Inside CBS' Popular Women-Led Procedurals

"The procedurals have been part of my career at CBS since I started," said Reisenbach (pictured below), who began with the network in 2005. "And honestly, even before I got here -- because I came from Warner Brothers, where they were co-producing Without a Trace and Cold Case as well. I had worked very closely with the Bruckheimer team, and then additionally, as I took on more shows, as my role grew at CBS, I had the opportunity to have worked on almost all of the CSIs."

Having badass women, including Queen Latifah on The Equalizer and Amanda Warren on East New York, lead shows is significant. Historically, these characters -- both tough and in law enforcement -- would have been white men. While the network has worked diligently to achieve the current line-up, the overarching philosophy of what goes on air has remained constant.

"The goals have remained the same; they just have gotten stronger," Reisenbach noted. Those aims are "to create culturally relevant shows, tell compelling stories, and make sure we have really interesting, nuanced characters. We want our shows to resonate with viewers. And most importantly, I think, is to make sure that we have diverse and inclusive [talent] on our shows and behind the scenes as well. The foundation for all of that has been in the works for a really long time. But we've really seen it accelerate the past few years, and it's really paid off, both for the audience, who I think is really responding to the shows, and for us. The ratings are really mirroring that."

CBS is home to seven of the top ten dramas, including the top three(NCIS, FBI, Blue Bloods).The network also has been doing particularly well with Black audiences; 19 of the top 30 series among African Americans are on CBS, according to Nielsen.

Amanda Warren believes it is vital to feature her character, Regina Haywood, as a Deputy Inspector overseeing police officers in a busy Brooklyn precinct in East New York."I think it's important to be any person who can compartmentalize different situations, having her own responsibilities and then delegating them, and the superior rank that she has," she said. "I can't necessarily speak to procedural drama, in the sense that our show, yes, does have a crime or a situation of the week, but in a lot of ways, it is serialized because of all of the character development that we are working on, and trying to strengthen. So, it's not necessarily per se a procedural, but it is very much a crime drama that's rooted in character development and layering and all these people who serve the community.

"Rather than saying why it's a good time for Regina Haywood, it's a good time for East New York because we are looking at what's happened in society in recent years," Warren continued. "However, we may see it and try to start a conversation with our story in building, or bridging rather, the gap between policing and community. And rather than looking at a particular character, we're looking at the story as a whole. That's why East New Yorkis so relevant and important to today, and the characters that are in this story -- all of them."

The series also works, as Warren referenced, because it reveals Haywood's devotion to serving the community. The character is a "true public servant, not a politician, but a public servant, which we are lacking, very much so everywhere," she added. "Seeing someone do public service, who happens to be Black, of course, is always a beautiful thing. I love the Afro-American culture and what is given to me as a Black American woman. And I think once we're given the opportunity and the platform to be able to do what other people have been able to do -- and if history is any guide -- it's just a testament to where we can go, if we're allotted the room and given the opportunity to do so. I think it's making real progress and normalizing diversity on screen."

Making progress and normalizing diversity behind the scenes is what Jan Nash (pictured above) has been doing for decades. One of the three showrunners on NCIS: Hawai'i, she has an unusual backstory. A former investment banker, strategic planner, and development executive, Nash turned to writing before running shows and has worked on Without a Trace, Rizzoli & IslesandNCIS: New Orleans, among others.

"I have been very, very lucky in my life and, to a certain extent, very conscious in the choices that I've made about who I'm willing to work with," Nash said. "I've worked with great men, too. And so I've been really lucky to have had an experience where, in fact, I never perceived that my gender was a factor in how people perceive my work. Some of that comes from having had a number of careers before this one. I do have a somewhat unique skill set. I wouldn't say I'm a trailblazer by any stretch of the imagination because there were plenty of women before me who ran CSI and various other things and a lot of women who ran comedy shows. But I did have a fairly unique background. It gave me a skill set that was relevant to the business of television and made me an easy hire in certain circumstances."

Among Nash's skill set is that she reflexively shares credit; it's an inclusive attitude that transfers to the shows and results in what viewers have been turning toward.

"We want our shows to reflect our audience, and our audience is incredibly diverse," Reisenbach said. "Therefore, we need different points of view behind the camera to make sure that we are attacking each story from as many different angles as we can, and for really making sure that our shows are culturally resonating for our audience. We can't do that with only one point of view."

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