For the first time in a decade (‘member when Person of Interest used to air at 9?), CBS’ newly released fall schedule features only two sitcoms on Thursday, with Young Sheldon and Ghosts — TV’s top two comedies — leading into the freshman dramedy So Help Me Todd, followed by Season 2 of CSI: Vegas.
The shift was largely dictated by the fact that CBS cancelled United States of Al, B Positive and How We Roll, while greenlighting zero new sitcoms for the 2022-23 season.
“You play the hand you’re dealt,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl told TVLine. “Each year it’s, ‘How do we put the best schedule together?’ We had some [new sitcom] choices for sure, but the room kept coming back to, ‘What’s the best schedule? What’s the best numbers? Whats the best flow across the entire week?’”
Besides, pairing Ghosts with Sheldon can only bolster the supernatural comedy, which previously had to fight the good fight situated between lower-rated peers.
“Ghosts was a bit of an island this season,” airing between Al and B Positive (and then How We Roll), Kahl pointed out. “It impressively grew on its own, and this is a show we want to continue to build. There’s still a ton of people who haven’t seen it, theres a ton of growth potential left, so this is a way we could not only support it, but use it to help So Help Me Todd, which is a lighter kind of drama with a lot of comedy. It won’t feel like a jarring transition from 8:30 to 9.”
Kahl said that while there is nothing currently in development to possibly join the Thursday sitcom slate later this season — plus, “if you have one [new sitcom], you need two,” he notes — that is not a sign that CBS has permanently dialed down the night’s potential for laughs.
“We’re not running away from comedy by any means,” he made clear. “We’ll continue to develop, and if we have the goods to get back to four on any given night, we will look to do that.”
