Rueben's Ramblings

The following is the proposed CBS line-up for the new fall 2016-2017 TV season:

Monday:

8 PM – The Big Bang Theory
8:30 PM – Kevin Can Wait (NEW) [Moves to 8 PM in October]
8:30 PM – Man With a Plan (NEW) [Starts in October]
9 PM – 2 Broke Girls (New Time)
9:30 PM – The Odd Couple (New Time)
10 PM – Scorpion (New Time)

Tuesday:

8 PM – NCIS
9 PM – Bull (NEW)
10 PM – NCIS: New Orleans (New Time)

Bull stars Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull (inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, one of the most prolific trial consulting firms of all time). Dr. Bull is the ultimate puppet master as he combines psychology, human intuition and high tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the accused tick. Bull employs an enviable team of experts at Trial Analysis Corporation to shape successful narratives down to the very last detail. They include his quick-witted brother-in-law, Benny Colón (Freddy Rodriguez from Six Feet Under), who plays a defense attorney in mock trials; Marissa Morgan (Geneva Carr from SVU), a cutting-edge neurolinguistics expert from the Department of Homeland Security; former NYPD detective Danny James (Jaime Lee Kirchner from Mercy and The Mob Doctor), the firm’s tough but relatable investigator; haughty millennial hacker Cable McCrory (Annabelle Attanasio from The Knick), who is responsible for gathering cyber intelligence; and Chunk Palmer (Chris Jackson from Oz), a fashion-conscious stylist and former All-American lineman who fine tunes clients’ appearances for trial. In high-stakes trials, Bull’s combination of remarkable insight into human nature, three Ph.D.’s and a top-notch staff creates winning strategies that tip the scales of justice in his clients’ favor.

Wednesday:

8 PM – Survivor
9 PM – Criminal Minds
10 PM – Code Black

Thursday:

8 PM – NFL Thursday Night Football (Starting September 15)

8 PM – The Big Bang Theory (New Night) (Starting October 27)
8:30 PM – The Great Outdoors (NEW) (Starting October 27)
9 PM – Mom (Starting October 27)
9:30 PM – Life in Pieces (New Time) (Starting October 27)
10 PM – Pure Genius (NEW) (Starting October 27)

Pure Genius is a cutting-edge medical drama about a young Silicon Valley tech titan who enlists an exceptional veteran surgeon with a controversial past to run a state-of-the-art hospital with an ultramodern approach to medicine. Billionaire genius James Bell (Augustus Prew from The Borgias and Kick-Ass) built Bunker Hill Hospital determined to revolutionize healthcare and treat the rarest and most challenging medical mysteries, at no charge. Bell persuades maverick surgeon Dr. Walter Wallace (Dermot Mulroney) to be his Chief of Staff, who believed medicine is a human endeavor, not technological, until a “eureka” moment at the hospital convinced him otherwise. Bell’s team of trailblazers includes Dr. Zoe Brockett (Odette Annable from The Astronaut Wives Club), an exceptional, fearlessly frank physician; Dr. Talaikha Channarayapatra (Reshma Shetty from Royal Pains ), an idealistic, maddeningly literal neurosurgeon who believes the hospital is a beacon for change; Dr. Malik Verlaine (relative newcomer Aaron Jennings), a former gangbanger now spearheading efforts to provide 24/7 health monitoring in poor neighborhoods via computer; Dr. Scott Strauss (Ward Horton from One Life to Live), an intense neurologist with an Ivy league pedigree; and Angie Cheng (Brenda Song from The Suite Life), an enthusiastic 3-D printer programming whiz. At Bunker Hill, Bell pairs the most brilliant minds in medicine with the most forward thinkers in technology, and cuts bureaucracy out of the equation, all in the interest of saving lives, including his own.

Friday:

8 PM – MacGyver (NEW)
9 PM – Hawaii Five-0
10 PM – Blue Bloods

MacGyver, a reimagining of the classic series, is an action-adventure drama about 20-something Angus “Mac” MacGyver (Lucas Till from the X-Men franchise) who creates a clandestine organization within the U.S. government where he uses his extraordinary talent for unconventional problem solving and vast scientific knowledge to save lives. Joining his team on high-risk missions around the globe is maverick former CIA agent Lincoln (George Eads from CSI). Under the aegis of the Department of External Affairs, MacGyver takes on the responsibility of saving the world, armed to the teeth with resourcefulness and little more than bubble gum and a paper clip. The cast includes Addison Timlin (Zero Hour), relative newcomer Joshua Boone and Michelle Krusiec (Hawaii Five-0).

Saturday:

8 PM – Crimetime Saturday
9 PM – Crimetime Saturday
10 PM – 48 Hours

Sunday:

7 PM – 60 Minutes
8 PM – NCIS: Los Angeles (New Night and Time)
9 PM – Madam Secretary (New Time)
10 PM – Elementary

NOTE: Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders will also return, but it is not on the schedule right now.

The new dramas that will debut later in the season include:

Doubt stars Katherine Heigl as Sadie Ellis, a brilliant attorney at a boutique firm who starts to fall for her charismatic client, Billy Brennan (Steven Pasquale from Rescue Me), an altruistic pediatric surgeon recently accused of murdering his girlfriend 24 years ago. Sadie is hiding her growing feelings from everyone, including her close friend and colleague, Albert Cobb (Dulé Hill from Psych and The West Wing), who thinks he knows everything about her. Working on other cases at the practice is Cameron Wirth (Laverne Cox from Orange Is the New Black), a transgender Ivy League graduate who fights passionately for her clients since she’s experienced injustice first hand; Tiffany Simon (Dreama Walker from The Good Wife and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23), a second-year associate who is quickly learning the ropes from Wirth; and Nick (Kobi Libii from Madam Secretary), a former felon who earned his degree while serving time. They all consider it a privilege to work for Isaiah Roth (veteran actor Elliott Gould), a revered legal lion and “lefty” legend, whose approval is their holy grail. Sadie’s decision to become involved with her client could put her career, as well as her happiness, at risk if Billy is found guilty, which means she needs to work all the harder to prove reasonable doubt, even if she has some herself.

Training Day is a crime thriller that begins 15 years after the events of the feature film, about a young, idealistic police officer who is tapped to go undercover in an elite squad of the LAPD where he partners with a veteran, morally ambiguous detective. Detective Frank Rourke (film star Bill Paxton) is the maverick head of the Special Investigation Section (S.I.S.) that hunts the city’s most dangerous criminals, and is one of the finest investigators the department has ever produced. However, when the LAPD brass notices Rourke’s penchant for operating in a gray area to fight the war on crime, they assign Kyle Craig (newcomer Justin Cornwell), a heroic, untarnished cop, to pose as Frank’s trainee to spy on him and report on his off-book methods. The members of Frank’s loyal team include Rebecca Lee (Katrina Law from Arrow), a formidable officer with killer aim and a dark past, and Tommy Campbell (Drew Van Acker from Pretty Little Liars), a former pro surfer who follows Frank’s orders without hesitation. Providing Frank with intel is his girlfriend, Holly Butler (Julie Benz from Defiance and Dexter), a well-connected, unapologetic Hollywood madam. While LAPD Deputy Chief Joy Lockhart (Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Blindspot) coolly puts Kyle in danger in her mission to take down Frank, Kyle’s schoolteacher wife, Alyse (Lex Scott Davis from Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart), worries her husband’s resolve to avenge the murder of his father, a cop, may be his undoing. As Frank starts teaching his principled trainee the way of the streets, where the ends often justify the means, they form an uneasy alliance that will irrevocably change the course of both their lives.

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