Network Upfronts III: CBS

I'm pleased to report absolutely legendary news, that CBS will renew "How I Met Your Mother" for next season.

For me, the show is in a tie with "The Office" as TV's best sitcom, so this is great news.

As for the rest of the network's new fall lineup, it will look much the same as last year's. Notable cancellations include "The Class" and "Jericho," which started out to strong ratings but was killed by the network's stupidity with a long break of over two months between the first and second halves of the season.

Other bubble shows that survived the cut are "The Unit," "The Amazing Race" and "New Adventures of Old Christine."

CBS will likely have the fewest changes of any of the networks. There are only five new scripted shows and two reality/game shows.

Most notable among the new crop is "Viva Laughlin" (Sundays, 8 p.m.) Executive produced by Hugh Jackman, who will occasionally appear in the series (similar to Salma Hayek and "Ugly Betty"), the show is based on the BBC musical series "Viva Blackpool." It's a musical-romance-mystery, about a gambler who buys a casino. Jackman plays the gambler's main rival.

CBS' other big drama is "Cane," (Tuesdays, 10 p.m.) starring Jimmy Smits and Hector Elizondo in a multi-generational story about a Cuban-American family and their sugarcane business. It also stars Rita Morena, Nestor Carbonell and Polly Walker.

Other shows announced by CBS:

-"Moonlight" (Fridays, 9 p.m.) is the tale of a vampire who uses his powers for good by battling other vampires, starring newcomer Alex O'Loughlin. I liked this show the first time around - when it was called "Angel."

-"Big Bang Theory" (Mondays, 8:30 p.m.) is CBS' lone new sitcom, about two geniuses who lack social skills. I've been told that I could be classified in such a way, though not so much with the genius part.

-"Swingtown," starring Molly Parker, is a midseason replacement about the swinging lifestyle in a suburban neighborhood in 1970s Chicago. Sounds like a premise that would work better on HBO or Showtime, but we'll see.

-"Power of 10" is a game show hosted by Drew Carey, in which contestants battle for a $10 million prize by guessing statistical facts about the average American.

-"Kid Nation" sounds like "Survivor" crossed with "The Twilight Zone." Forty kids will be sent to a New Mexico ghost town and be given six weeks to turn the town around by running it completely - no adults are present. They must cook, clean, govern, run the businesses, etc.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: Though Bob Barker isn't retiring until the summer, the venerable game show host gets a big sendoff tonight with "The Price Is Right Million-Dollar Spectacular" (CBS, 8 p.m.) One can only hope Neil Patrick Harris makes a cameo, in case you missed the instant classic "How I Met Your Mother" three weeks ago. It's followed by the season finales of "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: NY."

In case you haven't caught up on "Lost" (ABC, 10 p.m.) yet on your DVR, I won't spoil last week's killer (pun intended) ending except to say we won't find out the fate off that specific character this week. Make a note, though, that TV Guide has reported that four characters are supposed to die at some point before the end of the season. I'm just saying...

"Bones" (Fox, 8 p.m.) wraps up its sophomore year with another case, and more importantly, the wedding of Hodgins and Angela. It was kind of ingenious how the writers diverted the attention between a Booth-Bones romance by shifting gears with these two characters. It's followed by the "American Idol" voting results show, in which fans of the show get down to the final two.

NBC airs the series finale of "Crossing Jordan" at 9 p.m. and the season finale of "Medium" at 10 p.m.

Finally, "Hustle" (AMC, 10 p.m.) is also all-new.