Quick. Which network comes to mind when you hear "cops and other heroes?"
Congratulations! CBS is correct.
And now for the bonus round: 10 points for each current series you can name.
The long list of CBS older-skewing shows that involve crime-busting, action, guns, legal eagles, crusading doctors and other assorted action heroes includes Blue Bloods, Bull, Code Black, Criminal Minds, Elementary, Hawaii Five-0, Instinct, MacGyver, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, S.W.A.T., Scorpion, SEAL Team and, of course, Ransom.
What? You never heard of Ransom? See below.
I call the CBS lineup "geezervision." I can get away with that because I eased into geezerhood years ago ("Get off my lawn!").
For the record, youth-loving advertisers aim for the 18-49 demographic and (rightly or wrongly) consider everyone over 50 so set in their ways that it's hardly worth advertising to them. Therefore, the networks constantly try to "skew younger."
Senior citizen or not, if you enjoy fairly uncomplicated, straightforward drama with familiar characters and no envelope pushing, then CBS is your go-to place. It's like comfort food on TV.
For example, we never miss NCIS at our house, but the plots are such familiar formulas that we take turns seeing who can guess the perp the earliest each week. We usually can do it in the first 12 minutes.
There must be a lot of NCIS fans out there because even after 15 seasons, the series is network TV's most-watched drama with about 14 million weekly viewers.
Fifteen seasons is a television lifetime these days. When the JAG spinoff premiered on Sept. 23, 2003, series "patriarch" Mark Harmon (Jethro Gibbs) was a youthful 52. Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto) was a fresh-faced 34, and David McCallum (Ducky) was a spry 69.
Taking care of its older viewers is what CBS had in mind when it decided to schedule a second season of Ransom on Saturday nights. Chances are the core audience won't be out clubbing and appreciate something other than reruns.
Ransom's first new episode arrives at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Don't feel bad if you missed it last season. Ransom was the lowest-rated series among the Big 4 broadcast networks, finishing out the season with fewer than 3 million viewers. Airing on Saturday night was the major reason. CBS even canceled it in May before resurrecting it in October.
Kudos to the network for not killing Saturday night with reruns.
Ransom follows crisis and hostage negotiator Eric Beaumont (Luke Roberts, Black Sails) and his intrepid team as they venture where no one else dares to go in order to save lives.
If Eric, who does not believe in violence, has a superpower, it's that he understands criminals far better than the cops. He uses his ability to decipher human behavior to resolve even the most difficult kidnapping or ransom case.
However, CBS tells us, "While Eric's considerable abilities make him the best at what he does, they often complicate his relationships with family, friends and colleagues."
Eric's Scooby team consists of psych-profiler, Oliver Yates (Brandon Jay McLaren, Harper's Island) ex-cop Zara Hallam (Nazneen Contractor, Revenge) and investigator Maxine Carlson (Sarah Greene, Penny Dreadful).
Season 2 will have 13 episodes.
• Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, 7 p.m. today on MTV. Proving that TV thinks we are suckers for nostalgia, or that TV truly has run out of ideas, MTV has gathered the original Jersey Shore gang and packed them off to a swanky house in Miami for a monthlong "family" vacation.
Is this trip really necessary? The show was hugely popular for six seasons, but it has been more than five years since we were subject to the puerile antics of these airheads. These guys are in their 30s now. It ain't so cute anymore.
Will there be more bars, gyms and tanning salons? Several are married now and some have kids. Maybe it's time to grow up. We'll find out when original housemates Deena Nicole Cortese, Paul "Pauly D" Delvecchio, " Jenni "JWOWW" Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino get together.
What about Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola? She's sitting this one out, but the gang believes she'll be back for Season 2. Yes (sigh). MTV has already ordered a second season.
One other hitch: In January, Sorrentino, 35, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of tax evasion. He faces sentencing April 25.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 04/05/2018