Traditionally, CBS renews the majority of their primetime schedule around the middle to end of March. This year is no different, as Entertainment Weekly confirmed that CBS has renewed 16 series for new seasons.
60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Madam Secretary, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, Mom, Life in Pieces, Survivor, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans and Scorpion are all of the veteran shows that received renewals. Freshman shows Bull, MacGyver, Kevin Can Wait, Man With a Plan and Superior Donuts were also renewed for their second seasons today.
Those 16 shows join the already renewed NCIS and The Big Bang Theory, which was just renewed on Monday.
Shows still waiting on renewal news include Criminal Minds, its spinoff, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Elementary, 2 Broke Girls, Code Black, The Odd Couple and new shows Training Day, which is dealing with the death of series star Bill Paxton, Pure Genius, which was capped at 13 episodes for its first season, Doubt, which was pulled from CBS’ schedule after two episodes, The Great Indoors and Ransom, which CBS airs on a Saturday nights, a low-stakes night for the networks.
However, just because there’s no word on those shows’ renewals doesn’t mean they’re ending. In the case of Criminal Minds, the show is co-owned by both CBS and ABC, meaning both networks have to sign off on new seasons. In the last few seasons, that’s been one of the hold ups in renewing the show.
The ratings for CBS’ shows, and for most of the broadcast stations, have been down this season. However, the network moved NCIS: Los Angeles to Sunday nights, where it has experienced a minor ratings bump this season. And Hawaii Five-0, which was struggling with ratings the last few years, has had a major turnaround and is consistently a top performer for CBS on Friday nights, along with MacGyver and Blue Bloods.
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