CBS moves 'Harper's Island' to Saturdays
UPDATED: Saturday night is starting to get pretty popular.
After three episodes, CBS is moving struggling mystery thriller Harper's Island from Thursdays to Saturday nights at 9 p.m. starting May 2.
CBS will air procedural repeats in the slot for two weeks and then the finale of CSI: NY on May 14 (schedule changes below).
Harper's hit a modest note out of the gate, then declined with each episode. The network still plans to air all the remaining Harper's episodes, with the finale set for July 11.
The shakeup comes after NBC relocated Kings from Sunday to the low-viewed Saturdays, and ABC scheduled Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money to burn off their remaining episodes on Saturdays this summer. Yet even being relocated to Saturday by no means guarantees a program will continue uninterrupted -- NBC recently pushed Kings to summer after the drama came in last place on its new night.
Most thought Harper's was an inventive idea -- a mystery series where characters were killed off one by one like on a reality show -- that stumbled from less-than-inventive execution. CBS promoted the show well too. Yet NBC's new cop drama Southland went head-to-head against the series and has fared better in the slot.
"The preliminary DVR and online streaming data suggest a passionate audience for 'Harper's' outside its current Thursday time period borders," said CBS scheduling head Kelly Kahl. "This move gives us an opportunity to improve the time period on Thursday while experimenting with more original programming on Saturday, and continuing to serve an audience that is clearly engaged in the ongoing 'Harper's Island' story."
UPDATED: TV Series Survival Status Report
The following replaces previously announced CBS programming in April and May:
Wednesday, April 29
8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT CBS NEWS COVERAGE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL NEWS CONFERENCE
9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT CSI: NY
Thursday, April 30
10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT CRIMINAL MINDS (R)
Saturdays, Effective May 2
9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT HARPER'S ISLAND (New Time Period)
Thursday, May 7 CSI (R)
10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT
Wednesday, May 13
8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE
Thursday, May 14
10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT CSI: NY (Season Finale)
Wednesday, May 20
8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (Season Finale)
8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT GARY UNMARRIED (Season Finale)
9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT CRIMINAL MINDS (Season Finale)