The Television Critics Association Press Tour continues this week, with TV networks making their programming presentations to the media with brand new details on their new and returning shows. The networks continue their presentations as CBS showcased their upcoming series. (Catch up on Fox, NBC, and Syfy/USA as well). Here’s the latest:
CBS Programming News
Star Trek: Discovery will be the first Star Trek series since 2005 and will feature a female Lieutenant Commander as well as a gay character. The series is produced by Bryan Fuller and takes place pre-Kirk in the Prime universe. Star Trek: Discovery will have a 13 episode order on CBS All Access, CBS’ live streaming service, in January 2017. Other original All Access series will include a Good Wife spinoff debuting in Spring 2017 and a digital edition of Big Brother this fall.
New legal drama, Doubt, stars Katherine Heigl as an attorney who falls for a client. The studio came under intense scrutiny for the lack of diversity in its show leads, and Doubt is the only one of its eight new series that has a female lead. The series also features the first-ever transgender actor (Laverne Fox) playing a transgender character on broadcast TV.
The new reboot of MacGyver will have Lucas Till filling in the shoes of the titular resourceful secret agent, but showrunner Peter Lenkov says they have a role in mind for the original actor, Richard Dean Anderson. The series pilot was directed by James Wan and has a nod to Hawaii Five-0, opening up the possibility of a future crossover. MacGyver premieres Sept. 23.
The cast of CBS’ No. 1 comedy, The Big Bang Theory, is under contracts through the upcoming tenth season. CBS president Glenn Gellar says, “We are very confident that everyone involved wants more Big Bang past year 10,” and negotiations are underway with the cast.
Both Matt LeBlanc and Kevin James return to sitcom life in new comedies Man With a Plan and Kevin Can Wait, respectively. James’ new show will feel familiar to his previous hit, King of Queens, but this time, James is playing a retired cop in Long Island (vs. a delivery driver in Queens).
Britney Spears will make her debut on the popular segment, Carpool Karaoke, on the Aug. 25 episode of the Late Late Show with James Corden. Her debut is timed one day before her new album release.