The New York Post takes a look at how he is doing after taking over in January…

LAURENCE Fishburne isn’t exactly wowing "CSI" loyalists.

After four months of giving Ray Langston (Fishburne) a chance to win them over, it seems that fans have decided that the cerebral professor is no Gil Grissom (William Petersen). Since quirky lab head Grissom’s farewell episode aired last January — pulling in an impressive 24.2 million viewers — people have slowly drifted away from "CSI," the ratings indicate.

"When a lead actor of [Petersen's] magnitude leaves a series after eight and a half years, it’s hard to replace him and keep the audience completely satisfied," says Marc Berman, an industry analyst for Mediaweek. "Initially, fans were curious, they wanted to check [Fishburne] out. But I don’t think the audience thinks that his character is working." In recent weeks, an average of about 15.3 million people have been tuning into "CSI," about a 17 percent drop since Grissom left the series. "CSI" has been a top five series — and TV’s No. 1 drama — since its second season in 2001.

But, the recent ratings dip has begun to push it down the charts. These days, the show that glamorized forensics is more like the No. 3 or 4 drama — falling behind younger shows like "The Mentalist" and "NCIS." It is not like "CSI" is in jeopardy of being cancelled any time soon. It remains a hugely popular show. Across the board, the ratings for TV are down. Even "American Idol" is reporting smaller viewer numbers as people turn to cable and internet. But the downward trend for "CSI" cannot be explained solely by people abandoning prime time.

To be fair, "CSI’s" ratings slide may not be all Fishburne’s fault. "It wasn’t like he walked in and suddenly everything collapsed," Berman says. "Ratings were already dropping. A lot of the success of these shows has to do with the writing, and I’m hearing complaints that the stories are starting to lag. "Look, they’ve done over 200 episodes: How many murders can there be? After a while, you’ve seen it all, baby. It doesn’t seem as fresh and unique anymore," Berman says.

Plus, there’s the seasonal effect on broadcast TV. "There’s always some decrease in March and May, particularly in the one-hour drama category," says Robert Seidman, editor at ratings blog TVbythenumbers.com. Still, "it’s a reasonable guess to say that people just aren’t as into Laurence Fishburne or ‘CSI’ after Peterson left," Seidman says.

"But who knows, maybe they’ll have an episode that catches fire and the show takes off again — when you see things like what happened with ‘NCIS,’ which is having a ratings renaissance this season, it throws a wrench into the idea that the downward trend is never reversed. "Could ‘CSI’ have a renaissance and start creeping back up? That’s possible, but what it would take for that to happen, I don’t know."

I haven’t had the chance to watch the other half of Lie To Me lately (had only watched up to the sixth episode), but it is something I do intend to finish this summer. With this news, I’m more excited about where the show is heading. I’m a big fan of The Shield and would hope Lie To Me improves for the next season.

Entertainment Weekly via Ausiello reports all of the changes on his blog.

“This is the God’s honest truth: Lie to Me is coming back for another season.

A Fox rep wouldn’t comment, but reliable sources confirm that the network has renewed the freshman drama for a 13-episode second season. And here’s where things get really interesting: Shawn Ryan, the genius producer-writer behind The Shield and The Unit, is taking over as showrunner. Don’t interpret that to mean The Unit is dead though. I’m told if the CBS procedural returns — and it very well may — Ryan will juggle both shows. 

Additionally, Fox has picked up two new shows: the comedy Sons of Tucson starring Reaper’s Tyler Labine and the DC comic adaptation Human Target starring Mark Valley.

The net will announce its full schedule next Monday. “

Lie To Me ends its first season run this week and it looks like it has been a success so far.

From Hollywood Reporter

“The season finale of ABC’s "Castle" maintained some of its growth Monday night despite lead-in "Dancing With the Stars" sinking to its lowest Monday rating for the current cycle.

NBC was fourth with "Deal or No Deal" (4.2 million, 1.1) and two hours of "Medium" (6.4 million, 2.0). The CW’s "Gossip Girl" (2.3 million, 1.2) climbed this week — and beat NBC at 8 p.m. — while "One Tree Hill" (2.3 million, 1.1) was steady.
For the May sweep, Fox continues to lead among the adult demo. Compared with the same days last year, Fox is down 6%, NBC is up 5%, ABC is down 14%, CBS is down 7% and the CW is down 20%.”

But as producers notes, the end will present no cliffhanger for the freshman series.

Says Ashley Gable, the show’s co-executive producer: "Cliffhangers can be problematic. They can be gimmicky. I think what [series creator] Bruno Heller has done is the right move to tantalize the audience but give the audience a little satisfaction. We’re learning more things about Red John … and going deeper into that mythology. Because the tone of our show is so much lighter, it would be jarring to have sawed-off heads and all that stuff. We’re not about the forensics. You’ll never see a ‘Mentalist’ episode that revolves around the bug found in the dead guy’s stomach and what the bug ate for breakfast and how that tells us who the murderer is. It’s always going to be Jane and the Sherlock Holmes thing. It’s also about the way he likes to poke at people. If Sherlock Holmes was the world’s first consulting detective, Jane is the world’s first trickster detective."

The show has been attributed to the lightness and cleverness of an early detective TV series, Columbo.

Via Tuned In

The series, which stars, Tim Roth, is about to end its season run this month. The show airs on Fox and tackles crime-solving based on scientific based techniques using body language.

TV Guide interviews its lead and talks about the dark side of Lie to Me —

Excerpts from the TV Guide Interview:

Lightman’s techniques, based on those of lie-detection expert Paul Ekman, envision a more humane brand of crime-fighting, in which intellect trumps physical force. Ekman works with real-life interrogators to help his techniques gain traction.

"I would imagine, for example, with a police force, if they learned to read some fairly simple things that I know Ekman works with them on, people could be safer, there could be less people hurt," Roth says.

Roth’s idea that brute force only leads to more brute force is most thoroughly explored in his 1998 directorial debut, The War Zone, in which a family takes revenge on an abusive parent. Roth says he took the job on Lie to Me in part so he could continue to make similarly dark, complex films.

"The kinds of films I want to direct you don’t get paid for — they’re obviously not commercial ventures necessarily," he says. "By the time I was through with [The War Zone], it was time to go back and make some money. Critically received is one thing, but a film about child abuse is not for everybody."

The actor doesn’t see a link between his early abuse and his career’s focus on victimization. But he does feel enough distance from it to draw an unusual comparison between directors and abusers.

"An abuser is a great director. You’ve got to keep your actors in line. If your actors break away and start improvising, you’re ending up in jail. Because as soon as they start to speak — as soon as they figure out that they can speak for themselves and that you can’t pull the strings — you’re done. It’s a very dangerous game," he said. "They have to manipulate their victim in such a way that the victims will keep a secret."

I admittedly am not a regular viewer of the show, but I do find it engaging every chance I get to watch it on TV.

Variety runs a story of Numb3rs and its writers in the article after the cut…

From Variety:

"When they asked the focus groups, ‘In one word, why do you like this show?’ they all said, ‘The math,’" Falacci says.

"Only then did we know this premise works," Heuton adds. "We kind of reinvented Sherlock Holmes with algorithms," Falacci quips.

American society might be dumbing down, but in reaching 100 episodes, "Numbers," starring David Krumholtz as math whiz Charlie Eppes, has shown that smarts can measure up.

"There was such an enthusiastic response to the concept," CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler recalls. "People said, ‘Oh my God, I love the concept. I love the idea for a series. It’s a unique way of telling stories. We love Charlie.’ David Krumholtz was in the original cast. But we had some work to do. We recast, reshot and went right to series."

The end result was gratifying for Falacci and Heuton, who knew that their show about a mathematician "was going to be a tough sell to a major network," Heuton says. Long fascinated with mathematicians, scientists and physicists, they wanted to write about math and how mathematicians think, but needed a killer concept to draw viewers.

"This was in 2003," Heuton says. "’CSI’ by then was a massive, game-changing hit for CBS. So we thought using math as a tool to solve crimes would be something networks would understand. That’s how it became a crime-solving show."

Says Tassler: "When Nick and Cheryl pitched the show, they were very specific on the characters. Our procedurals do very well, and they gave us incredibly detailed analysis of how authentic this approach is — that it’s a technique used in real case-solving."

Scott Free Prods. got involved with the pilot, even though brothers Tony and Ridley Scott — executive producers of the show — had doubts.

"To be honest, we were really worried about it," Tony Scott says. "It’s a very dangerous premise: Here’s a show about solving crime through mathematics."

Audiences don’t question TV doctors spouting medical lingo, but would they so benignly accept complex equations? Scott knew they’d have to make the math accessible to the audience.

"We had to see if we could find a common denominator or some kind of throughline," he says, "so we could take (Charlie’s) anecdotes and apply them to different stories and situations.

"I want the audience to work for their information, but if they work too hard, they’re going to switch off. It’s a fine balance," Scott adds. "Our audience stays engaged because it’s at a level where they can jigsaw, they can put the pieces together. They can do the subtractions and the additions, and they like that sort of engagement."

Creating the right balance of math, crime and characters was also crucial.

"American audiences like crime procedurals," Heuton says, "particularly if there’s a good dose of character and humor to them." So they added a family component to the story.

Tassler liked that. "It was about an older brother who had to overcompensate for having a prodigious younger brother, and how it affected the dynamic of their relationship, not only with each other, but with their parents, their father," she says.

Naysayers still abounded, saying a TV series couldn’t cover three separate worlds — the FBI, the university and home. Heuton and Falacci disagreed, believing that blending the realms would help show the cases’ impact on the brothers and their co-workers.

"With an FBI agent in one world and a college professor in another, you want to see where they meet in the middle," Heuton says.

One challenge remained for "Numbers": its Friday airdate.

"It’s a tough night to pull an audience because there’s probably 25 to 30 million fewer sets on," Heuton says. "We’re the little show you have to know about."

Tassler says CBS has no plans to change the timeslot for ‘Numbers."

"The show does really well where it is," she says, "and it has such a loyal fanbase. I think they like watching it on Friday nights — which is why the show does so well — and we really don’t want to upset the applecart."

After three airings, NBC has picked up the cop series Southland for the Fall Season. This takes place even as the series has declined from viewership since it first aired.

The series follows the lives of cops in Southern California and has apparently been favored by critics. I’ve seen only one episode of this show so far and I’m kind of reminded by The Shield, about how gritty it is.

The details to Southland’s pick up are after the cut…

Excerpts from Variety:

NBC execs spent Friday and Saturday zeroing in on a handful of new series pickups to present to advertisers at its "Infront" event in Gotham on Monday. During the weekend it became clear that the Peacock intends to focus much of its presentation on touting a small number of new prospects, and will leave decisions on the fate of other pilots and bubble shows, including "Chuck," for at least another week.

That said, Warner Bros. TV got the nod late Friday for a 13-episode renewal of cop drama "Southland," which has performed respectable since its bow last month as a late midseason entry.

NBC execs had already said that they would not unveil a full-blown schedule until the week of May 19, when the rest of the broadcast nets host their upfront presentations.

Biz insiders said that pickup and renewal conversations at NBC and other nets this year have been entirely about one thing: costs, and how much can be trimmed from budgets and license fees. The belt-tightening caused by the economic meltdown and the expectation that upfront ad coin will be down sharply this year has made the grueling process of negotiating series agreements that much more difficult, across the board.

Among NBC’s half-hour contenders, the show to watch for the past week has been Sony Pictures TV comedy "Community," which stars Joel McHale as a guy who becomes part of an offbeat extended family after he enrolls in a community college course. Industry insiders said the show seemed to be a lock for a pickup.

Also high on the buzz radar is "100 Questions for Charlotte Payne," from Universal Media Studios, which stars Sophie Winkleman as a young woman living in New York and using a dating service. It’s understood to be seen by some inside NBC as a next-gen "Friends." Buddy cop comedy "Off Duty," starring Bradley Whitford and Romany Malco, is also still kicking.

On the drama said, "Trauma," UMS, is said to have screened well among NBC brass and is seen as a good fit with the network’s needs next season, when its drama real estate will shrink with the bow of "The Jay Leno Show" in the Monday-Friday 10 p.m. slot.

Peacock execs also remain supremely confident in the prospects for UMS/Imagine TV’s hourlong adaptation of 1989 pic "Parenthood," even though that pilot was still filming as of the weekend.

"Community," "Trauma" and "Parenthood" are expected to be shown off to the assembled advertisers on Monday. Leno’s new offering is also expected to be talked up, along with "Southland," which has fared well with critics.

From the NBC press release:

New Series Include Four Dramas: “Trauma,” “Parenthood,” “Mercy” and the Event Series “Day One” as Well as Two Comedies: “Community” and “100 Questions”

Returning Series Pickups Include “Heroes,” “Southland,” “Parks and Recreation” and Six New Episodes of “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday”

NEW YORK CITY – May 4, 2009 – NBC unveiled today a strong lineup of broad and diverse quality programming for the 2009-2010 television season announcing the pickups of six new series featuring four new dramas including “Trauma,” “Parenthood,” “Mercy” and the event series “Day One,” as well as two new comedies including “Community” and “100 Questions.” Four returning series pickups were also announced today including “Heroes,” “Southland,” “Parks and Recreation” and the addition of six new episodes of “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday” skewering today’s top stories in live half-hour primetime shows.

The new and returning series will launch next season and the epic event series “Day One” is slated to premiere out of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

“The Jay Leno Show” will be broadcast Monday-Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET beginning in the fall. Previously announced series pickups include “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “The Biggest Loser,” “The Celebrity Apprentice,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Friday Night Lights,” and new alternative series “The Marriage Ref,” “Breakthrough With Tony Robbins” and “Who Do You Think You Are?”

Additional series pickups will be announced May 19, when NBC announces its 2009-2010 schedule.

NBC unveiled pickups for the upcoming broadcast season in the first of a series of presentations today and tomorrow to key advertisers from Studio 8H—the home of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”—at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Presentations will continue in Chicago on May 7 and Los Angeles on May 12.

“We are thrilled to be announcing such an awesome slate of new series that build on our existing quality brand and deliver emotional, human stories,” said Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. “NBC will strive to make viewers feel and our shows represent the full range of human emotion from laughter to tears. We can’t wait to share these concepts with our audience and our advertising partners.”

“These new series will showcase fresh talent and bold, original concepts that are extremely well executed,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios. “We are grateful to the producers, casts and crews — and our team — who have delivered incredibly compelling and entertaining new series.”

In response to an evolving media marketplace and the changing needs of advertisers, NBC has created a more innovative, client-centric approach to its traditional Upfront with a series of one-on-one client presentations, which began today in New York City. These presentations are interactive and, unlike other networks’ Upfront presentations, will include a Q & A with advertisers and NBC sales and entertainment executives.

For details of the new show, you can check the listing here.

So, how have you been doing?

1st of 2 All-New Episodes Airing This Week Another All-New Episode Airs Thursday, April 16

When the image of the Virgin Mary is spotted on a bale of compressed cardboard at a recycling plant, Booth and Brennan are on the scene. They discover the image is no miracle, but rather an outline of dried human blood. Upon closer inspection, they find a flattened body inside the compressed cardboard, and must find out who the victim is and who may have wanted her dead. When they discover the victim had been planning the perfect wedding for years – even before she even had a boyfriend – and was finally engaged to be married, they trace her last steps and find that her fiancé was not the only man in her life. With a trail of men from a cell-phone dating service in tow, Booth and Brennan try to understand the duplicitous woman’s dealings. Meanwhile, the pair grow suspicious when they spot Sweets’ girlfriend Daisy trying on a wedding dress with another man, and Hodgins and Angela come to terms with the status of their relationship in “The Cinderella in the Cardboard” episode of BONES airing Wednesday, April 15 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (BON-414) (TV-14 D, L, V)

Cast: Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan; David Boreanaz as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth; TJ Thyne as Dr. Jack Hodgins; Michaela Conlin as Angela Montenegro; Tamara Taylor as Dr. Camille “Cam” Saroyan; John Francis Daley as Dr. Lance Sweets

Guest Cast: Carla Gallo as Daisy Wick; Michael Grant Terry as Wendell Bray; Matthew Yang King as Dr. Marcus Scheer; Eric Matheny as Bob Caverly; Mayim Bialik as Genie Gormon; Linda Hart as Mrs. Lucia Bertolino; Pat Lentz as Anya Pertel; Brandon Scott as Bartender; Kevin Christy as Kurtis Rossi; PJ Byrne as Joe Fillion; René L. Moreno as Barney; Jerry Zatarain, Jr. as Juan

Via Fox through Spoiler TV