LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- "I just want to put it out there, we've told Warner Bros. we would like to have an 11th season," CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said about "Two and a Half Men" at the top of her executive session at the TCA Winter Press Tour. "And they're equally interested. So stay tuned."
Said development was one of several updates the executive gave about their stable of new and returning series:
There's still plenty of good news to tout. While NBC has pulled in front among adults 18-49 and 25-54, CBS remains the most-watched network. Tassler was quick to trumpet they have four of the top five comedies, the top seven dramas and 17 of the top 30 shows overall.
They want Angus T. Jones back too. "We'd like him to be part of it next year," Tassler said when pressed about the "Two and a Half Men" actor, who made headlines in November for a video in which he had some harsh words about the show and his employers. "He made his public apology, and we've moved on. He's tabling next week. And we'd like the show back, and we'd like him to come back too." Tassler would later note that co-star Ashton Kutcher is not signed for season 11.
The post-Super Bowl slot was between "Elementary" and "Vegas." "[They] were, like, one and two, competing for the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, alternating during the beginning of the season," the executive admitted. "We think it's got a lot of great appeal, the relationship between Holmes and Watson is palpable and we just felt it was a better fit for right after the Super Bowl in terms of appealing to all the viewers."
They're sorry to see Jennifer Esposito go from "Blue Bloods." "I think in the situation like that, we're sorry to see her go," Tassler said. "We tried to resolve it. It didn't quite work out. And, you know, we wish her the best."
The fate of "Friend Me" is still up in the air. "It was a very painful situation this year towards the end of the production of the show," she said, referring to the death of co-creator Alan Kirschenbaum. "It kind of slowed things down a little bit. So we're still in post. We haven't made any decisions just yet... but when we look at it, we'll make a decision at that time."
"How I Met Your Mother" will likely be renewed "in a few days." "We're very confident and excited that things will all work out, and almost everything is completed," she noted. "Almost everything."
Other highlights from CBS's panels:
Nicholas Wootton teased some guest stars on his new drama "Golden Boy." "William Sadler plays a corrupt present day police commissioner, Polly Draper plays the Clark siblings ne'er-do-well mother," the executive producer revealed. Other names mentioned include Dan Hedaya, Richard Kind, James Naughton, Michael Madsen and Robert John Burke, "who plays Don Owen's (Chi McBride) former partner in our finale episode that flashes to back to Don Owen's devastating day on September 11, 2001."
John Hannah has been cast as Sherlock's old dealer from London on "Elementary." "We'll meet yet another person from [Sherlock's] past who spends a little time with Sherlock and Joan," creator Robert Doherty said about the role. Adding, he'll provide a "window into Sherlock and his experience in London [that] is going to open that much wider for having met this character."
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