CBS makes room for another Sherlock, not much else on fall schedule

CBS is sticking with what it does best next season, bringing back 19 current series while adding only four new shows this fall, the network announced at an upfront presentation to advertisers today. The reason is “Elementary,” dear reader.

CBS can tout itself as America’s most watched broadcast network in overall viewership, so overhauling the lineup isn’t necessary. Instead, the network is banking on the resurgent popularity of Sherlock Holmes with the crime drama “Elementary.”

In recent years, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective has been adapted on the big screen as an action-adventure hero, played by Robert Downey Jr., while the BBC/PBS miniseries “Sherlock,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern-day Holmes, boasts an extremely passionate fan base. CBS’s addition to the Holmes canon finds the consulting detective solving crimes in present-day New York City, his loyal assistant, Dr. Joan Watson, by his side. Jonny Lee Miller (coincidentally, a costar of Cumberbatch’s in the play “Frankenstein”) plays Holmes while Lucy Liu stars as Watson. (Find out what Cumberbatch has to say about the other Sherlocks in our exclusive interview.)

Rounding out the roster of new CBS shows this fall are “Vegas,” starring Dennis Quiad and Michael Chiklis as lawman and mobster in 1960s Las Vegas; “Made in Jersey,” about a working class woman who uses her street smarts to get ahead at an NYC law firm; and the sitcom “Partners,” starring Michael Urie and David Krumholtz as best friend roommates whose relationship is tested when one gets engaged.

New series slated for midseason are drama “Golden Boy,” about the meteoric rise of a young NYC cop to police commissioner; comedy “Friend Me,” about two Indiana transplants (Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicholas Braun) trying to figure out how to have a social life in Los Angeles; and reality guru Mark Burnett’s “The Job,” which give people the opportunity to interview for their dream jobs.

Returning series include “NCIS,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Person of Interest,” “2 Broke Girls,” “60 Minutes,” “The Amazing Race,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Mike & Molly,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Survivor,” “Criminal Minds,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” Two and a Half Men,” “CSI: NY,” “Blue Bloods,” “48 Hours Mystery,” “The Mentalist,” “The Good Wife.” “Undercover Boss” will return midseason.

CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

2012-2013 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE

(N=New, NT=New Time, all times ET/PT)

MONDAY

8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

8:30-9:00 PM PARTNERS (N)

9:00-9:30 PM 2 BROKE GIRLS (NT)

9:30-10:00 PM MIKE & MOLLY

10:00-11:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0

TUESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM NCIS

9:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES