CBS is traditionally the home of the franchise procedurals, with the majority of the schedules filled with CSIs and NCISs. But the last CSI is officially dead leaving the network feeling a little like it’s lost its defining feature. NCIS powers ever onwards though, and with The Big Bang Theory still regularly topping the ratings, CBS shows no signs of faltering.

What’s cancelled
The Good Wife was a bit of an anomaly at CBS, not a huge ratings success but kept on the air because it was a critical and award hit, often one of the few network shows to appear amongst the offerings of HBO, Showtime, Netflix and Amazon. It’s amazing it lasted as long as it did, but maybe that’s not such a good thing given that the last couple of seasons showed a significant fall off in quality (I haven’t summoned the enthusiasm to get through season 7 yet). Person of Interest was another surprisingly long runner, cancelled after its 5th season. I never made it past the pilot. Mike & Molly was cancelled after its sixth season, again surprising that it lasted this long given Melissa McCarthy’s accelerating film career. The only thing surprising about CSI:Cyber’s cancellation was that it made it to a second season.

Only two freshmen shows were cancelled at CBS, Rush Hour, a generic buddy-cop procedural based on the film of the same name which lasted just 8 episodes; and Angel from Hell, the Jane Lynch comedy that was pulled after only 5 episodes.

Supergirl manages an odd trick of being both cancelled and back, it’s renewed for a second season but will move to The CW, which seems an infinitely better fit for it.

What’s back
NCIS continues to occupy half the schedule and the tops of the ratings charts. Original Flavour is renewed for season 14 AND 15, Los Angeles goes into season 8 and New Orleans gets a third season. I still just about watch the LA variant, but only while ironing. Criminal Minds is renewed for a twelfth season (although I keep thinking they must run out of serial killer ideas eventually!) and has finally managed to get a spin-off to stick with Beyond Borders getting a second season and hopefully some budget either to actually travel to more locations or at least for better green-screening.

Continuing the action/procedural thread are Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods both going into seventh seasons, Elementary going into a fifth and Scorpion (which has somehow completely passed me by) getting a third. Madam Secretary is a slightly odd ball on the schedule as a political drama, but the rather over-dramatised cheese does sort of fit, and it’s now going into its third season.

CBS has a pretty solid comedy line up, driven by the phenomenally popular Big Bang Theory, which goes into a tenth season. 2 Broke Girls continues onwards into season 6 and Mom goes into season 4.

Freshman shows that are picked up for seconds – Code Black, an overblown but entertaining medical drama and Zoo which I understand to be a pretty hilariously dumb “wild animals attack the world” show. Comedies The Odd Couple and Life in Pieces get second seasons too.

New Shows
Bull – Dr Bull is a jury analyst, fighting cases through psychology and manipulation. The concept is at least a slightly different take on standard legal procedurals and reminded me a bit of Lie to Me which I liked a lot. But what really sells it is Michael Weatherly who may have stepped out of a going-nowhere role on NCIS to land a real winner.

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The Great Indoors – holy crap, this is a terrible, terrible trailer. From the obvious script, stilted delivery, and wooden junior cast through to the cheap staging and horrific laugh track. The blurb actually uses the word “millennials”. Joe McHale (Community) should be in something so much better.

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Kevin Can Wait – Kevin James retires from the police force and has to deal with his family. How sad for him and how sad for the audience.

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Pure Genius – while Fox is showing what happens when a technical genius takes over a police force, ABC is looking at what they can do when they take over a hospital. It looks even more likely to fall into the same traps of magic and miracles, this time just with more emotional manipulation along the way.

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Man with a Plan – Here in the 21st century, yet another comedy about a man who’s forced to actually parent his own children. This time starring Matt LeBlanc and yet another awful laughter track.

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Training Day – Another one based on a film for no good reason. Dirty(ish) cop takes on good intentioned trainee. Shouting and shooting occur. Boring.