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Quick Takes: CBS revamps its midseason schedule

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CBS, the No. 1 network this fall, is revamping its schedule for midseason.

“Blue Bloods,” the police drama starring Tom Selleck, will get a four-week tryout at 10 p.m. Wednesdays starting Jan. 19, the network said Tuesday. While the show will move back into its Friday-night slot after that, the network has high hopes for “Blue Bloods,” which is currently the second most-watched new drama this season after CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0.”

Starting Feb. 16, “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” will premiere in the 10 p.m. Wednesday slot. The crime series is a spinoff of “Criminal Minds,” one of CBS’ biggest hits.

“The Defenders,” the legal drama with Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi, will move to the quiet zone of 8 p.m. Fridays starting Feb. 4.

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CBS will also unfurl a couple new series: the sitcom “Mad Love” (starting Feb. 21), headed for the Monday comedy block, and “Chaos,” a one-hour comedy/drama (April 1) that’s slated for Fridays. “Mad Love” will be replacing “Rules of Engagement,” which is headed to Thursdays to be paired with “Big Bang Theory.” “$#*! My Dad Says,” which had been in that slot, will have completed its first-season order.

“We’re in the fortunate position of having a schedule with many successful shows and very few holes,” Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president primetime for CBS, said in a statement. “This allows us to be very targeted with our midseason series. These are moves that maintain the core stability of a successful schedule, while giving us multiple looks for the future at a few time periods.”

—Scott Collins

Pee-wee Herman back on HBO

HBO announced Tuesday that early next year it will broadcast “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” a Broadway production based on Paul Reubens’ original stage production, “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” and his Emmy-winning Saturday morning TV series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” Airing three decades after Reubens made his debut on the channel with “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” the special will reunite Mailman Mike, Cowboy Curtis, Miss Yvonne and other “Playhouse” characters loved by kids and child-like adults.

“Before his hit series and movies, HBO introduced Paul Reubens’ Pee-wee Herman to a national audience in the ‘Young Comedians’ series, followed by the groundbreaking 1981 special,” noted Nancy Geller, HBO’s senior vice president of original programming, in a statement. “It’s thrilling to have Paul back on the network, and it will be a blast to return to Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Lately, Reubens has experienced a comeback of sorts, appearing on “30 Rock,” “Family Guy” and the Todd Solondz movie “Life During Wartime.” Writer-director Judd Apatow recently announced that he and Reubens are developing a new movie based on Pee-wee.

—Melissa Maerz

George Lopez for mayor?

Will he or won’t he? Comedian George Lopez has people guessing whether he’s serious about running for mayor of Los Angeles.

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Lopez told the Fox 11 news show “Good Day L.A.” on Tuesday that he doesn’t think he could pass the background check right now, but he wants to run for mayor in eight years. Lopez says if actor Arnold Schwarzenegger can become California’s governor, there’s no reason he can’t be L.A.’s mayor. News wires picked up the story and ran with it.

However, the site Deadline.com later reported that Lopez’s representatives said the comic’s remarks were “shtick” and not meant to be taken seriously.

—Associated Press and Times staff reports

Another hearing for Jackson’s doc

A judge overseeing the criminal case of a doctor charged in Michael Jackson’s death has scheduled a hearing to determine if medical items found in the singer’s bedroom should undergo another round of testing.

Defense attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray have been asking for months that fluids in two syringes and an IV bag found in Jackson’s rented mansion be tested to determine how much of the anesthetic propofol they contained.

Coroner’s officials ruled Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication.

Murray’s defense attorneys say the items are deteriorating and the results could be crucial at trial, but prosecutors have downplayed the significance.

—Associated Press

Finally

For the blind: NBC’s

telecast of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve will include an optional audio track on which former President George H.W. Bush narrates the action for

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members of the audience who are blind or visually

impaired.

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