CBS drama The Mentalist, starring Simon Baker, will receive a third season in the fall. The TV procedural has received solid ratings for its last two seasons in the Sunday 10pm EST time slot.
Other CBS television shows were not so lucky, particularly shows in their first year. The Crazy Ones, Hostages, Intelligence, Friends with Better Lives and Bad Teacher have all been axed by the network.
The Crazy Ones, starring television veterans Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar, had the tough task of going head-to-head with ABC ratings powerhouse Grey's Anatomy. Even with a lead-in from The Big Bang Theory, the single-camera comedy's ratings were never promising.
CBS has also ordered two new comedies and five new dramas for their 2014-2015 television season. The Odd Couple reboot starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon got a season order as did The McCarthys, a multi-camera comedy about a large sports-crazy Boston family.
In the drama category, CBS ordered Battle Creek, Madame Secretary, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, and Stalker.
Battle Creek is a collaboration between David Shore (House) and Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) about cops in a rough Michigan town who tend to bend the law to solve crimes. It stars Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters in the leading roles.
Madame Secretary follows a maverick Secretary of State who must juggle world affairs and a complicated family life. Tea Leoni has been cast in the leading role. The script is by Barbara Hall and executive produced by Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary.
NCIS: New Orleans is a spin-off of the ever-popular NCIS. Scott Bakula and Lucas Black are off to New Orleans to oversee the naval investigative unit serving the Gulf region. The planted spinoff aired in the most recent season of NCIS on March 25 and April 1. The script was written by NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg.
Scorpion is about an eccentric genius that leads a group of computer geeks to guard against modern-day cyber threats. Robert Patrick, Elyes Gabel and Katherine McPhee star. Justin Lim helmed the pilot and it is executive produced by Nick Santora, who also wrote the pilot.
Stalker stars Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q as investigators who handle stalking incidents. Williamson wrote the dark drama's pilot, who is executive producing for Warner Bros. TV.
