As the onset of the new year has gotten familiar and networks are starting to make their primetime schedules flourish with freshness again, most series already knew how the rest of the TV season was going to look, and that was certainly the case for a trio of CBS' freshman series. But now, the network has made the call to completely fill out the series orders for Joel McHale's The Great Indoors and Matt LeBlanc's Man with a Plan, while Kevin James' Kevin Can Wait is expanding beyond the usual episode count. Sitcoms for the win.
Kevin Can Wait had already earned itself the back nine episodes of its first year on CBS, with the network upping the initial 13-episode order to a full 22-episode run some months ago. The total viewing audience for Kevin Can Wait got pretty consistent following the usual post-premiere fallout, though the comedy's key demo rating for adults 18-49 has mainly gone down. But DVR viewing is pretty strong, though, which balances things accordingly, and CBS isn't letting that (or behind-the-scenes shifts) stand in the way of giving audiences even more of Kevin James and Erinn Hayes' Gable family, with an additional two half-hour installments now part of the lineup, according to Deadline. Even some cable shows getting dual-season orders don't make it to 24 episodes in a season, so that's a pretty big confidence enhancement.
Meanwhile, adventure journalists played by Joel McHale and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (among others) had already been confirmed to show up on our televisions for 18 episodes of The Great Indoors. The partial back order was a good sign, but a better sign arrived when CBS put in this new order for another four eps, bringing the total amount to 22. It's most deserved, as The Great Outdoors is has a steady demo rating and has actually rebounded from its initial dip in total viewers. Its DVR stats aren't as strong as Kevin Can Wait's, though.
Man with a Plan, the family comedy starring Matt LeBlanc and Liza Snyder, has a similar story as The Great Indoors, in that it also received the partial back order, with its 18-episode season now expanding to 22. This is the lowest performer of the three in both total viewers and the key demo, but it's still doing just fine and is as dependable as anything else. CBS obviously aims to keep it that way for as long as possible.
Kevin Can Wait and Man with a Plan are both back for their Monday night slots at CBS, while The Great Indoors returned this week to its lauded Thursday night lineup. Head to our midseason premiere schedule to see when everything else will be back on TV soon.
