Unlike other TV networks, CBS launches its fall season of new shows the old-fashioned way, sticking to the format of what is called “premiere week,” which this year begins on Monday, September 24th.
Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, was asked about the tried-and-true formula during the biannual gathering of the nation’s TV critics this summer.
“It works for us,” Tassler said, adding that premiere week succeeds because “we like the excitement and the energy and the marketing and promotional machine that leads up to the fall.” But then, unlike NBC, CBS didn’t have the luxury of running ads and promos during the Olympics.
An advantage for CBS, which may well help the network to keep its number one status, is that a new show like “Elementary” has people talking about the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes once again.
Tassler acknowledged that TV programming is a “very cluttered, noisy universe.” One way to cut through the thicket is to also have a new show like “Vegas,” which is getting a lot of attention because “Dennis Quaid is coming to series television,” a selling point that the CBS executive was quick to note.
CBS, more so than other networks, has the opportunity to take more risks in scheduling new shows. As Tassler says she never gets tired of talking about, CBS scored “another broadcast television trifecta this year. We’re number one in viewers. We’re number one in upfront revenue. We’re number one in Emmy nominations.”
OK, the Eye network has had bragging rights for several years now, and this year, with strong second and third year shows like “2 Broke Girls” and “Person of Interest” and “Hawaii Five-O” and “Blue Bloods,” CBS can afford taking chances even if one or two of the four new series come up short.
For the best new series, it may well be a toss-up between “Vegas” and “Elementary,” dramas with interesting storylines and starring versatile actors who have proved to be accomplished in several mediums.
Dennis Quaid played Bill Clinton in the TV movie “The Special Relationship,” but now he’ll be the main character in a series.
A drama inspired by the true story of former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb, “Vegas” tells the story of the gambling mecca emerging from the tumbleweeds in the 1960s.
Quaid’s Ralph Lamb is a fourth-generation rancher tasked with bringing order to Sin City. Lamb wants to be left in peace to run his ranch, but Las Vegas is swelling with outsiders and corruption which are intruding on his simple life.
Recalling Lamb’s command as a military police officer during World War II, the Mayor appeals to his sense of duty to look into a murder of a casino worker – and so begins Lamb’s clash with Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis), a ruthless Chicago gangster who plans to make Vegas his own.
Assisting Lamb in keeping law and order are his two deputies: his diplomatic, even-keeled brother, Jack, and his charming impulsive son, Dixon.
Carrie Anne-Moss (“The Matrix”) plays the key role of ambitious Assistant District Attorney Katherine O’Connell, who grew up on the ranch next to the Lambs and also lends a hand in preserving justice in Las Vegas.
“Vegas” pits two powerful men at the opposite ends of the law, engaging them in a fierce battle for control of the budding gambling oasis.
Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis (who gained fame as a tough guy in “The Shield”) are worthy adversaries, and “Vegas” should be a fun show to watch.
“Elementary” stars Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes, but this is not the fictional sleuth made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The new Sherlock is a modern-day crime solver helping the NYPD to crack its most impossible cases.
Sherlock Holmes is joined by Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. Again, this is not your standard issue Dr. Watson either, who is now female and Asian.
Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with a sober companion, the aforementioned Dr. Watson.
A successful surgeon until she lost a patient and her license three years ago, Watson views her current job as another opportunity to help people. However, the restless Sherlock is nothing like her previous clients.
Sherlock claims that none of Watson’s expertise as an addiction specialist applies to him and he’s devised his own post-rehab regimen – resuming his work as a police consultant in New York City.
Watson has no choice but to accompany her irascible new charge on his jobs. But Sherlock finds her medical background helpful, and Watson realizes she has a knack for playing investigator.
Though Sherlock may be a real oddball, the New York police know that from his previous experience working with Scotland Yard, Sherlock is brilliant at closing cases.
With the mischievous Sherlock Holmes running free in New York solving crime, it’s “Elementary” that Watson has a big job to keep the super sleuth grounded.
“Made in Jersey” is billed as a drama, but I am not so sure. After all, a Jersey girl named Martina Garretti (Janet Montgomery), a young working-class woman who lacks an Ivy League education ends up employed at a prestigious New York law firm.
How does Martina, a more refined version of the nasal-voiced Fran Drescher, fit in with her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues? Moreover, Martina is supported by her big and boisterous Italian family, including her sexy older sister Bonnie and her encouraging mother Darlene.
The whole set-up sounds like a comedy routine. There’s bound to be a bunch of laughs from a woman who uses her street smarts to survive the cutthroat landscape far removed from her blue-collar background.
But the script calls for Martina to stay true to her roots as a bold, passionate lawyer on the rise in a new intimidating environment. I am taking a wild guess that “Made in Jersey” may bite the dust faster than The Situation can flex his muscles on the Jersey Shore.
CBS has one new comedy in its lineup. The saving grace for “Partners,” which is not exactly groundbreaking material, is that it airs on Monday nights sandwiched in between “How I Met Your Mother” and “2 Broke Girls.”
The network executives may be counting on couch potatoes too lazy to reach for the remote to change channels in mid-stream.
“Partners” is based on the lives of the show’s creators, about two life-long best friends and business partners whose relationship is tested when one of them is engaged to be married. Why this is so is baffling to me.
David Krumholtz’s Joe is an architect who wants to marry Ali (Sophia Bush), a jewelry designer. Joe’s buddy and business partner is Louis (Michael Urie), who is not only gay but emotional and prone to exaggeration.
The two guys are very different, and besides Louis has a new companion in Wyatt (Brandon Routh), a vegan nurse who Louis insists is just a promotion away from becoming a doctor.
Again, what does it matter to Louis if Joe wants to get married? The premise of “Partners” does not seem to have staying power, and this show could last shorter than the average Hollywood celebrity marriage.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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