CBS announced Wednesday that it is renewing most of its current scripted and unscripted fare for the 2020-2021 season while also canceling four shows.
The network announced renewals for the following dramas: “All Rise,” “Blue Bloods,” “Bull,” “FBI,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “MacGyver,” “Magnum P.I.,” “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “SWAT,” and “SEAL Team.”
CBS has also renewed the following comedies: “Bob Hearts Abishola,” “The Neighborhood,” and “The Unicorn.” News programs “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours” have also been picked up for next season along with the unscripted series “Undercover Boss.”
All of these shows join the previously announced renewals of “Young Sheldon,” “Evil,” “Mom,” Survivor,” and “The Amazing Race.”
The shows “Man With a Plan,” “Carol’s Second Act,” “Broke,” and “Tommy” have all been canceled. “Man With a Plan” was in its fourth season while the other three were freshman shows. “Man With a Plan” and “Broke” started their fourth and first seasons respectively in April, while “Tommy” debuted in February. “Carol’s Second Act” was a fall launch with “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Patricia Heaton returning to the CBS fold in the show’s titular starring role.
“Thanks to these exceptional shows, we’re going to win the current season by 1 million viewers,” said Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment. “Next year, we’ll have these strong returning series as our foundation…and Super Bowl LV too. It’s a well-balanced lineup across Entertainment, News and Sports that will put us in an incredibly stable position for 2020-2021.”
CBS recently wrapped up the scripted dramas “God Friended Me,” “Criminal Minds,” “Hawaii Five-O,” and “Madam Secretary.”
CBS’ mass renewal will likely serve as a bellwether of other broadcasters’ plans for the 2020-2021 season, as the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the traditional upfront season.
With nearly all broadcast pilots forced to suspend production before filming was completed, the remaining networks will more than likely renew large swaths of their existing lineups rather than take a risk on greenlighting new shows. Several straight-to-series orders have already been handed out for next season, including “Young Rock” starring Dwayne Johnson at NBC and the “Walker, Texas Ranger” reboot starring Jared Padalecki at The CW. Beyond that, sources say the networks may pick up very few unfinished pilots to series, but exactly how many remains to be seen.