CBS renews two Sunday hits

CBS is ordering new seasons of two of its hit Sunday night reality shows, it announced Monday, as planning begins for the 2011-12 TV season.

Both THE AMAZING RACE and UNDERCOVER BOSS will be back next season.

In THE AMAZING RACE, teams race around the globe following clues that take them to exotic locations. Each week, the team in last place is eliminated. The first team to reach the finish line reaches the top prize of a million dollars. The show, hosted by Phil Keoghan, premiered in 2001 and is currently in its 18th “season.”

UNDERCOVER BOSS puts CEOs of companies in disguise, then sends them to work in their own factories and stores, so that the powers that be get a reality check about life at the bottom of their corporate totem pole. The show premiered in February of 2010.

Insiders: Couric offered ’60 Minutes’ slot

Katie Couric/©CBS, Inc.

Over the weekend, speculation began circulating that 60 MINUTES correspondent Scott Pelley was a leading contender to take over the CBS EVENING NEWS when Katie Couric’s contract is up.  Insiders at the network told the New York Post that Couric has been offered a package that would move her to the venerable news magazine.

The offer could be attractive enough to persuade Couric to do a possible syndicated daytime talk show through CBS, which is the largest syndicator.

Pelley, 53, has been with CBS since 1989, and has been a 60 MINUTES correspondent since 2004.  Before that, he contributed to 60 MINUTES II, and previously served as the network’s chief White House correspondent.

Couric, 54, who left NBC’s Today show to take over the CBS EVENING NEWS in 2006, is wrapping up a five-year contract which expires this June.  Early speculation suggested that CBS would ask Couric to remain in that position through the 2012 elections, but the newest rumors say Couric and Pelley could trade places sooner than that.

Curiously unmentioned in the rumor mill is CBS Senior Correspondent Harry Smith, who left THE EARLY SHOW this past January to become the primary substitute anchor for Couric, and also for Bob Schieffer on FACE THE NATION and Charles Osgood on SUNDAY MORNING.  Couric is said to be on vacation this week, so Smith is the likely fill-in.

Though Couric never brought CBS the evening news ratings success executives were hoping for, here in the Lowcountry, the CBS EVENING NEWS scored better in February in household viewers than the nationally top-rated NBC Nightly News.

This Week: More Basketball, But No Missed Soaps

This week, MARCH MADNESS kicks off on Thursday and Friday, pre-empting the CBS Daytime schedule, including THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL.

But unlike last week’s ACC TOURNAMENT carried by LIVE 5 WCSC, MARCH MADNESS won’t make you miss anything on your soaps:  CBS, which is carrying the NCAA Tournament across the Network, isn’t producing soap episodes for those two days.  That means that when soaps resume next Monday, they’ll pick up right where they left off this Wednesday before basketball.

We received complaints from soap fans last week because we had to move the soaps to our second channel, LIVE 5 PLUS, so that we could carry the ACC games.  Those games were not carried by CBS itself, which is why there were soaps to move to begin with.

So the good news is you won’t miss any of the developments with your favorite characters and couples!

Soap Updates for Friday, March 11th

LIVE 5 WCSC aired the ACC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT today, moving the CBS Daytime lineup to our second channel, LIVE 5+.

For those of you who missed today’s episodes of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, here’s what happened:

Soap Updates for Thursday, March 10th

LIVE 5 WCSC aired the ACC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT today, moving the CBS Daytime lineup to our second channel, LIVE 5+.

For those of you who missed today’s episodes of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, here’s what happened:

CBS Soaps Move to 5+ During ACC Tourney

While Live 5 WCSC airs the ACC Basketball Tournament on Thursday and Friday, daytime programming including THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, THE TALK and LET’S MAKE A DEAL will move to our second channel, Live 5+.

Warner Brothers Terminates Sheen’s ‘Men’ Contract

Warner Brothers announced that it is terminating Charlie Sheen’s contract with TWO AND A HALF MEN.

Warner Brothers, which produces and owns the series, issued the following statement:

“After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen’s services on TWO AND A HALF MEN, effective immediately.”

Variety reports that the studio sent Sheen an letter notifying him of his termination.

Variety also reports that no final decision has been made about the fate of the CBS hit comedy, other than the fact that Sheen will not be there if it returns for another season.

‘Price is Right’ Offers Home Viewer Showcase

All this week, THE PRICE IS RIGHT is returning to its roots, resurrecting the concept of a Home Viewer Showcase.

To play, viewers will have to register online at the show’s official website, priceisright.com.  The show will display two prizes each day this week and given the actual retail price for one of the two.

Viewers will then bid on the total value of the showcase at the website at the end of the week.

The 10 prizes being offered include a new car, a lavish beach vacation, a luxury watch, high-end kitchen appliances, a laptop computer, a celebrity-designed living room collection, a VIP sports vacation and other modern day indulgences.

Whoever bids closest without going over wins the showcase; if there is a tie, a drawing will decide the winner.

One of the featured prizes each day will be announced some time during game play.  The second prize will be shown during the actual Showcase round.

If you miss a prize reveal, they will also be posted after the program airs at priceisright.com.

Home Viewer Showcases began in the original version of the series, which ran in the last 1950s and early 1960s on NBC and ABC.  Viewers were invited to send postcards with their bids for a showcase of prizes.

Over the years in the current version, several Home Viewer Showcases were offered, usually around Christmastime.

CBS Green Lights ‘Mother’ For Two More Seasons

Fan speculation that the hit series HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER was fizzling out may be premature:  CBS has given a green light to two more seasons of the Monday night comedy, extending it through May of 2013.

It’s possible that the move was done to lock in current Monday night hits, in case the troubled TWO AND A HALF MEN isn’t ready to begin production in time for the start of next season; but the deal is similar to a three-year extension CBS granted Thursday night comedy BIG BANG THEORY.

CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler praised the show’s producing team whom she says “continues to find inventive ways to tell funny stories that stir pop culture conversation” and calls it a “go-to destination” for top guest stars.

Tassler also says the ensemble brings life to characters that audiences “want to hang out with every Monday night.”

In addition to being a ratings success, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has also earned critical acclaim and award recognition. Neil Patrick Harris has earned four consecutive Emmy Award nominations for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series,” while the series was nominated for “Outstanding Comedy Series” in 2009.  Harris was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2009 and 2010 in the category of “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.”

The show was also nominated by the Television Critics Association for “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy” and Harris was nominated for “Individual Achievement in Comedy” in 2009, and is the recipient of several People’s Choice Awards nominations.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER stars Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders and airs Monday nights at 8:00pm on LIVE 5 WCSC.