NBC-TV has given a full-season order for new mystery series The Mysteries of Laura. After a rather weak pilot episode, the show has delivered consistently good stories with engaging characters (especially Debra Messing’s eponymous protagonist) and interesting subject matter. Recent episodes delved into the art world, the “sharing economy,” and high fashion, with the latter episode providing some timely thoughts about intellectual property.

Featuring Messing as a smart and sardonic homicide detective with a chaotic family life, The Mysteries of Laura creates an impression similar to that of ABC’s Castle, although visually it is not as dark as the latter, which is all to the good, in my view. Like Castle, Laura‘s concept allows for a wide variety of story lines, suggesting NBC’s confidence that the show could work long-term is well-placed.

Over at CBS, they’ve just announced they’re giving four new shows full-season commitments: Madam Secretary, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, and Stalker. The four shows have all achieved good ratings—with Scorpion and NCIS: New Orleans as the top-rated and second-rated among all new series this season, respectively—though all except Stalker have benefited from exceptionally strong lead-in programs.

The latter fact suggests that CBS scheduled their new shows with great astuteness. Scorpion, after all, is extraordinarily inane, but a strong lead-in from The Big Bang Theory enhanced its audience performance. Now that TBBT is moving back to Thursdays, it will be interesting to see whether Scorpion retains its audience. In this instance, at least, it seems that CBS did a better job of scheduling than of programming.