Another year, another culling season in network television. CBS’s 2025 renewal and cancellation decisions reveal a network making calculated moves, with five scripted series getting the axe while nine others secured their future.
The pattern that emerges tells the real story: CBS systematically favored in-house productions while cutting external studio shows. Financial negotiations with outside producers played a major role in several high-profile cancellations, signaling that content ownership matters as much as ratings in today’s TV landscape.
From Dick Wolf’s empire taking some hits to the NCIS universe continuing its world domination, here’s how your favorite CBS shows fared in the network’s annual Hunger Games. Spoiler alert: not everyone made it out alive.
The Axed Squad — FBI: Most Wanted
After six seasons of chasing fugitives across America, this Dick Wolf spinoff finally got caught by the network’s budget axe. CBS President Amy Reisenbach confirmed that financial considerations played a major role in the cancellation decision.
While it never quite captured the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of its flagship parent, FBI (2018), it carved out a respectable niche for procedural fans who liked their crime-solving with a side of cross-country road trip vibes.
FBI: International
Four seasons was apparently all CBS could stomach for this globe-trotting spinoff that took the FBI franchise overseas. Despite decent ratings, international production costs and the logistical nightmare of filming across multiple countries likely made this one too expensive to justify keeping around.
S.W.A.T.
Third time’s the charm for cancellation, apparently. After previously being saved from the chopping block twice, Shemar Moore’s action-packed reboot of the 1975 series by Robert Hammer finally met its match in March 2025 when it was cancelled for the last time.
Eight seasons is a solid run for any show, but this one’s repeated resurrections were fueled by passionate fan campaigns and the show’s distinctive approach to tackling contemporary social issues within the police procedural format.
The Equalizer
Queen Latifah’s vigilante justice series got the boot from CBS brass on May 2, 2025, after five seasons of kicking ass and taking names.
While the show was initially a breakout hit following its Super Bowl launch and remained a reliable Sunday performer, CBS ultimately made the cancellation decision based on financial considerations and the network’s broader strategic priorities, which favored in-house productions (Universal Television produced The Equalizer).
Poppa’s House
One and done for this family sitcom that never quite found its footing. Despite CBS’s desperate need for successful multi-cam comedies, this one starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. couldn’t build enough of an audience to justify a sophomore season. Sometimes, even the most wholesome family dynamics can’t save a show from ratings reality.
The Summit
This reality competition series, which challenged 16 strangers to climb a mountain together within 14 days while voting each other out along the way, peaked early and tumbled down the ratings mountain after just one season.
In an era where even established reality franchises struggle to maintain relevance, new formats need to be absolutely bulletproof to survive – and this one wasn’t.
The Survivors Club: Elsbeth
Carrie Preston’s delightfully eccentric detective continues to charm audiences into a third season. This Good Wife spinoff proved that sometimes the quirkiest characters deserve their own spotlight, delivering the kind of procedural comfort food that CBS does best. The show will continue to air on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. in the 2025-2026 season.
Fire Country
Max Thieriot’s firefighter drama continues to burn bright with a fourth season renewal. The show’s unique blend of action, heart, and California wildfire drama struck the right chord with viewers hungry for heroic stories with genuine stakes. Season 4 is set to air on Fridays at 9:00-10:00 PM in the 2025-26 TV season.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
The Young Sheldon spinoff gets a second season to explore married life in the Cooper universe. While it’s a far cry from the original’s massive success, it’s finding its own voice in the Chuck Lorre comedy ecosystem. Season 2 is expected to premiere in September or October 2025.
Ghosts
The supernatural sitcom scored a massive win with renewals for both seasons 5 and 6, taking it through 2026-27. This CBS adaptation of the BBC comedy has become a rare bright spot in network television’s comedy drought (averaging over 12 million cross-platform viewers, which helped secure its recent renewal), proving that sometimes the afterlife is more lively than prime-time.
NCIS
The procedural juggernaut rolls on to season 23, because apparently America’s appetite for naval crime-solving is bottomless. Even without Mark Harmon’s Gibbs, this franchise continues to dominate CBS’s prime-time lineup like a well-oiled investigative machine.
The show is also getting a notable schedule change – it’s moving back to Tuesdays at 8/7c after airing on Mondays since Season 19. It will be followed by NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney for an all-NCIS night on CBS
NCIS: Origins
The prequel series gets a second season to explore young Gibbs’ backstory. While it’s risky territory to delve into beloved character mythology, the show has managed to find its own identity while honoring the franchise’s legacy. Set in the 1990s, the series stars Austin Stowell as a younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs building his first team at Camp Pendleton, with Mark Harmon returning as the narrator to bridge past and present.
NCIS: Sydney
The Australian spinoff earns a third season and is already in production, proving that the NCIS formula translates well down under. The series follows a team of naval criminal investigators working cases involving the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the Australia-Pacific region, blending the franchise’s signature procedural format with distinctly Australian locations and cultural elements.
International expansions can be tricky, but this one’s found its sea legs in the competitive global market.
Tracker
Justin Hartley’s survival series is tracking down a third season renewal. This procedural follows Colter Shaw, a skilled survivalist and tracker who earns his living by helping find missing people in exchange for reward money. Based on Jeffery Deaver’s novel ‘The Never Game,’ this series has carved out a unique niche in CBS’s crime-heavy lineup.
The Neighborhood
This sitcom about a well-meaning Midwestern family adjusting to life in a predominantly Black Los Angeles neighborhood gets an eighth and final season to wrap up its story. While it never became a breakout hit, it has been a relatively strong ratings performer, providing steady laughs and sparking meaningful conversations about race and community in suburban America.
Watson
The medical drama centered on Sherlock Holmes’ famous partner gets a second season prescription. This reimagining of the classic detective partnership through a medical lens offers a fresh take on familiar characters. Set six months after Holmes’ death, Morris Chestnut stars as Dr. Watson, who returns to medicine to run a Pittsburgh clinic specializing in rare disorders, applying his detective skills to solve complex medical mysteries.