After a season where they tried to break away from their normal programming decisions (e.g. Supergirl, Limitless, Angel From Hell), CBS went back to their tried and true formula of multi-cams and procedurals in a slate headed by Kevin Can Wait and Bull. Though a majority of the CBS freshman have been renewed, none have been a channel changing breakout, while NCIS suffered declines over the loss of star Michael Weatherly and CBS Sundays started well with NCIS: Los Angeles and ended poorly with Elementary. CBS continues to schedule and operate primarily through the lens of international and syndication, which is understandable given the state of the television industry, but that, along with their conservative development, kept them from really having a moment in 2016-2017. Will CBS continue to be the most CBS-ish network possible in 2017-2018? Or will they opt to be a bit more risky since they didn’t find a big hit this past season?
That’s what KSiteTV’s Editor-in-Chief Craig Byrne and Contributing Editor Shilo Adams are trying to figure out, as they’ve spent the past five seasons attempting to do the impossible – figure out what each broadcast network will be doing the following season. Though neither claims to be an expert, nor does either have access to insider information, they’ve watched enough TV, read enough of the trades, and paid enough attention to schedules to be able to provide an informed fantasy schedule meant to be an amalgamation of what we think could, should, and will happen. If you don’t see a show you like mentioned, or a show you like gets mentioned disparagingly, take note that we don’t mean anything by it. We’re just trying to figure these schedules out. And again, while CBS has renewed a ton of shows, there are some listed here on our schedules that may not be officially renewed or even ordered to series, so there’s that.
We’re running all five prediction articles on the same day this year! Find all of the networks below:
NBC – FOX – ABC – CBS – The CW
SUNDAY
SHILO: 7:00 60 Minutes; 8:00 NCIS: Los Angeles; 9:00 Madam Secretary; 10:00 Elementary
CRAIG: 7:00 60 Minutes; 8:00 NCIS: Los Angeles; 9:00 Madam Secretary; 10:00 Elementary
SHILO: Rumors have popped up that Elementary is making staff offers for next season, so despite its soft ratings in arguably CBS’s toughest spot, the Jonny Lee Miller/Lucy Liu drama should be back. Where the show is being kept alive for international and syndication purposes, it would be ideal if CBS could move it to Saturdays so that CBS can make further progress on Sundays. Fellow syndication drag Madam Secretary would then occupy the 10:00 slot, paving the way for NCIS: Los Angeles to either launch something new or be joined by a fellow solid veteran. However, I don’t know if CBS would actually make the move to push Elementary, which they own 100%, to the lowest-viewed night of the week, so I think they’ll stand pat here. It makes their schedule much more stagnant, but CBS has scheduled more for off-network than Live + Same Day results for a while now, so it’s not necessarily a shock.
CRAIG: First off, I REALLY wish Saturdays were a viable option for shows like Elementary, but yes, it seems CBS will go with business as usual again for the 2017-2018 TV season. I’m not as against it, just because there’s so much TV on Sunday nights they may want to take it easy. As for “fellow syndication drags,” will there really be a world where we’ll see Madam Secretary airing 5 nights a week in syndication? I don’t see it. But people seem to like it, and these shows seem to survive being pulled on football overrun nights, so hey. Let them be.
