After CBS attempted to revamp its Monday night this fall to make way for new series, it has decided to go back to reliable ratings performer “Mike & Molly,” starting tonight. “Mike & Molly,” which is executive produced by Chuck Lorre and stars Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell, had been slated to return later this season.

CBS took some risks this fall with new shows “We Are Men,” “Mom” and “Hostages,” using “How I Met Your Mother” as the night’s lead-in, but the network is now changing up its schedule midseason in favor of more reliable fare. Ratings have declined for the once-powerful primetime line-up, although that’s more rule than exception: most of the broadcast networks’ new sitcoms are struggling.

“Mike & Molly” now will anchor the night on Mondays at 9 p.m. “How I Met Your Mother,” in its last season, kicks off the evening, followed by “2 Broke Girls,” which is relinquishing its enviable 9 p.m. spot and moving up to 8:30. “Mom,” which also is executive produced by Lorre, remains at 9:30 p.m., followed by big DVR-gainer “Hostages” at 10 p.m.

CBS had hoped to turn “2 Broke Girls” into its next Monday night break-out hit, along the lines of Lorre’s “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory,” but didn’t see the same sort of audience build that those two shows enjoyed. According to Variety‘s Brian Lowry, giving the sitcom the Monday night tentpole slot ended up hurting both CBS’ once unbeatable Monday lineup as well as “2 Broke Girls’” ratings. That’s particularly significant because TBS paid “Big Bang” level prices to acquire “2 Broke Girls” in syndication, but it’s not turning in “Big Bang”-level ratings.

Read more at MediaLife Magazine.

Brief Take: CBS’ latest comedy hiccup reflects the scheduling puzzle of all TV broadcast nets: new series rely on old series to bring them along, but how much can a network truly rely on them?

[Image courtesy of CBS]

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