Riding the CBS bubble: Worst Week and Eleventh Hour

Wednesday’s the big day, people! Tomorrow, CBS will announce its new fall schedule, potentially including some spring debuts and jiggerings as well. This is the one we’ve all been waiting for.

You see, CBS is riding high on the hog. Of all the major networks today, The Eye enjoys the greatest amount of scripted series success. Rarely can you count on two hands the number of CBS shows that appear in the weekly top 20 rankings. And, as much as we can debate the merits of CSI: Everywhere, and procedurals ad nauseam, they all work, and are all being enjoyed by many millions of fans.

This success, however, comes at a price. Not necessarily for the network, but for any show not lucky enough to be an immediate high-flyer. In addition, the competition for new shows on the CBS lineup is brutal. This year, space is so tight that CBS spent the past few months pondering the futures of juggernauts Cold Case and Without a Trace. Thankfully, Cold Case has been given an extension; the news does not bode well for Without a Trace.

But with little fat to cut, CBS finds itself stuck in a conundrum: riding out the success of its existing shows will work for a while, but might leave it barren a few years down the line. On the other hand, cut out some of the trailing darlings, and you risk alienating fans both by canceling their favorite shows, as well as by presenting them with replacements that are complete unknowns.

Which brings us to my point: With its announcement on Monday that it will be adding four new dramas, a new comedy, and a new reality series, what’s to be the fate of two of my new favorites, Eleventh Hour and Worst Week?

Eleventh Hour was a new entry into the familiar procedural family. With its stars Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton, as well as the newly added Omar Benson Miller, the show seeks to solve mysteries of science that can sometimes cripple entire cities. As Dr. Jacob Hood, Sewell serves as special science advisor to the FBI. While his breadth of knowledge is sometimes questionable, the relationship between him and Rachel, the FBI agent assigned to him, is wonderfully devoid of typical sexual tension; rather its at times professional, at times personal, and always enjoyable.

And the addition of Felix, another agent who somehow managed to get himself attached to Hood’s detail, was a brilliant move that brought the amazingly talented Benson Miller to an already superior show. If CBS is looking to add some flash to its procedural lineup, Eleventh Hour was, and is, the way to go. I’m crossing my fingers.

And I’m crossing my toes for new comedy, Worst Week. Here’s the deal with this show: it’s fantastic. I know that’s not the most informative of explanations, but Worst Week is one of the funniest shows that aired all season, and star Kyle Bornheimer is a rare find who can quite easily make this show reach new heights.

My question to CBS is this: if you were willing to give Rules of Engagement (another of my favorites) room to grow in the spring for three years before seeing its audience regularly top 10 million viewers, why not give Worst Week the same leeway?

Slot the newcomer in the fall lineup, give it 13 episodes to woo us, and then give us back Rules of Engagement (as you’re bound to announce tomorrow) in the spring. A strong comedy lineup is a relatively new experience for CBS, but brand loyalty in that area will only expand if we have something familiar to watch each season. Regularly restocking Monday night with brand new sitcoms is no way to rule the airwaves. Dump Gary Unmarried, ship New Adventures of Old Christine off to ABC, attempt to wow us with Accidentally on Purpose (new sitcom), and give us another solid dose of Worst Week. It’s just that funny.

So, what will be tomorrow? No way to tell at this point, but here’s one guy hoping that CBS won’t let the clock hit twelve on Eleventh Hour, and won’t take Worst Week‘s name too literally.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 19, 2009 @ 17:00 EST5EDT