CBS renews 'The Mentalist' (but cancels 5 others)

CBS made their toughest calls of the season Saturday, rendering pickup verdicts on six bubble shows.

The good news: Long-running crime procedural The Mentalist will continue to a seventh season. The drama has struggled on Sunday nights in the ratings, but this season the series had a creative reboot which moved the show’s setting from Sacramento to Austin, Texas, after killing off Patrick Jane’s (Simon Baker) longtime nemesis Red John. Showrunner Bruno Heller will now serve double-duty on Mentalist and his new Fox series, Gotham.

Then there was CBS’ other moves. Monday night dramas Intelligence and Hostages will not come back (the latter launched in the fall and was long presumed not to return, but this is the first time CBS has confirmed this). On the comedy side, midseason launches Bad Teacher and Friends with Better Lives are both canceled, which is not too surprising.

Finally, freshman comedy The Crazy Ones is axed. The Thursday night sitcom starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar was considered the bubble comedy with the best odds of returning.

The verdicts follow CBS ordering several new shows, including a spin-off of NCIS and a spin-off of on the drama side, and on the comedy side two new shows, including a reboot of The Odd Couple starring Matthew Perry. The much-buzzed about spin-off of How I Met Your Mother has not been picked up, despite media reports (including ours) touting a pending order. It’s not yet clear if CBS will pick up any more shows for next season.

The cancellations bring the list of axed shows this week to a total of 22. That full list is here.