Comedy gets more episodes, but not a back-nine

"The Class," the last of CBS' new shows not to get either cancelled or picked up for a full season, will get a few more episodes to prove itself.

According to the industry trade papers, Kelly Kahl, CBS' senior executive vice president of programming planning, told attendees at a Wednesday (Nov. 15) industry lunch that the network is working on an agreement to order a number of additional episodes, though probably not a full back-nine.

CBS launched "The Class" with considerable hype, giving the freshman comedy from David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik the covered Monday 8 p.m. ET position. After several weeks of diminishing ratings, the network stepped in and moved "How I Met Your Mother" up to 8 p.m. and pushed "The Class" to an 8:30 p.m. berth.

Initially the move seemed to benefit "The Class," but ratings have remained sluggish. Through its first eight episodes, the comedy averaged 8.53 million viewers.

CBS isn't exactly loaded with midseason comedy alternatives to "The Class," though the network is optimistic about "Rules of Engagement," starring David Spade, Oliver Hudson and Patrick Warburton.