verne.gay@newsday.com
May 17, 2007
CBS yesterday did pretty much what network TV is officially now in the business of doing - trying to get attention - and that increasingly difficult task will go to a show about a vampire detective next fall, while another reality series will be about kids who build a "new society in an abandoned ghost town."
In TV lingo, these are called "high concept" though in plain English, "high risk" will do just as well. CBS will win the 2006-07 season in a few days, but Fox will easily snatch the only crown that matters (young adults), and to get into that game, risks are vital. Hence, bloodsucking detectives. A show about zombies in Babylon, of all places, was also under consideration, but apparently one show about the undead was risk enough for CBS.
Meanwhile, "Jericho," a critical favorite from this season, has been dropped.
Here's the night-by-night:
Monday: "How I Met Your Mother" (8 p.m.); "The Big Bang Theory" (8:30) about a couple of nerds with an unnerdy new neighbor; "Two and a Half Men" (9); "Rules of Engagement" (9:30); "CSI: Miami" (10).
Tuesday: "NCIS" (8); "The Unit" (9); "Cane" (10), with Jimmy Smits, in an almost-"Dallas"-like "multigenerational" drama about Cuban-American family rum/sugar plantation in Florida.
Wednesday: "Kid Nation" (8), the kids create a new society; "Criminal Minds" (9); "CSI:NY" (10).
Thursday: "Survivor" (8); "CSI" (9); "Without a Trace" (10).
Friday: "Ghost Whisperer" (8); "Moonlight" (9), about the fanged detective who otherwise "fills his infinite days protecting the living ... "; "NUMB3RS" (10).
Saturday: "Crimetime" encores (8); "48 Hours: Mystery" (10).
Sunday: "60 Minutes" (7); "Viva Laughlin" (8), produced by Hugh Jackman, a drama set in Las Vegas; "Cold Case" (9); "Shark" (10).
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