Looking Ahead: CBS & The CW for 2013

With CBS only picking up eight programs and the CW only five (no comedies for them!), I figured I'd combine those two networks into one post. Honestly, CBS is doing so well that they can afford to take risks and try out higher budget shows than the other networks, but it seems like they've still got some solid options, which is good. The CW is becoming more and more of a true player in the broadcast network game, but it seems that this season's selections are SO niche that it's very difficult for the average viewer to find something worth their time. This isn't a new problem for them, per se, but it certainly seems worse with this batch than those of the past two years!

I'll be trying out one drama each from CBS and the CW and three of the CBS comedies, so that should keep me busy, at least for a few weeks! I did do a couple of Examiner pieces on the CBS offerings, so for more details, check here and here. 

CBS COMEDY:
Crazy Ones is a father-daughter workplace comedy with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar starring, and Hamish Linklater (Matt from The New Adventures of Old Christine) as well. I'll give it a go for both the premise and the talent, but I don't have high hopes for the series. 

CBS

We Are Men was previously known as Ex-Men because it focuses on four guys living the single life with exes in their lives. Talent includes Kal Penn and Tony Shalhoub, and for them alone, I'll be giving it a try. I think that the premise is ridiculous (TVLand already has The Exes, after all), but maybe it'll turn out to be better than I'm expecting. 

CBS

Friends With Better Lives has a group of thirtsomethings in different life stages wondering if their friends have it better than they do. Not gonna lie... this show hits a little close to home for me. I don't have a lot of friends in the same stage of life, so I'm quite enthused to watch this one and see if it plays out realistically. James Van Der Beek might bring it down, though, so let's hope that doesn't happen.

Mom has a newly sober single mother trying to get it together while her mother berates her. I found the concept boring and the trailer worse, so I'm staying away.

The Millers (previously The Unauthorized Greg Garcia Project) is Will Arnett as a newly divorced man whose parents (including Beau Bridges) move in with him. I'm so sick of this multi-generational household concept that I could scream! 

CBS DRAMA:
Hostages features a surgeon who is scheduled to operate on the POTUS. She is told that if she doesn't kill him while he's under the knife, her family will be killed instead. I don't think this is anything more than a movie (though it's not a bad plot), and Jerry Bruckheimer just isn't enough to make it worth it.

Intelligence follows a man, Gabriel, who has been implanted with a super-computer microchip, allowing him to connect to (and hack) the Internet, the telephone, and satellite data. Gabriel helps the government. I think a lot of people will tune-in to this updated Six Million Dollar Man program, but I don't think they'll stay. That said, I'll try it out. 

CBS

Reckless is two lawyers struggling with mutual attraction while dealing with a police sex scandal. Television does not need more of this, and I think it's already played out to boot. I'm ignoring it.

CW DRAMA:
The 100 is based on not-yet-published books set 97 years after nuclear war destroys civilization. 100 juvenile delinquents are sent back to Earth to attempt re-colonization. I've had my fill of futuristic apocalypse dramas, and I really don't think that the majority do all that well. Pass. 

The Originals is probably the CW's most-promising pilot, based on the fact that it's a spinoff of The Vampire Diaries. Set in New Orleans, Klaus faces off against his "diabolical former protégé," Marcel. As many of you know, rarely am I into the supernatural, so I'll be moving right past it.  

Star-Crossed (previously Oxygen) has Aimee Teegarden in love with an alien. The boy, part of "The Orion 9," have spent the past ten years in an internment camp and are just being integrated into suburban life. Add in Maggie Elizabeth Jones and it could be worth an episode or two, however ridiculous it may sound.

CW

Reign is for the history lovers, telling the story of Mary, Queen of Scots' rise to power, beginning when she arrives in France. I considered checking it out for the period aspects alone, but after seeing promos and a clip, I don't think it's for me.

The Tomorrow People is based on a UK series where people are evolving to possess the powers of teleportation and telepathy. Across the globe, these gifted citizens must come together to defeat the forces of evil. This one probably interests me the least, but sounds like the kind of show that might be shlepped to Comic-Con to grow an audience.

Any of them sound like something you'd watch?

[quick links to the other networks: ABC, FOX, NBC.]