In the fall of 2010, CBS marked the 60^th straight season of airing a sitcom on Monday nights at 9:00. The future looked bright for the timeslot occupant, Two and a Half Men. While it trailed its competitor, Dancing With the Stars (2^nd), in the ratings, it was the second-highest-rated network sitcom, barely bested by The Big Bang Theory, which aired on CBS on Thursday nights.

However, Charlie Sheen entered rehab yet again, and production stopped on the series after just 16 episodes were completed. Sheen’s unreliability, combined with his criticism of Two and a Half Men co-creator/executive producer Chuck Lorre, resulted in his firing. With the shortened season, the series fell to 16^th place in the yearly Nielsen ratings.

However, those numbers were still high enough for CBS to continue the series without Sheen. With Ashton Kutcher, formerly of That ‘70s Show, in place as Sheen’s replacement, CBS confidently left the series in its Monday night timeslot. Curiosity about the new version of the show lifted the series to a ratings high in its season premiere. Numbers remained strong throughout the season, and the series rose to 11^th in the Nielsen ratings, despite tough competition from Dancing With the Stars, in 3^rd place, and The Voice (10^th place), which started its season in February 2012.

Following the successful season, Jon Cryer won his second Emmy, this time for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Apparently fearing Two and a Half Men would eventually wear out its welcome, and thinking Two Broke Girls, which aired at 8:30 on Mondays, was on the upswing, CBS moved Two and a Half Men to a protected slot behind The Big Bang Theory on Thursday. Two Broke Girls was then slotted on Monday nights at 9:00 for the fall of 2012.

This was a miscalculation on CBS’ part. Two and a Half Men thrived on Thursday, finishing in the top 10 for the first time. Two Broke Girls only ranked 28^th in the season’s Nielsen ratings, falling well behind top ten favorites Dancing With the Stars and The Voice. Like Two and a Half Men, Two Broke Girls was criticized for being raunchy and insensitive at times, even though the content of both series was considerably tamer than some acclaimed cable comedies.

While Dancing With the Stars and The Voice continued with top 10 ratings during the 2013-14 season, Two Broke Girls saw its numbers fall enough that CBS moved it up a half hour in November of 2013, replacing it at 9:00 with Mike & Molly, which had performed respectably on Monday at 9:30 for several seasons. While the ratings improved slightly from Two Broke Girls, Mike & Molly finished well behind ABC and NBC entries in the timeslot.

Heading into the 2014-15 season, CBS made the shocking decision to schedule something other than a sitcom on Monday nights at 9:00 for the first time in 63 years. While Mike & Molly was renewed, it was moved elsewhere, and the drama Scorpion took over the slot. The decision initially paid off as Scorpion finished 14^th and 16^th in its two seasons on Monday nights at 9:00.

CBS returned the slot to sitcoms in 2016, but only with half-hearted efforts. Two Broke Girls held the slot briefly, and newcomer Superior Donuts occupied the slot for a year and a half, except for a brief trial run for Kevin Can Wait in the fall of 2017. All struggled in the ratings, and CBS handed over the slot to the drama Magnum P.I. in the fall of 2018. Since then, the streaming series One Day at a Time, a reboot of the popular 1970s sitcom, is the only sitcom to air in the slot on CBS. The network briefly aired reruns of that series during the COVID-delayed 2020 season.

CBS shows no inclination to bring sitcoms back to the timeslot. Since The Big Bang Theory moved to Thursdays at 8:00, that timeslot appears to be the new version of Monday nights at 9:00. Succeeded by its spinoff, Young Sheldon, and its spinoff’s spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, shows from The Big Bang family will have held the slot for 16 years (and counting) this season. Only 47 to go to match Monday night’s record.