CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler kicked off the first of the Eye net’s two days at TCA optimistically talking about the TV landscape:

“Audiences are watching more hours of TV. The reality is that over two-thirds of American homes have 160 channels to choose from,” said Tassler. So I think right now we're looking at a great assortment of content, a great assortment of programming, and an exciting fall. Given the current climate, people want to be entertained. I think that you're going to find people really gravitating towards their sets this fall and looking to TV to give them that diversion.”

Like its competitors, CBS’ biggest struggle this season was programming around the three month writers strike. But, looking ahead, the emphasis is on keeping CSI on the forefront despite the pending departure of William Petersen (after episode 10 next season), rolling out the five new series, trying to expand its comedy presence outside of Monday, and continuing to program to a mass appeal audience.”



“We're very excited about the writers that we're bringing to TV this year,” noted Tassler. “Bruno Heller, who created the The Mentalist, created Rome for HBO, and Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff, who are show-running Eleventh Hour, did Sleeper Cell. These are new voices for us, and I think audiences certainly like a balance of shows and characters that they say, "Okay. I recognize that, but there's something different here.”

Although Tassler would not confirm the future of current struggling drama Swingtown, the network will not be airing repeats of Showtime’s Dexter anytime in the future. The extended episode for Million Dollar Password is unlikely to air this summer. The Price is Right is not going to be overhauled, as rumored. Sarah Chalke is returning to How I Met Your Mother for several episodes. Jorja Fox is coming back to CSI. The network is encouraged about acquiring more Canadian product following the initial positive results for drama Flashpoint. And CBS has several more original made-for movies in the works with Hallmark.

As for the departure of CSI’s William Petersen:

“I don't think you replace Billy, but you sort of look at adding elements to the show that are really going to invigorate and contribute to it,” said Tassler. “They've created a great character. He's a doctor, a scientist who's got a very interesting DNA that is going to sort of inform the dynamic of the team today.”

(for more on the CBS panels, read on)


Worst Week
Monday 9:30 p.m. ET
 
-The Premise:
Based on the British limited run series, the focus of this single camera comedy is on a young couple’s hellish period before they officially start life together as a married couple.  Kyle Bornheimer, Erinn Hayes, Nancy Lenehan, Jay Malone and Kurtwood Smith star.
 
-Lead-in: Two and a Half Men
-Competition: Samantha Who? (ABC), Heroes (NBC), Prison Break (Fox), One Tree Hill (CW)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
Kyle Bornheimer, Erinn Hayes, Nancy Lenehan, Kurtwood Smith, creator/executive producer Matt Tarses, and executive producer Jimmy Mulville.
 
-The Scoop:
Worst Week in a nutshell according to Jimmy Mulville:
 
“It's about a guy who invites bad karma into his life and basically doesn't know which way he's digging when he's in a hole. And he goes out into extreme situations on our behalf.  We don't want to go there, but we're very happy to see him go there. I think week in and week out, you're really going to want to hang out with this bunch.”
 
-The Reality:
Although the pilot solicited some genuine laughs, the premise might be limited, and the compatibility of this single camera comedy out of the multiple-camera, live audience filmed Two and a Half Men could be questionable.  But if recent occupants The New Adventures of Old Christine (which heads into the suicide Wednesday 8 p.m. anchor spot) and Rules of Engagement can survive past two seasons, Worst Week definitely has a shot.  Just don’t expect this to be anything more than a potential “time period hit,” however.  What CBS needs, and just cannot find, is a new breakout hit sitcom.  None of the networks can.  
 
-Chance of Survival for Worst Week (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
4-1
 
-Did You Know?:
The last time CBS did not open a fall season with sitcoms in the Monday 9 p.m. hour was 1988 when it made the mistake of scheduling a movie.  Newhart kicked-off the evening at 8 p.m., following by a short-lived sitcom called Coming of Age and the Monday Movie.  
 
--------------------
 
Eleventh Hour
Thursday 10 p.m.
 
-The Premise:
A professor who is an advisor to a government scientific agency partners with a government operative to troubleshoot any problems or threats to a specific scientific endeavor.  Rufus Swell and Marley Shelton star.  Jerry Bruckheimer is one of the executive producers.  
 
-Lead-in: CSI
-Competition: Life on Mars (ABC), ER (NBC)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
Rufus Sewell and executive producers Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff.
 
-The Scoop:
The concept of faith and science, according to Ethan Reiff:
 
“I don't think that's really part of the show at all. Faith plays an element in the pilot that was made.  And the element really is it becomes a tool that's used for good.. It becomes one of the elements in the storytelling that enables good to sort of triumph through whatever degree good triumphs in the pilot.  In terms of faith, you know, Rufus's character, Dr. Jacob Hood, he's a man who has had to wrestle with some really difficult, traumatic loss in his life. And I think to some extent, faith plays a part in how he's dealt with that loss. At the same time, that's something that's going to be worked out over the arc of the show.”
 
-The Reality:
The potential compatibility out of the still potent CSI (also from Jerry Bruckheimer) is one reason why Eleventh Hour could succeed.  The second, of course, is facing ABC’s unproven Life on Mar and NBC’s retiring ER.  There is definitely room for a new hit drama in the Thursday 10 p.m. hour.  But will this seriously confusing pilot alienate viewers looking for a new murder to solve?  Expect the retention for Eleventh Hour out of CSI to fall in the 60-65 percent in both total viewers and adults 18-49.
 
-Chance of Survival for Eleventh Hour (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 4-1
 
-Did You Know?:
Eleventh Hour was also the title of a medical drama that aired on NBC from 1962 to 1964.
 
-------------------------
 
The Mentalist
Tuesday 9 p.m.
 
-The Premise:
A man with psychic abilities (former The Guardian star Simon Baker) works as an independent contractor for the police. Tim Kang, Amanda Righetti, Shaun Toub, Robin Tunney and Owain Yeoman also star.
 
-Lead-in: NCIS
-Competition: Dancing With the Stars Results Show (ABC), The Biggest Loser: Families (NBC), Fringe (Fox), Privileged (CW)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
Simon Baker and executive producer/writer Bruno Heller.
 
-The Scoop:
The Mentalist versus forensic crime solving dramas, according to Simon Baker:
 
“On a lot of crime shows that are on television these days the truth is found under a microscope with some scientific fact -- "oh, it's in the DNA." On this show, we're trying to focus on finding the truth in the fabric of human nature. So you're kind of hitting two notes. The potential for entertainment is sort of greater in the sense that if you know who already committed the crime, then you get to watch how the guy puts it together.  That's the upside-down detective genre, story, if you know that. If you don't necessarily know that, then you can follow the clues.”
 
-The Reality:
Considering Simon Baker already found success in this time period care of drama The Guardian (out of JAG from 2001-03 and spin-off NCIS in 2003-04) there is every reason to believe that The Mentalist (out of NCIS) could very well succeed.  But given that the network prematurely axed The Guardian because of its older skew, will The Mentalist be any different?  
 
-Chance of Survival for The Mentalist (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):
4-1
 
-Did You Know?:
Viewers are accustomed to watching dramas in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour on CBS.  The last time, in fact, that CBS opened the season with sitcoms in the time period was MASH and One Day at a Time in 1977.
 
-------------------------
 
The Ex List
Friday 9 p.m.
 
-The Premise:
After a psychic tells a woman she has already met the man she is going to marry, she begins to track down each and every man she has ever dated.  The cast includes Elizabeth Reaser, Rachel Boston, Alexandra Breckenridge, Adam Rothenberg and Amir Talai.
 
-Lead-in: Ghost Whisperer
-Competition: Supernanny (ABC), America’s Toughest Jobs (NBC), Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Fox), America’s Next Top Model R (CW)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
Elizabeth Reaser, Rachel Boston, Adam Rothenberg, Alexandra Breckenridge, Amir Talai and executive producer/writer Diane Ruggiero.
 
-The Scoop:
The structure of The Ex List, according to Diane Ruggiero:
 
“I think there will be multiple men in episodes. There will be some episodes where there's a guy that goes for more than one episode, and guys that come back. For our purposes, there's always going to be different ways to bring in multiple people or there will be a dry couple acts while she's looking. But it's not going to be just one after the other. It's not going to be an assembly line of men, like my personal life.”
 
-The Reality:
As understandable as it is for CBS to want to target women out of returning Ghost Whisperer, the pilot looks less than perfect, the premise seems limited (just how many men did this women date?), and Ghost Whisperer itself is losing steam.  Factor in the non-success of NBC’s similar appeal Miss Match on this evening in the fall of 2003, and it will be an uphill battle for cutesy The Ex List.
 
-Chance of Survival for The Ex List (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 9-1
 
-Did You Know?:
CSI debuted on CBS in the Friday 9 p.m. hour on Oct. 6, 2000.  Four months later it moved to its current home, Thursday at 9 p.m.