CBS has been strangely mysterious when it comes to how some of its current series will fare by the time the next fall season rolls around. Particularly, none of the first-year shows had officially gotten any news good or bad, but the first of those to get the thumbs up for Season 2 is the family comedy Life in Pieces. We will not be delivering the rest of this story from four different points of view, though.
Not a network usually quick to bring the axe to its series in recent years, CBS would have been insane to pull the plug on Life in Pieces after the successful first season the comedy put together. CBS is often on top of ratings charts throughout the week, and Life in Pieces did not disappoint there, as it was the top new comedy of the season in total viewers, with an average of 10.53 million tuning in each week. The ratings for the succeeding 21 episodes never matched the premiere’s, as is normal, but they went up and down in a generally positive way, which also netted the series the distinction of being the number one new comedy in the key 18-49 and 25-54 demographics as well. Those are extremely enviable achievements.
Beyond the quality of the show itself, there’s a really sensible and obvious reason why those ratings were so high. First on Monday and then on Thursday, Life in Pieces has aired after The Big Bang Theory in a slot that it will likely keep for as long as CBS wants it to continue drawing audiences that large. Not that it would be impossible to accomplish elsewhere on the schedule, but Big Bang Theory is never watched by fewer than a billion people (or something possibly not quite as high). Even the repeats. I’d totally want to be in that timeslot and I, Truman Burbank, am not even a TV show.
Life in Pieces boasts both a top notch cast and a unique episode structure that will keep creator Justin Adler busy with storytelling for years. (The comedy also got better as it went along, so stick around if you hadn’t kept with it the first time.)The chaos revolves around the three generations of the Short family, with the major players being played by Colin Hanks, Zoe Lister-Jones, Betsy Brandt, Dan Bakkedahl, Thomas Sadoski and the always great James Brolin and Dianne Wiest at the top of the family tree. And the problem-filled stories are aided by recurring roles and guest spots filled by hilarious actors like Jordan Peele, Martin Starr, Stephanie Weir, Nora Dunn and many more.
With some shows bowing out and others already gone, CBS will already have several empty slots to fill in the next few weeks to accompany its returning favorites. Will Supergirl be the next to get renewed, or will it come first to Code Black, Limitless or Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders? We’ll let you know.
