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Homepage > Joss Whedon Cast > Alyson Hannigan > News > Alyson Hannigan - "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom has been renewed (...)
Variety.com Alyson HanniganAlyson Hannigan - "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom has been renewed !Wednesday 20 May 2009, by Webmaster CBS is rearranging its Monday laffers and moving frosh hit “The Mentalist” to Thursday - but will otherwise head into fall with a schedule that once again sticks with stability. Eye execs, who announced their new lineup Wednesday morning, aren’t known for making many rash moves during the annual spring rite of scheduling, and this year was no exception. “We think it’s a strong schedule that strikes a great balance between new faces and existing stars, classic franchises and new twists, and some great scheduling,” CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler told reporters at a morning press briefing. Eye’s schedule also includes the acquisition of “Medium,” which left NBC after a tussle between the Peacock and producer CBS TV Studios; as well as three new dramas and one frosh comedy. Net’s biggest play comes on Thursday, where “Mentalist” will move to the plum slot behind “CSI” for its sophomore run. Move is seen as a way for CBS to attempt to turn the decent player into another solid staple for the net. CBS scheduling topper Kelly Kahl said the net saw a chance to “take the No. 1 new show this year and pair it with the No. 1 show on TV and try to create a superblock.” Eye also hasn’t had much luck in recent seasons launching new shows behind “CSI” - last year’s stabs in the hour, “Eleventh Hour” and “Harper’s Island,” didn’t return. “On a night with a higher profile and higher HUT (homes using television) levels, there’s certainly a chance we could bust (‘The Mentalist’) into becoming a top five show,” Kahl added. While “The Mentalist” move had been predicted, CBS’ decision to play switcheroo on Monday nights was probably the biggest surprise coming out of the Eye’s new lineup. This is a network that loathes moving things that are generally working, and CBS had a power Monday night this season with “The Big Bang Theory” at 8 and “Two and a Half Men” at 9. But CBS wants to turn “Big Bang” into a mega-hit of “Two and a Half Men” proportions - perhaps to eventually move it to a new night. As a result, the Eye said it’s shifting the show back behind “Two and a Half Men,” where it got its start, in order to pump its numbers up higher. “Our first priority was to punch ‘Big Bang’ into the stratosphere a bit,” Kahl said. The shuffle also puts “How I Met Your Mother” back in the lead-off 8 p.m. slot. The show occupied that same position a few years ago, but Kahl admitted that the net “threw it to the wolves” that early in the show’s life. Now, he said, “Mother” has developed a stronger and loyal following, enough that it was ready to once again kick off Mondays. Tassler and Kahl said they also believed “Mother” will also be called upon to help launch new Jenna Elfman comedy “Accidentally on Purpose,” which will air at 8:30. On Tuesdays, Eye will continue to kick off “NCIS,” and lead right into spinoff “NCIS: Los Angeles.” That’s a night CBS is especially bullish on, now that all three of its major competitors are airing reality from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Then there’s the big “Medium” shift from NBC to CBS, which came only after a substantial blowup between the two congloms. Peacock had offered a 13-episode pickup for “Medium,” but CBS TV Studios - which has a 22-episode deal with star Patricia Arquette - was looking for a full-season order. When NBC wouldn’t budge, the the Eye opted to move the show to its own network, where “Medium” was seen as a natural fit with Friday night’s “Ghost Whisperer,” as well as returnee “Numbers.” “If ‘Ghost Whisperer’ and ‘Numbers’ had an offspring, it would be ‘Medium,’” Tassler said. The give-and-take between CBS and NBC got heated yesterday, as CBS TV Studios took the unprecedented step of issuing a press release denouncing NBC’s decision not to pick up the show for a full season as “inexplicable.” Eye insiders said the studio took the unusual step of issuing the release after taking offense at comments NBC Entertainment/Universal Media Studios co-chair Ben Silverman made to reporters earlier on Tuesday. “We didn’t see any letters or chatter for those shows,” Silverman said of “Medium” and another canceled Peacock series, “My Name is Earl.” “And we didn’t see any creative momentum.” As for CBS’ new dramas, besides the “NCIS” spinoff, there’s also “The Good Wife,” which winds up on Tuesdays and “Three Rivers,” which will run on Sundays. New Bruckheimer drama “Miami Trauma” will hold for midseason. Also on the bench for midseason: Canadian co-productions “Flashpoint” and “The Bridge” (which is new), as well as laffer “Rules of Engagement” and reality entries “Arranged Marriage” and “Undercover Boss.” Among the Eye’s canceled shows, Tassler said the network looked at potentially turning critically acclaimed but low-rated “Worst Week” into a multi-camera laffer, but ultimately passed. And she said decision to cut “Without a Trace” and “The Unit” repped a “difficult choice.” “It was sad to see them go,” she said. Eye execs held back their punches on NBC’s decision to air “The Jay Leno Show” weeknights at 10 p.m. But CBS honcho Leslie Moonves, who opened the press event, called the scheduling “a real sea change.” “There’s going to be more share available at 10 p.m. for people who put on great dramas and that’s what we do year after year,” Moonves said. As for the upfront marketplace, Moonves said he’s “bullish” about an uptick in the advertising marketplace. “I really think we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. Here’s a look at CBS’ fall schedule: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday |
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