CBS Orders a Half Dozen Pilots

CBS has picked up a bunch of new programs in advance of its upfront presentation May 17. On the drama side, CBS has ordered Instinct from its own studio. Starring Alan Cumming, the show is focused on a former CIA operative who has built a normal life as a professor and writer but is lured back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer.

The show is based on the soon-to-be-published James Patterson book.

Executive producers are Patterson, Michael Rauch, Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin (Secret Hideout), Bill Robinson, Leopoldo Gout, Alan Cumming and Marc Webb.

Also from CBS’ own studio is Seal Team. The logline reads, “Follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high stakes missions our country can ask of them.”

Exec producers are Ben Cavell, Ed Redlich, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Chris Chulack.

David Boreanaz leads the cast.

S.W.A.T. is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with CBS Television Studios. Inspired by the film of the same name, it focuses on a locally born and bred S.W.A.T. sergeant who is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked with running a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles.

Exec producers are Aaron Thomas, Shawn Ryan, Neal Moritz, Marney Hochman, Danielle Woodrow, Pavun Shetty and Justin Lin.

The cast includes Shemar Moore, Stephanie Sigman and Alex Russell.

Wisdom of the Crowd comes from CBS Television Studios and Universal Television. Based on the Israeli format of the same name, it sees a tech innovator (Jeremy Piven) create a cutting-edge crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder and revolutionize crime solving in the process. 

Exec producers are Ted Humphrey, Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan (Keshet Media Group), Dror Mishani, Shira Hadad and Adam Davidson.  

On the comedy side is 9JKL from CBS Television Studios. It’s a family comedy inspired by a time in exec producer and star Mark Feuerstein’s life when he lived in apartment 9K in the building he grew up in, sandwiched between his doting parents’ apartment, 9J, and his brother, sister-in-law and their baby’s apartment, 9L.

Besides Feuerstein, exec producers are Dana Klein, Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling, Dana Honor and Pamela Fryman.

Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould are in the cast.

Me, Myself and I comes from Kapital Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television. A single-camera comedy examining one man’s life over a 50-year span, the show focuses on three distinct periods in his life—as a 14-year-old in 1991, a 40-year-old in present day, and a 65-year-old in 2042.

Exec producers are Dan Kopelman, Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Randall Einhorn (pilot only).

The cast includes Bobby Moynihan, Jack Dylan Grazer and Brian Unger.

CBS previously announced its order for Young Sheldon, a Big Bang Theory spinoff from E.P.s Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, Jim Parsons, Todd Spiewak and Jon Favreau.  

The show comes from Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television and looks at 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper in small-town Texas.  

The cast includes Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry and Lance Barber.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.