CBS orders 7 shows: Sherlock Holmes drama, Groupon sitcom, more

CBS pilot verdicts are in: Four dramas, two comedies — including a Sherlock Holmes detective series and sitcom about working at Groupon. The network also picked up a reality show from Mark Burnett.

CBS has given a half-dozen scripted projects series orders for next season, starting with Elementary, a modern-day New York City-based drama series that’s sounded like a no-brainer for the network’s brand since it was first developed. Jonny Lee Miller plays Sherlock, Lucy Liu gives a feminine twist to Watson. Aidan Quinn co-stars.

The network’s most intriguing-sounding new drama is Vegas, a period piece set in the 1960s centered around the true story of Ralph Lamb: rodeo cowboy turned longtime sheriff of Las Vegas. On paper, this one seemed like a long shot given the way fellow recent ’60s-set dramas Pan Am and Playboy Club fared in the ratings. But if you’re going to dip into the past on CBS, you can’t get much safer than doing a Vegas-set crime drama — you could almost call it a CSI prequel. Plus the cast is great: Dennis Quaid is the sheriff, Michael Chiklis is a mob fixer, plus there’s Jason O’Mara and Carrie-Ann Moss.

Next up is Made in New Jersey (formerly Baby Big Shot) and Golden Boy. The former is about a working-class woman (Janet Montgomery) who uses her street smarts to compete with her more polished colleagues at a Manhattan law firm. Kyle MacLachlan, Pablo Schreiber co-star. Golden Boy tracks one cop’s (Theo James) meteoric rise from officer to detective to police commissioner. Co stars Chi McBride, Kevin Alejandro, Bonnie Somerville.

On the comedy side, the network that brought us Twitter-based $#*! My Dad Says and Twitter-based actor Ashton Kutcher is once again showing its affinity for new media. CBS has greenlit Friend Me. Here’s the (rather extensive) logline: “Twentysomething best friends, Evan and Rob, move from their hometown of Bloomington, Ind., to Los Angeles to begin their exciting new lives working at Groupon. Evan is having trouble breaking his old slothful habits and rather than go out after work to explore L.A. and meet new people, prefers to play online poker with his buddies back home. Rob has different plans and is determined to drag Evan, kicking and screaming, along with him.” Cast includes Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicholas Braun.

CBS also ordered Partners, a title that sounds like a 21st century version of Friends, but the logline is very different. It’s described as “a personal story of two lifelong friends and business partners. Architects Charlie and Louis’ friendship has lasted longer than either of their romantic relationships and almost seems like a weird marriage. When Charlie decides to propose to his girlfriend, Louis’ neurotic attempts to be supportive nearly result in the breakup of his own relationship.” Cast: David Krumholtz, Michael Urie, Sophia Bush, Brandon Routh.

The network also picked up an unscripted show called The Job from producers Burnett and Michael Davies. In the show, contestants compete to win a job at an entertainment magazine (um, should we be worried?).