CBS isn’t doing a whole lot with dramas for the 2013-2014 TV season. With only three new dramas ordered, it’s the smallest scripted drama order in more than five years. But they don’t need it.
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The network has 10 strong returning dramas for next season, so while it is growing the comedy line-up (four new sitcoms debuting in the fall), CBS is taking some risks with its dramatic choices.
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It begins with a popular trend this year, a limited series run for the only drama debuting in the fall, Hostages. The show will run for 15 episodes, like The Following, and end in January. Then Josh Holloway’s Intelligence takes over, a more high-tech version of its crime procedurals. The third new drama, a southern legal romance called Reckless, is being held until later.
Check out these in-depth behind-the-scenes looks at Hostages and Intelligence to see if you’ll be checking out the new style of CBS.
Hostages
Time Slot: Mondays at 10pm
The Plot: A family is taken hostage by a rogue FBI agent (Dylan McDermott) and the wife (Toni Collette), a prominent surgeon chosen to operate on the President of the United States, is ordered to assassinate him.
Prognosis: This is a different kind of show for CBS, serialized and complex. It seems to be trying to capture the red-hot popularity of Scandal for high-powered stakes. McDermottt is so good at playing an imposing figure (see his serial killer from American Horror Story: Asylum) and Collette is an Emmy winner and Oscar nominee. The fact that it’s being limited to 15 episodes is a good sign that the conspiracy and plot will be resolved, so if political tension is your thing, this could be a nice change of pace from what CBS typically offers.
Intelligence
Time Slot: Mondays at 10pm (mid-season)
The Plot: A special forces operative (Lost‘s Josh Holloway) has a microchip implanted in his head so he can access the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning he can access the Internet, listen in on phone calls and more in his head.
Prognosis: Ever since Lost came to an end, fans have wanted the dynamic Josh Holloway to land a TV show of his very own. But he’s been picky, giving us nothing but a guest appearance on Community in the past three years. This “Six Million Dollar Man for the information age” could work, as it seems to have the same basic formula as another big CBS hit starring a Lost vet, Person of Interest. Fight bad guys, save lives and do it all with a mysterious high-concept new methodology that kind of defies the laws of science. But really, I’m just excited to see Holloway take center stage, and with a totally new look.
What do you think of CBS’ two new dramas? Will Hostages fit in the crime procedural world of the network? Is Intelligence the new Person of Interest?
(Image and videos courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
