CBS Unveils It's 2010/2011 Fall TV Season

CBS took the wraps off a new fall prime-time schedule that will add five new series to its popular lineup, including one based on a Twitter feed and another that mines the TV archives from the 1970s.

CBS will bring aboard three new dramas for the fall, the throwback "Hawaii Five-0," a lighthearted legal drama set in Las Vegas called "The Defenders" and "Blue Bloods" starring Tom Selleck as the patriarch of a family of New York cops.

The last of the big four U.S. broadcast networks to unveil its 2010-11 schedule, CBS is set to once more wrap up the current TV season as the most-viewed network. As a result, it introduced far fewer replacement shows than either NBC or ABC.

Along with its three dramas, CBS said on Wednesday it planned two new comedies for the fall, including "Mike & Molly," a series set in Chicago about a couple who fall in love at Overeaters Anonymous.

The stability of the 2010-11 schedule underscores what has been CBS's take on programing in recent years: If it's not broke, don't fix it.

CBS has a stable of reliable hits, including the "CSI" franchise, this season's breakout series "The Good Wife" and the long-running "Survivor," which will shift to Wednesdays from Thursdays next season.

Among the seven shows CBS jettisoned from the schedule were "The New Adventures of Old Christine," starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and "Ghost Whisperer."

"We are in a pretty good position here," CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves told a news conference. "It's about improving time periods and improving the schedule."

Along those lines, CBS will replace the "Survivor" slot on Thursday with two comedies, a clear effort to pull in younger viewers on one of the most hotly contested nights of the week.

CBS programing chief Kelly Kahl said the network "decided to take a swing" at building an hour of comedy to lead into two proven police dramas, "CSI:Crime Scene Investigation" and "The Mentalist."

The result is that CBS moved "The Big Bang Theory" -- one of the top rated comedies among young adults currently airing on Monday nights -- to the 8 p.m. time slot on Thursdays. That will be followed by the buzzed about freshman comedy "$#*! My Dad Says," starring William Shatner as an expressive father in a series based on the real life tweets of Justin Halpern.

Earlier in the week, the network secured a new two year contract for one of its most bankable stars, Charlie Sheen, after tense negotiations.

Sheen is featured in the hit show "Two and a Half Men," which will remain on Monday nights. It will be followed this fall by "Mike & Molly," from the executive behind "Two and a Half Men," and the new crime drama "Hawaii Five-O."

"I'm happy I'm not selling 'One and a Half Men' to you," said Moonves, in reference to the last-minute signing of Sheen.