‘Fire Country,’ ‘East New York’ & ‘So Help Me Todd’ Get Full Season Pickups at CBS

Meredith Jacobs October 19, 2022, 11:00 am

Max Thieriot in 'Fire Country,' Marcia Gay Harden in 'So Help Me Todd,' and Amanda Warren in 'East New York' — Sergei Bachlakov/CBS; Michael Courtney/CBS; Peter Kramer/CBS

CBS’ new dramas are already a hit this fall. The network has ordered full seasons of Fire Country, East New York, and So Help Me Todd, this year’s three most-watched new shows.

“CBS is off to a tremendous start this season,” Kelly Kahl, President, CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have the three most watched new series, each with their own unique settings, characters and storylines. These dramas are elevating our already successful lineup, resonating with diverse audiences both on-air and on streaming, and continuing to grow each week.

“We thank the talented casts, executive producers and their incredible writing and production teams for bringing these shows to life. Additional kudos to our CBS programming teams for shepherding these series to success. We are delighted to give them well deserved full season orders.”

Fire Country is the 2022-2023 season’s #1 new series, averaging 8.26 million viewers to date. The October 7 premiere delivered CBS’ best seven-day audience for a series in time period (Fridays at 9/8c) since May 8, 2020. It stars Max Thieriot, Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway, and Jules Latimer.

25 Most-Watched Fall 2022 Premieres

East New York is the #2 new series on any network, Sunday’s #1 new program with 7.37 million viewers, the #1 new show among African-American viewers, and the #2 entertainment series among African-American viewers (behind The Equalizer). It stars Amanda Warren, Jimmy Smits, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Kevin Rankin, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Olivia Luccardi, and Lavel Schley.

So Help Me Todd is the #3 new series on any network, Thursday’s #1 new series with its 6.48 million viewers winning the time period, and the most watched TV series on Paramount+ based on viewership since its premiere. It stars Marcia Gay Harden, Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, Tristen J. Winger, Inga Schlingmann, and Rosa Evangelina Arredondo.

This news comes after NBC ordered six more episodes for Quantum Leap‘s first season, bringing the total to 18.

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GoldCocktail
Oct 21, 2022
Excellent! I watch all three and really enjoy East New York and Todd. I like Fire Country too but grew up in real fire country and …it’s different lol.
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OliveCone
Oct 21, 2022
I love all 3 of these but Fire Country is my absolute favorite!
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BlueRadio
Oct 19, 2022
Great news! So far, so good. Only 3 new ones I’m watching.
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Lorr9539
Oct 19, 2022
I enjoy all 3 shows.The only show ( Fire Country ) has me concerned could easily turn into a night time soap opera with whining, arrogant, bed hopping characters. Which would cause me to stop watching. Only time will tell.
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  Jena
  Oct 19, 2022
  Really?? I haven't seen any bed-hopping yet on this show.
  
  Although I do share your trepidation. Almost every show involves some level of soap-opera-ness, even if bedroom scenes are never shown. I prefer that TV dramas stick with action, or whatever realm the show is set in (cops keeping street safe on cop shows, lawyers defending/prosecuting clients on legal shows, doctors & nurses healing patients on hospital shows, etc.). Unfortunately there is no way to avoid some level of that these days. 🙄
  
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    GoldCorn
    Oct 20, 2022
    I highly recommend the original Adam-12 which ended its run around 1975. Each episode is only 30 minutes long, so no fluff and only rarely soap opera-ish. Just 2 uniformed cops doing their jobs.
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      Jena
      Oct 20, 2022
      Thanks, M. I'm quite familiar with Adam-12 (to say the least!), and yes, that's how I like my action shows (or, more precisely, "workplace" shows). In fact, shows of the '70s were almost all like that-- either all workplace and no personal stuff, or full-on soaps. Maybe that's what formed my TV preferences: work-based shows stay at with a work focus, and interpersonal drama (soaps) stay with that.