When CBS announced a business-as-usual fall schedule in May, there was a lot of skepticism from observers.
The Writers Guild strike was in its infancy, and the network believed it would have Blue Bloods, NCIS, The Equalizer, and the rest of its mainstays to air come the year’s final quarter.
With the strike still ongoing and a SAG-AFTRA strike also possible, it’s becoming increasingly likely that CBS won’t have any scripted originals in the can for the fall season.
Now that the network is opening up to that reality, it is looking to streaming sibling Paramount+ as a way to shore up its slate in the fall.
“We wanted to build our schedule for when the world goes back to normal,” George Cheeks, President and CEO, CBS and Chief Content Officer, News and Sports, Paramount+, said at Banff, Deadline reports.
“Once we had done that, once we locked it in, we spent a lot of time focusing on what it’s going to look like.”
“First of all, obviously it’s going to be very reality-heavy,” he said before adding that summer staple Big Brother and other select reality franchises will begin in August and air originals into November.
“Our core summer franchises, starting with Big Brother, are all going to slide into August, which will keep them on the air until November.
Away from reality in the fall, Cheeks said that the network is looking at Paramount+ originals but wouldn’t elaborate on which shows were in contention.
“We’re spending a lot of time looking at research and figuring out which are the ones that A, have the best shot keeping our audience engaged but also that could really help drive awareness.”
Cheeks did say that one of the shows had been on CBS before, which leaves us with some possibilities.
The Good Fight has aired on CBS in the past and does have a spinoff in the form of Elsbeth in the works.
Another possibility is SEAL Team, which moved to Paramount+ in November 2021, could stage a comeback.
There were many unhappy fans when the series left CBS for the streaming service, so there’s a high chance this could return down the line.
Other possibilities include EVIL and Star Trek: Discovery.
The former was initially a CBS original, while Star Trek got a tryout on the network during COVID-19.
Which Paramount+ shows would you want to make the jump to CBS?
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.