CBS unveils 3 new dramas, 2 new comedies for fall

[May 19, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS will introduce two brainiac crime shows among its five new series and is shifting "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "The Good Wife" to new nights this fall.

Ashton Kutcher made his first public appearance with his new "Two and a Half Men" cast mates, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, as CBS unveiled its plans for next season to advertisers Wednesday.

The network showed carefully edited clips from the long-running sitcom that left out Charlie Sheen, who was fired in March by producer Warner Bros. Television.

A bearded, shaggy-haired Kutcher said he's received many congratulatory emails and phone calls.

"You'd almost think I'd won the Lotto or something, which I could use," he said. "I've got the best job in show business and I'm ecstatic about that."

The nation's most popular network said it has more good shows than time slots for next season. CBS is benching "Undercover Boss" until midseason, scheduling a scripted series for Saturday and even giving one of its pilots, "Ringer" starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, to its sister network the CW.

"We needed another night," said CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler. "We needed "Schnursday.'"

It's a problem that CBS' broadcast network rivals, who presented their schedules to advertisers earlier this week, would love to have.

"Person of Interest," a thriller from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams and starring that old show's former cast member Michael Emerson, will premiere on Thursday nights. Emerson plays a software genius who has invented a program that identifies people about to be involved in violent crimes.

It will displace "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on the schedule. "CSI," once TV's most popular show but fading slowly, will move to Wednesdays.

The new "Unforgettable" is about a murder investigator who has the unusual ability to recall events from her life, like actress Marilu Henner, who was featured in a "60 Minutes" feature about this condition and is a consultant to the new drama. The fictional investigator's power of recall, however, doesn't extend to details about the unsolved murder of her sister.

"Unforgettable" will fill the Tuesday time slot currently occupied by "The Good Wife," which moves to Sunday.

Tassler called "The Good Wife" "the best drama on television, hands down."

The drama "A Gifted Man," about a surgeon whose life changes when he starts getting advice from the afterlife from his deceased ex-wife, is also new to CBS' schedule.

CBS will debut two new comedies essentially about odd couples -- "2 Broke Girls," about a pair of diner waitresses, and "How to Be a Gentleman," about a refined newspaper columnist and his unrefined personal trainer.

"Two and a Half Men," with Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen, stays put on Monday. CBS executives wouldn't give any details about how Kutcher will be written into the series, or how Sheen will be written out.

CBS also took the unusual step of scheduling the comedy "Rules of Engagement" on Saturday, a once-popular night for TV that broadcast networks have essentially abandoned to reruns and sports to save money.

The network is canceling "The Defenders," "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior," "Mad Love" and "(Bleep) My Dad Says."

[Associated Press; By DAVID BAUDER]

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