CBS’ fall shows? Wait until mid-October

If you’re already tired of summer TV, CBS has bad and good news.
The bad: The fall season won’t start (with “Matlock,” shown here)until Oct. 12; that’s two or three weeks later than usual for many networks.
The good: In the interim, there will be three straight Sundays of specials, plus an earlier start for reality and news shows.
That stretch starts with the Video Music Awards (formerly only on MTV) Sept. 7 and the Emmys on Sept. 14. Both will be 8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT.
A week later will be “A Grammy Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire.” That’s 8-10 p.m. Sept. 21, conveniently matching a 1978 song — No. 8 on the Billboard chart — that begins “Do you remember/the 21st night of September?”
Also getting off to an early start will be “Survivor” (Sept. 24), “Amazing Race” (Sept. 25), “48 Hours” (Sept. 27) and “60 Minutes” (Sept. 28, the night the summertime “Big Brother” has its season-finale.
After that, the “premiere week” has the season-openers of:
— Sunday, Oct. 12: “Matlock,” 8:30; “Elsbeth,” 9:30.
— Oct. 13: “The Neighborhood,” 8 p.m.; “DMV” (a new comedy), 8:30; “FBI,” 9; and “Watson” (moving from Sundays,” 10.
— Oct. 14: “NCIS,” 8; “NCIS: Origins,” 9; “NCIS: Sydney,” 10.
— Oct. 15: “Survivor” and “Amazing Race” in their regular times of 8 and 9:30.
— Oct. 16: “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” 8: “Ghosts,” 8:30; then “Matlock” and “Elsbeth” in their regular times of 9 and 10.
— Oct. 17: “Fire Country” moving up to the 8 p.m. slot for a week, leading into the debuts of “Sheriff Country” (a “Fire Country” spin-off) and “Boston Blue” (a “Blue Bloods” spin-off) at 9 and 10. A week later, “Fire Country” returns to its 9 p.m. spot, with “Sheriff Country” at 8.
— Oct. 19: “Tracker,” 8 p.m.; “The Road,” a country-music reality show, 9.
Waiting until mid-season are “CIA,” “Y: Marshals” (a “Yellowstone” spin-off) and non-fiction shows — “Hollywood Squares,” “America’s Culinary Cup” and a true-crime series tentatively titled “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist.”