CBS is massively downsizing its FBI roster with the cancellation of both FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted. CBS announced in February that the anchor series, simply titled FBI, will proceed as planned through the 2026-2027 season.
Entertainment Weekly can confirm that a third franchise spinoff, FBI: CIA, is also still in development.
Law & Order kingpin Dick Wolf and The Good Wife alum Craig Turk created the police procedural in 2018. The anchor series aired a backdoor pilot for its first spinoff in April 2019, and FBI: Most Wanted hit the air the following January. FBI: International followed in Sept. 2021. Most Wanted is currently in the midst of its sixth season, while International is in its fourth.
Fans of the spinoff series had reason for concern late last month when CBS announced all the shows that would be receiving renewals. Conspicuously absent were FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International, as well as fellow cops and robbers drama S.W.A.T., which was previously canceled in 2023 before being renewed after fan backlash.
The double cancellation follows last year’s shocking cancellation of Blue Bloods. “I’m kind of frustrated,” star Tom Selleck said of the decision to end the long-running and enduringly popular series. “If you were to say to the television network, ‘Here’s a show you can program in the worst time slot you got, and it is going to guarantee you winning Friday night for the next 15 years,’ it would be almost impossible to believe.”
Still, the simultaneous cancellation of both FBI series comes as a surprise, giving the popularity of CBS’s Tuesday night schedule, which features new episodes of each FBI franchise property back-to-back. The franchise has also pulled off several widely-viewed crossover events which showcase team-ups from cast across the franchise, including Jeremy Sisto and Shantel VanSanten (FBI), Luke Kleintank (FBI: International), and Dylan McDermott (FBI: Most Wanted).
That Tuesday night programming gimmick earned CBS the most-watched and highest-rated program on the Tuesday TV schedule last spring.
“The All-FBI Tuesday is a powerful force to be reckoned with on our primetime schedule,” CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach, said last April, when the network announced that all three shows would be returning for more episodes.
