CBS: 'NCIS' spinoff, 'Mentalist,' Mayer...

TCA (UPDATED) -- CBS will air an episode of freshman hit "The Mentalist" this Sunday after the network’s presentation of the AFC Championship game. The move will give the freshman hit its biggest lead-in yet -- likely upwards of 35 million viewers.

The network is also ordering an extra episode of "The Mentalist" for this season, for a total of 23 episodes.

CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler also confirmed the network is moving forward with a spinoff of "The Mentalist's" popular lead-in, "NCIS." The network is shooting a pilot that will premiere as an episode of the series, just as "NCIS" launched as an episode of "JAG."

"It’s happening; we're doing it," said Tassler. "We’ve seen an outline and we’re going to cast and shoot it."

Tassler also said the network is close to a deal for its variety show project hosted by musician John Mayer. CBS hopes the project will become either a series or a series of specials. Tassler described it as a "music-variety-sketch-thing" and later said she wasn't concerned about NBC's unsuccessful Thanksgiving eve "Rosie Live" variety effort.

Critics also asked Tassler about NBC getting rid of its 10 p.m. dramas, a move that will almost certainly benefit the Tiffany network by reducing competition in the hour.

"Our first reaction when they did that was to say thank you," Tassler said. "It was certainly the right move for their network, but it doesn't and shouldn't suggest the current network television system doesn't work ... [for us] we looked at it and said why should one network's failure in development redirect an entire scheduling strategy?"

Tassler addressed cutting short the freshman seasons for "Worst Week" and "Eleventh Hour," two moderately rated shows, saying the decision was simply driven by scheduling, to make room for midseason shows "Harper’s Island" and "Rules of Engagement."

Given its ratings success, CBS enjoyed a congenial session with the critics. Tassler said the network has broken several primetime myths -- that networks no longer grow their audience, that sitcoms are dead, that scheduling strategy no longer matters and that CBS has too many crime drams.

"Six of our procedurals have increased viewership in their time period over last season," Tassler said. "I think it's now fair to call CBS the Comedy Broadcasting System as well as the Crime Broadcasting System."

CBS’ performance has been aided by the network’s dealmaking strategy, Tassler said, that writer and actor salary requirements are coming down. "People are realizing that they have to adjust," she said.

The network is also exploring more series to be co-productions with foreign networks, like midseason series "Flashpoint," which is a co-production with Canadian broadcaster CTV.

Given the network has so few holes to fill, next fall CBS is only looking for three dramas.

"We know we're somewhat boring," said a CBS spokesperson introducing Tassler.