LOS ANGELES — The strategy at CBS is consistency. Slow and steady wins the race. Stability is the mantra.
Other networks have executive shake-ups. CBS has had a team in place for a decade. “Stability is a good thing,” the entertainment chief says.
The point of CBS’s great unveiling this week of its upcoming fall schedule: Move along; nothing to see here.
It stands to reason, when you’re winning the season in total viewers for the seventh time in eight years, you don’t mess with success. Fox might win the younger audience, coveted by advertisers, but CBS pulls in volume. In an industry witnessing overall shrinking numbers, volume is a money-making goal.
How will the No. 1 network draw a crowd for the 2010-11 TV season? Not just with consistency but with proven players.
Cynics might say they’re relying on old, tired and even antiquated actors — an old-boys club — to carry much of the prime-time slate.
William Shatner. Tom Selleck. Jim Belushi.
And “Hawaii Five-O,” complete with theme music and classic dialogue: “Book ’em, Danno.”
While competitors boast of new, exciting, fresh faces on their fall schedules, CBS is reaching back into TV history for weathered old reliables. We’ll see if backward- glancing, retro-programming styles and vintage stars represent the safe way to go.
To avoid talking about the combined ancient history of her leading men, CBS Entertainment boss Nina Tassler touted the new “diversity in source material” this fall: The network will offer the first show based on a Twitter feed (“$#*! My Dad Says”), as well as a show (“The Defenders”) that was in development at Fox and then pitched to CBS as a reality series; it has been working on a reboot of “Hawaii Five-O” for years; and the idea for a new daytime talk show came from actress Sara Gilbert’s mommy group in Gilbert’s living room.
That’s a step up, Tassler suggests, from last year’s shows, which were mined from the usual process — a spinoff (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), a United Kingdom hit and so-called reality TV.
“You just never know where your next hit is going to come from,” she said. As the world gets smaller and more wired, “It’s an exciting time to be a creative executive in TV.”
Regarding the “Hawaii Five-O” remake: It’s not just an old show reshot; it’s “deconstructed” and “reimagined,” and they’ve “retooled the franchise” and “reassembled” the action show into “a hip, smart character show.”
As we said, it’s a remake.
Tassler took the high road instead of knocking her competitors, calling the past season good for the collective industry. “This was a great year for television,” she said, and she shared the love.
On the character-diversity front, Tassler said CBS is adding a gay brother to “Good Wife” and a lesbian character to “$#*! My Dad Says.”
Overall, more female- centric drama is a goal. Tassler acknowledged the network is short on “female representation.”
Tassler offered the standard network defense of the violence onscreen, particularly in “Hawaii Five-O,” saying simply, “That’s a 10 o’clock show.” Of course, in the middle of the country, it’s 9 p.m. And violence is violence.
Finally, what about the wife of CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves appearing in three shows on the network come fall? Julie Chen will be on “The Early Show,” “Big Brother” and the new daytime show, “The Talk.
What can Tassler possibly say about the casting of her boss’ wife? She resorted to another standard network executive answer:
“It tested well.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
