Fall TV: CBS Orders NCIS and CSI Spin-Offs, Odd Couple, Kevin Williamson’s Stalker and 4 More to Series (But Not How I Met Your Dad?)
CBS on Friday added eight new series to its 2014-15 schedule, including Matthew Perry‘s Odd Couple reboot and the planted spin-offs NCIS: New Orleans and CSI: Cyber.
PHOTOS | Fall TV Preview: Your Guide to All of the New Shows
There’s still no official word on How I Met Your Dad, though the HIMYM spin-off is rumored to have been ordered to series.
Here’s the logline/casting/pedigree info for each of the new series; the Patricia Arquette-starring CSI: Cyber aired as the April 30 episode of CSI .
Battle Creek (Drama)*
EPs | Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), David Shore (House), Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad)
DIRECTOR | Bryan Singer (House)
CAST | Dean Winters (Law & Order: SVU), Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas), Kal Penn (House), Janet McTeer (The White Queen), Damon Herriman (Justified), Aubrey Dollar, Edward Fordham Jr.
Two detectives with very different worldviews are teamed up and must answer the question: Are cynicism, guile and deception enough to clean up the semi-mean streets of Battle Creek, Mich., in the face of a complete lack of resources; or is the exact opposite true – it takes naïveté, trust and a boatload of resources?
* previously ordered to series
Madam Secretary (Drama)
EPs | Barbara Hall (Homeland), Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary and Tracy Mercer
CAST | Tea Leoni (The Naked Truth), Tim Daly (Private Practice), Bebe Neuwirth, Geoffrey Arend (Body of Proof), Patina Miller, Erich Bergen, Evan Roe, Katherine Herzer
Potential series about the personal and professional life of a maverick female Secretary of State as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life.
The McCarthys (Comedy)
EPs | Brian Gallivan (Are You There, Chelsea?), Will Gluck (The Michael J. Fox Show), Richie Schwartz
CAST | Jack McGee (Common Law), Joey McIntyre (Boston Public), Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne), Jimmy Dunn, Kelen Coleman (The Newsroom)
Story about a big Irish Catholic, sports-crazed Boston clan and the gay son whose greatest sin is not his sexuality but his desire to spend less time with his family.
NCIS: New Orleans (Drama)
EPs | Gary Glasberg, Mark Harmon
CAST | Scott Bakula (Men of a Certain Age), CCH Pounder (The Shield), Zoe McLellan (JAG), Lucas Black, recurring guest star Paige Turco (The 100)
The New Orleans NCIS office handles cases from Pensacola through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle; to air as a spring episode of NCIS.
The Odd Couple (Comedy)
EPs | Matthew Perry, Joe Keenan (Frasier)
CAST | Matthew Perry (Go On, Friends), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), Georgia King (The New Normal), Sarah Baker (Go On), Wendell Pierce (The Michael J. Fox Show, Treme), Lindsay Sloane (Weeds)
The multi-camera comedy project follows two mismatched roommates: the messy Oscar Madison (Perry) and neat freak Felix Unger (Lennon).
Scorpion (Drama)
EPs | Nick Santora (Prison Break, Breakout Kings), Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Sleepy Hollow)
CAST | Katherine McPhee (Smash), Robert Patrick (True Blood, Last Resort), Elyes Gabel (Body of Proof, Game of Thrones), Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie), Jadyn Wong (Being Erica), Ari Stidham
Follows an eccentric genius and his international network of super-geniuses as they form the last line of defense against the complex threats of the modern age.
Stalker (Drama)
EP | Kevin Williamson (The Following)
CAST | Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story), Maggie Q (Nikita), Mariana Klaveno (Devious Maids), Victor Rasuk (How To Make It in America)
A psychological thriller that centers on a pair of detectives who handle stalking incidents for the Threat Management Unit of the LAPD.
Why doesn’t CBS do something really out of the box. Like make the Secretary of State in ‘Madame Secretary’ a conservative republicans?
Wait, What? Oh, she’s going to be a Hillary clone. To help pump up her image before 2016? I see. Can you say “End run donation”? I can.
Real Edgy there CBS.
Because conservative Republicans are vile, nasty little things that don’t make for entertaining television, that’s why!
Ignoring that your comment towards republicans is narrow minded and a little hypocritical… Generally speaking “vile and nasty” can make for compelling television. See: anything on cable.
think they’re being sarcastic mate
I don’t know. They could always do a mini-series about Teddy Kennedy. You want a show about a vile, nasty horrible alcoholic, there you go.
That’s why they may be avoiding a Rep. The elephants are surprisingly thin skinned. Donkeys are used to more messy portrayals.
Let’s look at the dramas that featured liberal women politicos. Remember ‘Commander-in-Chief’? Didn’t make it beyond 13 episodes.
Why not give a fair look at the other side? Not the hate filled stuff the left thinks about conservatives?
Maybe when the party stops trying to deny basic rights to a sizable minority, people will stop seeing them as villains. Crazy, huh?
Someone doesn’t watch Scandal. Vile is awesome.
totally agree with you about vile republicans! there’s enough of them being stupid and vile in real life without having to “watch” them on t.v.! Ugh
Because democrats aren’t stupid? Honestly people when will you wake up and realize everyone is the problem, not just ones that have a little ‘r’ next to their names.
Finally someone who makes sense.
It would be difficult to have a right-wing woman as a protagonist on a television show. How could an audience root for a female who believes that poor people deserve to die, rape is a gift from god and that strangers should decide what happens to her body? Wouldn’t work dramatically.
Wow! If any republican said that, their career would be over. So you’ll be glad to tell me what Republicans said that. Please give name, date and where they said it.
And no “They all say that”. Specifics.
Wha, really? This is what happens when you only get your news from Fox News. Remember the Republican crowd that actually applauded about the idea of an uninsured person dying because they couldn’t afford medical care? Have you REALLY missed the multiple Republican white men who have been yapping about rape in the last couple years? This isn’t a secret, they’ve been very vocal.
Robby Horine- I don’t understand how you can be so wrong AND arrogant at the same time. Or why you felt it necessary to turn an article about pilot season into an absurd political “debate.” However, since you asked for republicans who said those things, let’s take this point by point. First of all, you are correct in some cases. While a LOT of GOP candidates have said all those things in recent elections, several of them lost, which probably does mean that “their career(s) would be over” now. So we’ll leave out Todd Akin and his legitimate rape, Richard Murdoch and his view that pregnancy through rape is something “God intended to happen,” Sharon Angle and her advice to view a baby conceived through rape as “making lemonade out of lemons,” and Mitt Romney, who felt that the “safety net” in this country was so strong that he was “not concerned about the very poor,” even though his plan would have drastically cut every part of that “safety net.” Instead we’ll focus on republicans who have said those things and still have strong careers. Like Paul Ryan, who says rape is just another “method of conception,” so there’s no reason to let victims get an abortion, and who thinks poverty is just an “urban problem.” There are many more examples. If you were to google almost any GOP politician, you would find what is to me a very disturbing belief system. Whether you want to accept that or not is up to you.
Now- When will CBS pick up “How I Met Your Dad”?!?!!
I think BOTH sides of the political fence has said and done some incredibly stupid and horrendous things. One side is no better than the other, and before the cries of “Oh yes it is” go goggle them both. Remember there are extremists in the Democrats and the Republicans, truly there are enough jackasses to go around….
And don’t forget the part where a conservative woman obeys her husband…
Yes, because Hilary putting up with her d**k of a husband who continually makes an international fool of her makes for a wonderful role model
There’s nothing indicating she’s a Democrat. CBS is pretty conservative and 90% of their shows have 3 times as many men in their casts as women. Perhaps you should keep quiet until it airs.
Oh, sure. She could be a Condi Rice clone, but she won’t be. This show wouldn’t be up for consideration if not for Hillary running in 2016. Otherwise no one would care about a network drama featuring a female Secretary of State. C’mon! Be honest with yourself.
And Veep has been running for how long on HBO??
How I love that show!
Because conservative republicans suck on TV.
No way in hell I will cheer anything conservative or Republican, not until they stop being mean and hateful. No thanks.
Agree!!!
I am excited about Battle Creek. Vince Gilligan, Dean Winters, 13 episodes. Love it. I wish it wasn’t on CBS or had Josh Duhamel in it, but not everything is perfect.
battle creek is the only thing that doesn’t sound terrible
Will watch the Scott Bakula series if it isn’t on Monday.
Why not set ur dvr n watch it at ur convenience. Are people still doing the either/or “on monday” when dvrs record 4+ shows at one time.
Perhaps because not everyone has cable or a multi-stream dvr?
And not everyone thinks ur and n are actual words.
I’ll watch anything done by Vince Gilligan.
We don’t need another NCIS show. How about less body shows and more quality program? It’s time to start taking Emmys back
I suspect CBS see the number of viewers NCIS gets and csi used to get and gets dollar signs inits eyes. They go with what works foe them. No sense in killing a cash cow.
How many different kinds of stalkers could there be? Seems narrow even for a CBS procedural.
STILL WAITING FOR CSI: PATRICIA ARQUETTE!!!!!!!!
This… I really hope Patricia Arquette’s new CSI show gets a chance.
Since it would be a CBS production, they probably have more flexibility in terms of working things out. I envisioned it as a midseason show anyway because the backdoor pilot only featured PA, so they would have to build an entire cast to complement her.I really hope it gets a shot.
The article has now been updated and CSI: Cyber has been picked up. I watched the pilot and thought it looked good. Don’t know where it will go on the schedule yet.
I may check out Stalker.
Is there another show cancellation in Matthew Perry’s future? He does not have luck.
Stalker was the one new one that caught my eye. I hope it’s good. :)
Wait, I want Paige Turco back on Person of Interest as a guest star before the NCIS spinoff if she’s taking breaks from The 100!
Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q are gonna make a nice looking crime fighting duo on Stalker.
I’m just happy to see Scott Bakula getting work.
This! ^
I’m excited about NCIS: New Orleans!
Would have preferred NCIS: Red the constant my brotha every two minutes is going to irritate
I bet that his accent is gone by the time it airs.
Battle Creek Sounds the best to me
That show honestly confuses me. What are the detectives supposed to be investigating, car theft? (For those who don’t know, while Battle Creek does have a high crime rate, relatively speaking, the majority of those crimes are car thefts. Which, while awful, don’t make for particularly interesting television.)
Woo! On board for everything except Madam Secretary and The McCarthy’s
Gotta agree with you on Madame Secretary and The McCarthys. Both of them sound absolutely awful.
Renew the Mentalist CBS.
I agree; but with these additions, it looks as if Mentalist is a goner, sadly!
Too many new dramas to keep The Mentaist. Let’s hope it finds a home.
Renew mentalist, please.
Love Paige Turbo. Want her back on POI.
me too
my guess is CBS leaked the “pickup” of HIMYD to see how people would respond to it. since they saw it was a negative one they were probably like “nope, nevermind.”
Smartest comment I’ve heard all day
Exactly!
That is possible – however, I’ve been bouncing back and forth between here/TVLine and sister site Deadline, and the thinking is that CBS wants a better deal (part ownership?) of HIMYD from production house 20th Century. If they don’t get that deal done, well, who knows?
This one is tricky – a part of me would like to see HIMYD get rolling, but a part of me is also thinking, maybe we are all better off just letting HIMYM stand alone, and be what is it to fans (who loved it or didn’t), and not push things with HIMYD.
So, I’m good either way. I liked [loved] HIMYM, I liked the ending, but I certainly understand those who didn’t. In all honestly, I’m not so much worried about the HIMYD concept, but I’m not sure about that new cast. IMHO, what made HIMYM so good was that cast – and director Pamela Fryman. The story was amazing by CT/CB, but without those six other people, I don’t think HIMYM would have become what it did become. HIMYD will not have those key six people on board – that could be a problem for HIMYD. I read where they are looking for a director – no Pamela Fryman. That is not good news for HIMYD.
I had the same thought!
Stalker sounds interesting & I’ll probably check out The Odd Couple since I was a fan of the original as a kid (I seem to remember being the only my age being a fan )
I’d have chosen CSI over NCIS. Booooo. Aww I was looking forward to HIMYD. I don’t get this “that one last episode was bad so I hope HIMYD doesn’t happen” from so called fans.
Did you not see the episode? Did you not see the polarizing reaction from critics AND the fans FROM that particular episode? Did you not hear the MASSIVE backlash from the fans AFTER that particular episode aired?! AND as i keep saying, K, WE HAVE OPINIONS! Don’t call any of us so-called fans just because WE didn’t like the episode!
My point is that yeah the episode wasn’t a great finale, they tried to please everyone and it didn’t work. But I’m talking about the “fans” that want HIMYD to fail only because of one episode and seem to forget the years worth of great ones.
You should probably give up this argument K as I had it the other day with people. I completely agree with you. However, I was supposedly “not a loyal fan” because I didn’t let one episode ruin the whole series. They always complain about character development too but not very many people in their late 20”s or early 30’s change much. You change most in your early 20’s so I feel it’s realistic they all sort of threw that out the door. That’s just how I look at it anyway.
have you ever heard the saying fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me? well i am pretty sure most hating the show already have no desire to see a second time of being fooled yet another time… and they will fear that … fear they get invested in the wrong charcters to see it all end up crap again…
A bunch of dumb procedurals and thin-premised sitcoms. No surprises here.
Nothing but downhill since Beowolf eh?
:) Nice.
Yay. Happy for NCIS NOLA. Can’t wait to see Scott Bakula on primetime TV, again (even though his cable work has been great!)
Looking forward to Zoe McLellan… :)
Nothing jumps out as must see for me, but Maggie Q yes please I will def. check that out.
Wont’ watch NCIS spinoff; I don’t even like the original. I don’t think I’d like Stalker, either. I’ll try everything else at least once .
I will be bummed if we don’t get to see HIMYD.
So no Charmed reboot? I was kinda looking forward to that.
I wasn’t! I’m sure there’s so many witchcraft themed ideas they could come up with without rebooting an amazing series.
Scorpion and Stalker sound good. I will definitely check them out.
Madame Secretary sounds like a great companion to Good Wife. Hopefully they’ll get Good Wife the hell off of Sunday this year. Who else thinks Tuesday will be an all NCIS night?
I think they’ll move LA to Mondays. That’s why they have been trying them out the past month-to see what would work.