NCIS: Hawaii and FBI: International land full-season orders, and we’re not surprised

"Pilot" - Special Agent Scott Forrester and his Budapest-based FBI fly team head to Croatia after Isobel Castille (Alana De La Garza, FBI) enlists their help to capture an American fugitive who escaped to Zagreb with a 14-year-old girl. OA (Zeeko Zaki, FBI) continues with the mission overseas, intent on bringing the fugitive to justice, while Europol agent Katrin Jaeger attempts to help the team secure the necessary support and access from the less-than-cooperative local authorities, in the conclusion of a special three-part crossover event, and the series premiere of FBI: INTERNATIONAL, at a special time, Tuesday, Sept. 21 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on the CBS app and Paramount+. FBI: INTERNATIONAL moves to its regular 9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT time slot on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Pictured (L-R) Christiane Paul as Special Agent Katrin Jaeger, Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo, Heida Reed as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester and Green as Tank Photo: Dvid Lukcs/CBS 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"Pilot" - Special Agent Scott Forrester and his Budapest-based FBI fly team head to Croatia after Isobel Castille (Alana De La Garza, FBI) enlists their help to capture an American fugitive who escaped to Zagreb with a 14-year-old girl. OA (Zeeko Zaki, FBI) continues with the mission overseas, intent on bringing the fugitive to justice, while Europol agent Katrin Jaeger attempts to help the team secure the necessary support and access from the less-than-cooperative local authorities, in the conclusion of a special three-part crossover event, and the series premiere of FBI: INTERNATIONAL, at a special time, Tuesday, Sept. 21 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on the CBS app and Paramount+. FBI: INTERNATIONAL moves to its regular 9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT time slot on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Pictured (L-R) Christiane Paul as Special Agent Katrin Jaeger, Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo, Heida Reed as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester and Green as Tank Photo: Dvid Lukcs/CBS 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

We’re getting more from new TV crime dramas on CBS. It really isn’t that surprising to hear that NCIS: Hawaii and FBI: International will get full seasons.

Like all new shows, NCIS: Hawaii and FBI: International were picked up for just 13 episodes. CBS wanted to see how they performed before even thinking about putting more money into them. Well, there’s been some good news for fans of both shows.

After just three episodes aired, TVLine announced the exciting news that both shows were being picked up for full seasons. The publication does say that we don’t really know what “full-season order” actually means, though.

How many episodes will NCIS: Hawaii and FBI: International get?

Usually, it means 22 to 24 episodes for CBS shows. That’s changed in recent years due to the pandemic and as more shows look at shortening their season orders. Shorter seasons is disappointing for fans, but it means the actors get to spend more months with their families. Now, 16 episodes are considered full seasons.

There is a chance we’ll get somewhere between 16 and 22 episodes. A lot of CBS shows are looking closer to the 20 to 22 episodes this season since productions have their pandemic protocols set.

We’ll likely see both NCIS: Hawaii and FBI: International get the same amount of episodes as their parent shows. After all, they both air in the hour slot after their parent shows and CBS will want to keep the episode counts consistent.

Good news for Season 2 for both shows?

With the early full-season pick-up, we do have hope that both shows will be renewed for Season 2. The live ratings are pretty strong overall. Sure, they look low compared to previous years, but all TV shows have been down in the live ratings as more people turn to delayed programming.

For example, NCIS: Hawaii is averaging 6.6 million viewers live right now, but that number goes up to 9.3 million in delayed numbers. The timeslot itself is much stronger than when Bull aired in it.

FBI: International debuted to 6.4 million viewers off the back of a three-hour crossover. It has dipped to the high 5 million mark, but this is still strong for the timeslot. And the 8.8 million in delayed ratings isn’t anything for CBS to grumble at. It’s the third most popular new series across all networks behind NCIS: Hawaii and La Brea on NBC.

If the numbers hold up, we’re seeing both shows get renewals.

What do you think of NCIS: Hawaii and FBI: International? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

NCIS: Hawaii airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS. FBI: International airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS. Both shows are available the following day on Paramount+.