The network on Friday handed out second-season renewals to the freshman dramas FBI and Magnum P.I. and the comedy The Neighborhood. They represent the first round of renewals at the network and join the previously announced 15th and final season of Criminal Minds.
“Each of these distinctive shows has made their mark in a variety of ways,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said in making the pickups. “Our goals this season were to introduce new series that audiences are passionate about, add more strength to a winning schedule and create more inclusive programming.”
Added Thom Sherman, senior executive vp programming: “We’re thrilled by the creative direction and performance of these three shows as they continue to grow in popularity and resonate with the network’s viewers.”
FBI, from Law & Order mastermind Dick Wolf, is CBS’ No. 1 new series and is averaging 13 million viewers per week. The Universal Television and CBS TV Studios co-production got off to a rocky start with multiple showrunner changes. The drama is now on its third showrunner. Greg Plageman was brought in to right the FBI ship following Craig Turk’s departure in late July. Turk, who wrote the pilot, stepped down after creative differences on the procedural, which also underwent some recasting after the pilot. Person of Interest‘s Plageman returned to CBS to get the series back on track and exited to focus on development. Chicago showrunners Rick Eid and Derek Haas replaced Plageman as co-showrunners on FBI in addition to running NBC’s Wolf-produced Chicago PD and Chicago Fire, respectively. Haas has now departed FBI and will focus only on Chicago Fire. Executive producers include Terry Miller, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski.
Magnum P.I., a reboot of the Tom Selleck procedural starring Jay Hernandez, has helped CBS improve its Monday at 9 p.m. slot by 32 percent. The series is produced in-house at CBS TV Studios, where showrunner Peter M. Lenkov is under a rich overall deal. Should CBS renew Hawaii Five-0 and MacGyver, Lenkov would continue to have three series on the network next season. Eric Guggenheim, Justin Lin, John Davis, John Fox and Danielle Woodrow exec produce the co-production between CBS TV Studios and Universal TV, which owns the rights to the original.
The Neighborhood, meanwhile, averages nearly 8 million total viewers on Mondays. Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold star opposite Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs in the fish-out-of-water family comedy. The series is produced in-house at CBS TV Studios and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. Jim Reynolds serves as showrunner and exec produces alongside Dana Honor, Wendi Trilling, Cedric and Eric Rhone.
The renewals arrive as CBS is heading full steam into pilot season as David Nevins, who expanded his oversight to include both the broadcast network and Showtime, is weighing in on scripts and the overall direction of the network after CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves was ousted. The network has multiple drama pilots and a pair of comedies currently in the works for 2019-2020.
All told, FBI, Magnum P.I. and The Neighborhood represent the first series from the 2018-2019 freshman class to be picked up for a second season. All three received additional episode orders (nine for FBI and The Neighborhood and seven for Magnum). Still to be determined are the fates of fellow rookies The Code, Fam, God Friended Me, Happy Together and The Red Line. The freshmen series Happy Together and Murphy Brown also remain in contention, though neither received additional episode orders after launching in the fall.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
