CBS has been on a legendary run over the past two decades. Last year marked the 17th consecutive season where the network ranked as the most-watched broadcaster in prime-time programming, owning eight of the top ten best-performing series across television, including the entirety of the top seven. With juggernauts like Tracker, Matlock, FBI, NCIS, and Elsbeth under its purview, there are no signs that the eye is slowing down, and that's without counting hot newcomers like the Yellowstone spin-off, Marshals, which is already its most-watched show of the year. Just because it's successful, however, doesn't mean things can't change.
On Wednesday, CBS officially locked in its Fall 2026 schedule, and there are some significant changes bordering on unprecedented for the network. Only two comedies are set to make the cut, believed to be an all-time low, with three franchise blocks set aside for FBI on Tuesdays, NCIS on Wednesdays, and Fire Country on Fridays. Thursday will be the night for Robert and Michelle King, with their beloved murder mystery procedural, Elsbeth, moving to a new time at 9 p.m. and their new legal drama, Cupertino, coming in at 10 p.m., with both preceded by comedies Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage and Eternally Yours. Tracker, Marshals, and 60 Minutes will continue to hold down the fort on Sundays. In other words, the network is going heavy on crime.
Conspicuously missing from this round of shows are two CBS mainstays — Matlock and Ghosts. Although they've always enjoyed fall premieres, the network has opted to sit them out this time, keeping them on the bench until midseason. NCIS: Sydney, too, will join them in taking the fall off, with a new series in the long-running franchise, NCIS: New York, bringing back LL COOL J's Agent Sam Hanna, slotting in at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, between the flagship series and NCIS: Origins. Other shows also returning include Harlan Coben's Final Twist, which has been renewed for Season 2 and will join FBI and CIA on Monday, reality giants Survivor and The Amazing Race on Wednesdays, and Sheriff Country and Boston Blue on Fridays.
CBS Is Building on Its Strengths for Fall 2026
The full CBS fall 2026-2027 schedule lined up in a graphic
With this new, revamped lineup, CBS is doubling down on what has powered it to success year after year. The network is once again on track to score the top three primetime series on broadcast television with its three Sunday night shows, and it's also in line to have the top four most-watched freshman series between Marshals, Sheriff Country, Boston Blue, and CIA, and the top two comedies, between Georgie & Mandy and Ghosts. Building around those successes has meant some losses, like the death of the Monday comedy block after the end of The Neighborhood and DMV's cancellation, but CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach believes in the direction the network is taking. She also touted the new series coming down the pipeline, which she believes fit the network's ethos and will continue to grow audiences for years to come.
“CBS broadcasts the most-watched entertainment shows in the country and continues to launch more every season. We’ll build on that this fall by expanding the powerful NCIS franchise, introducing a new original drama from the creators of The Good Wife and Elsbeth and a new comedy from the acclaimed duo behind Ghosts. This all adds up to another schedule built for launching new hits, scaling audiences and growing content value.”
Check out the new CBS fall lineup for 2026-2027 above and stay tuned here at Collider for more on what the network has up its sleeves.
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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