucci

Untitled Redlich & Bellucci isn’t that supernatural, but it’s got the panache of a series that is. It just reads that way. Co-starring Nip/Tuck alum Dylan Walsh, the series is about, what else, a NYPD detective (Poppy Montgomery) who can remember everything. The logline says it’s an asset to her job, but a detriment in her personal life.

4) Ringer

Ringer probably sounds the most interesting to me, but I’m ranking it at #4 because this is a list of what CBS would air in primetime, and not what I would program were I chief of entertainment. If that were the case, I’d quickly greenlight four additional versions of NCIS - they could even be old reruns of the original NCIS, but re-branded as NCIS: Minneapolis and NCIS: Peoria - collect the profits from a September’s worth of advertising dollars and then flee somewhere exotic. Yes, that’s what I would do.

Ringer is a project starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, who’s probably still embittered by The Wonderful Maladys not getting picked up over at HBO. In this show, she’s on the run from the mob and decides to inhabit the life of her sister. Turns out, though, that her sister’s life has a bounty on it.

3) Rookies

Produced by Robert De Niro, Rookies follows six newbie NYPDs who try striking a balance between their personal lives and the beat. I don’t know that there’s a single thing in there that screams refreshingly original, but so be it. This is the CBS development slate!

Leelee Sobieski is probably the most well known of the half-dozen rookies. Fun fact about Leelee Sobieski: Google image search her full name and a good 90% of the photos that spit back to you are Leelee Sobieski with serious face.

2) Hail Mary

I wouldn’t pin “big star” on Minnie Driver’s lapel, but front-running a network drama? She’s CBS royalty. Kinda like, I think, Melina Kanakaredes on CSI: NY or Janeane Garofalo on CM: SB. (Um, that would Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior for all you pathetic non-acronym-happy underlings). On the show, Minnie plays a single mom who teams with comedian Brandon T. Jackson to solve crimes.

In my head, Hail Mary is a buddy P.I. show, sure, but it’s also got a comedic side. If I have that right, then Hail Mary is so getting a spot on the fall sked.

1) Person of Interest

Person of Interest is a product of J.J. Abrams, which is, as we know, essentially the golden ticket to getting anything produced these days. And, Person of Interest has that great CBS brand name working for it. I mean Without a Trace, Close to Home… Person of Interest will fit right in.

Anyway, as for the show, Person of Interest is that ex-CIA drama I hinted at earlier. The logline reads that it’s about a former operative, believed to be dead, who partners with a rich recluse to smother evil in New York City… yeah, this one’s just beaming CBS wheel house.


     


 
 

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