CBS loves its monster hit “Big Bang Theory” so much, the network will bring us a new comedy about the younger years of one of the Big Bang stars — “Young Sheldon.”
At the same time, while those “2 Broke Girls” won’t be anywhere near broke in real life, they’ll be off the air as CBS cancelled the comedy after six seasons.
CBS announced it will air three new comedies and three new dramas this fall, including “Young Sheldon,” a prequel to “The Big Bang Theory” and “S.W.A.T,” inspired by the 1975-76 ABC series and 2003 film.
“Big Bang Theory” has been a long-running hit for CBS, and “Young Sheldon” will presumably follow co-star Jim Parsons’ character of Dr. Sheldon Cooper as a younger man — or maybe even a boy.
Parsons was in the headlines in recent days for his real-life wedding to his male partner during a gala event at the Rainbow Room in New York.
While unveiling the new “Big Bang” spinoff, CBS had bad news for “2 Broke Girls” — they really are broke as the show won’t be renewed after six seasons.
Other series not returning include the comedies “The Odd Couple,” which ran for three, and “The Great Indoors,” which premiered in October, and the dramas “Criminal Minds,” which ran for two seasons, “Pure Genius,” which premiered in October, and “Doubt,” “Ransom” and “Training Day,” which all premiered at midseason.
Of the six series that premiered on CBS last fall, four will be returning for second seasons — the comedies “Kevin Can Wait” and “Man With A Plan” and the dramas “Bull” and “MacGyver.” The comedy “Superior Donuts,” which premiered at midseason, will also return for a second season.
“Man With A Plan” is among the series that will begin their new seasons at midseason along with the dramas “Code Black” and “Elementary” and the alterative series “The Amazing Race” and “Undercover Boss.”
Jim Parsons will executive produce and narrate “Young Sheldon,” which is about the experiences of his “The Big Bang Theory” character Sheldon Cooper as a 9-year-old growing up in East Texas.
Iain Armitage, who played the son of Shailene Woodley’s character in the HBO miniseries “Big Little Lies,” plays the title role. The pilot was directed by Jon Favreau, who has directed such films as “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2” and “The Jungle Book.”
The other new CBS comedies are:
— “9JKL,” inspired by the real life of series star and producer Mark Feuerstein, who portrays a new divorce and actor between projects who moves home to New York, living in an apartment sandwiched between his doting, meddlesome parents (Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould) on one side and his competitive brother (David Walton), sister-in-law (Liza Lapira) and their new baby on the other.
— “Me, Myself & I” is about the defining moments in a man’s life as a 14-year-old in 1991, at age 40 in present day and at age 65 in 2042.
Bobby Moynihan will play the present-day version of the character, John Larroquette the 65-year-old version and Jack Dylan Grazer as the 14-year-old version.
“S.W.A.T.” stars Shemar Moore as a recently promoted sergeant tabbed to run a specialized tactical unit.
The pilot was directed by Justin Lin, who directed four of “The Fast and The Furious” films, who is also one of the executive producers, along with Shawn Ryan, who produced the critically acclaimed 2002-2008 FX crime drama “The Shield.”
The other new CBS dramas are:
— “SEAL Team” is about the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs who are deployed on clandestine missions worldwide at a moment’s notice. It stars longtime “Bones” star David Boreanaz.
— “Wisdom of the Crowdî stars Emmy-winner Jeremy Piven as a visionary tech innovator who creates a cutting-edge crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder, and revolutionizes crime solving in the process.
CBS’ Thursday schedule will be pre-empted from Sept. 28 through Oct. 26 for Thursday Night Football.”
At the start of the season, CBS’ schedule will consists of 12 hours of dramas, three hours of sports, and two hours each of comedies, news magazines and reruns.
Here is the CBS schedule to start the fall:
— Monday: “The Big Bang Theory”; “Young Sheldon”/”9JKL”; “Kevin Can Wait”; “Me, Myself & I”; “Scorpion”;
— Tuesday: “NCIS”; “Bull”; “NCIS: New Orleans”;
— Wednesday: “Survivor”; “SEAL Team”; “Criminal Minds”
— Thursday: “Thursday Night Football”;
— Friday: “MacGyver”; “Hawaii Five-0”; “Blue Bloods”;
— Saturday: “Crimetime Saturday” drama reruns; “48 Hours”;
— Sunday: “60 Minutes”; “Wisdom of the Crowds”; “NCIS: Los Angeles”; “Madam Secretary.”
—City News Service