CBS Announces Changes to Fall Schedule

CBS has announced several significant changes to its fall schedule, starting with the delay of Mom‘s second season. Originally slated to premiere Monday, September 29th, the Chuck Lorre comedy won’t be returning until Thursday, October 30th at 8:30, where it will be following The Big Bang Theory. The Millers, meanwhile, will have its premiere pushed up from October 30th to Monday, October 20th at 8:30; the Greg Garcia comedy will get one week behind The Big Bang Theory before having 2 Broke Girls assume the lead-in position on October 27th.

Instead of Mom, CBS will be airing reruns of The Big Bang Theory at 8:30 on Mondays until The Millers premieres. The move is to give Scorpion the biggest lead-in possible without using up the Big Bang originals necessary to launch the network’s Thursday lineup next month. However, the Mom/Millers switch isn’t permanent, as both shows will return to their previously slated time slots on January 5th and 8th, respectively.

The best case scenario here is that Big Bang encores steady Scorpion, Mom benefits from the additional Big Bang exposure, and The Millers provides a steady enough presence to keep Mondays from faltering. There are some worrisome aspects to the plan, though, as 2 Broke Girls is one of the network’s weaker lead-ins, The Millers is a time slot hit, and the constant shuffling of shows will do nothing to set viewer patterns this early in the season. When people are still trying to figure out what to watch when, moving shows back and forth doesn’t seem like the best strategy, even if there is sound logic for each individual move. Collectively, they could easily test the loyalty of the CBS audience and threaten to halt what momentum Mom has garnered in the off season and the promising start that Scorpion got off to this past Monday.

You can check out a summary of the CBS moves below.

Do you think this scheduling will work out for CBS? Where do you think Mike & Molly fits into the equation? Could this end up backfiring on CBS and damaging Mom, The Millers, and Scorpion?

Mondays through October 13th
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
8:30 The Big Bang Theory (Encore)
9:00 Scorpion
10:00 NCIS: Los Angeles

Monday, October 20th
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
8:30 The Millers
9:00 Scorpion
10:00 NCIS: Los Angeles

Monday, October 27th
8:00 2 Broke Girls
8:30 The Millers
9:00 Scorpion
10:00 NCIS: Los Angeles

Thursday, October 30th
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
8:30 Mom
9:00 Two and a Half Men
9:30 The McCarthys
10:00 Elementary

Mondays beginning January 5th
8:00 2 Broke Girls
8:30 Mom
9:00 Scorpion
10:00 NCIS: Los Angeles

Thursdays beginning January 8th
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
8:30 The Millers
9:00 Two and a Half Men
9:30 The McCarthys
10:00 Elementary