This post is part of a series of reports from this month's Television Critics Association winter press tour, where the networks introduce their midseason offerings. Check back over the next week for more info on what's coming soon to primetime TV.
With shows like the juggernaut procedural "NCIS" and the successfully revamped "Two and a Half Men" (sorry, Charlie), CBS doesn't have too many holes in its lineup to fill with midseason replacements (in fact, it rolled out just one new series). Nor does the ratings champ need to expend much energy trying to impress TV critics, who typically have few kind words for CBS programs outside of "The Good Wife." Still, execs, showrunners, and stars showed up and (mostly) played nice with the press."Rob" (January 12)
Though "brainy" is not an adjective that usually comes to mind when talking about Rob Schneider, this culture-clash comedy starring the "SNL" veteran is CBS's latest attempt to find a good pairing for Thursday night's geeky hit "The Big Bang Theory." In it, Schneider elopes with a woman after knowing her for just a few weeks, and they must now break the news to her large, protective, Mexican-American family. Let the humorous misunderstandings begin!
Choice Quote: "Latinos have an incredible sense of humor, and they take pure delight in laughing at themselves. You can point out something to anybody in my family any day, and they'll laugh and say, 'It's true.' And then they will come back with a retort about what's wrong with me, but then we hug each other and it's all over." — co-star Diana Maria Riva, responding to concerns about potentially offensive stereotypes
Will We Watch? While the ethnic jokes didn't feel quite as icky as some of the material on "Outsourced," visual gags about dry-humping senior citizens didn't really do much to win us over. So our answer's the same in both English and Spanish: no.
