CBS has made firm decisions on its last remaining bubble series. A day after ordering most of its new shows for next season, the network has renewed long-running drama The Mentalist as well as canceled comedies Bad Teacher, The Crazy Ones and Friends with Better Lives and dramas Hostages and Intelligence.
Back when CBS gave early renewals to the majority of its schedule in March, The Mentalist was suspiciously absent from the list - leading many to believe that the current sixth series would be the drama's last. It was even reported that Warner Bros. Television was shopping the series to other networks in case CBS didn't renew it. But now, the long-running procedural has received an eleventh hour renewal and will stay at its home at CBS. Series creator/showrunner Bruno Heller, however, is segueing to his new drama - FOX's Gotham - so one of his top lieutenants on The Mentalist will have to take over for the seventh season. It's also currently unclear the size of the episode order - with some saying it's for a 13-episode seventh and final season. But that of course is just speculation for now.
Yesterday's series pickups for CBS were much more aggressive than the network typically is. It picked up 7 new series and already renewed most of its current schedule. So to make way for that inventory, the network's other bubble series were shown the ax. None of which were completely surprising. The writing was on the wall for both dramas Hostages and Intelligence since they ended their runs and Friends with Better Lives and Bad Teacher currently stand as the network's lowest rated comedies. Sure, their numbers aren't horrible - on other networks they would even be called successes! - but the competition is tough at CBS. Of the canceled series, The Crazy Ones was the only one to air for a full 22-episode season. It opened big - it was the highest rated new comedy premiere of the season (but how much of that was because of The Big Bang Theory lead-in?) - and then went on the decline throughout its first season. It was a charming show - one I wouldn't have minded seeing more episodes of - but ultimately the numbers at the end just went good enough. Oh well, on to "better" things in the fall.
