Dick Wolf's sprawling FBI universe didn't have the easiest year when it came to introducing CIA, the latest member of the family, to television. It endured delays, showrunner changes, and major cast departures before Tom Ellis eventually arrived on CBS earlier this year, and even after it debuted, it certainly took its sweet time to find its footing with audiences. Now, CBS is proving that it's doubling down on CIA and FBI.
CIA was renewed only weeks into its freshman run, and now we finally know when Ellis will be back on the case — alongside the series that started the entire franchise. CBS has officially confirmed that both shows will return on Monday, October 5, 2026, as part of its new fall schedule.
FBI Season 9 will kick off the evening at 8 PM ET, before CIA Season 2 follows immediately at 9 PM ET. Both shows are moving an hour earlier compared to their previous slots. Harlan Coben’s Final Twist Season 2 will then complete the network’s Monday lineup at 10 PM ET. The back-to-back scheduling will do wonders for allowing the shows to continue to cross over, too, because CIA had already established its connection to the flagship series throughout Season 1, with Jeremy Sisto appearing as Jubal Valentine alongside appearances from Missy Peregrym as Maggie Bell, Alana de la Garza as Isobel Castille and James Chen as Ian Lim.
‘CIA’ Had a Difficult Journey to CBS
The spin-off didn't have its troubles to seek and had to make changes before the cameras even rolled, with the departure of the original showrunner David Hudgins — replaced by Warren Leight — which prompted CBS to nudge the series from a fall premiere into midseason. Then it got worse, because Leight subsequently stepped down as production began, with FBI showrunner Mike Weiss taking over. Executive producer Eriq La Salle also departed, while original lead Michael Michele exited the project.
Despite the upheaval and mixed early reviews, CBS renewed CIA in March, just weeks after its February premiere. The series follows a rogue CIA case officer teaming up with a considerably more by-the-book FBI agent as part of a task force investigating domestic terrorism threats. It became the fourth entry in the FBI universe following FBI, FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International, with the latter two ending in 2025.
FBI Season 9 premieres on Monday, October 5 at 8 PM ET on CBS, immediately followed by CIA Season 2 at 9 PM ET. The first season of CIA is streaming on Paramount+.
CIA Season 2's Fate Officially Decided By CBS After Rocky Season 1 Production
The fate of CBS' new FBI spinoff series, CIA, has now been decided.
CBS confirmed that CIA has officially been renewed for season 2, following impressive viewership numbers from its series premiere. According to Paramount, the premiere episode saw 8.4 million multiplatform viewers via broadcast and streaming within the first seven days of its release.
Ratings for the first three episodes of the series showed a 39% improvement on Monday at 10 p.m. compared to the same timeslot in fall 2025.
Behind the scenes, though, CIA has had a rocky production. FBI: Most Wanted showrunner David Hudgins was initially in charge of the series, but Warren Leight later replaced him. That wasn't the end of the turnover, though, as he eventually departed, along with executive producer Eriq La Salle. Mike Weiss, who was the showrunner on the original FBI series, was hired as the CIA showrunner.
All of this turmoil, plus Michael Michele's departure from the cast, caused production delays, and CBS decided to give CIA a mid-season 2026 premiere after previously announcing it would debut in fall 2025.
CIA stars Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss as CIA Agent Colin Glass and FBI Agent Bill Goodman, respectively, who are tasked with working together on a secretive joint CIA/FBI task force. The two agents couldn't be more different, with the latter a rule-follower and the former more mischievous in nature.
While on the job together, Glass and Goodman stay in the shadows as they solve domestic and international crimes away from the eyes of the public.
Before CIA, Ellis was best known for his role as Lucifer Morningstar on the Fox/Netflix drama Lucifer, while Gehlfuss has starred in The Newsroom, Shameless, and Chicago Med (another Dick Wolf-created series).
Their CIA co-stars include Necar Zadegan and Natalee Linez. Zadegan, who plays Nikki Reynard, will guest star in the March 30 episode of FBI season 8, in which the Deputy Chief of Station is called in to help following a double homicide. The episode will mark Maggie Bell's return to the team after suffering a major loss.
Wolf created the hugely popular Law & Order and One Chicago franchises on NBC, and then went on to create the FBI crime procedural franchise for CBS. The first FBI series debuted in 2018 with star Missy Peregrym and is currently airing its eighth season.
Two years later, the first spinoff, FBI: Most Wanted, launched and aired for six seasons. FBI: International followed in its footsteps and aired for four seasons.
CIA, which currently has a 63% critic score and 51% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, marks the third FBI spinoff, with Wolf, Weiss, Ken Girotti, Paul Cabbad, Nicole Perlman, David Chasteen, Anastasia Puglisi, and Peter Jankowski serving as executive producers.
CIA airs Mondays at 10 p.m. EDT on CBS.
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