Our favorite CBS shows might have only just recently returned, but several of the network’s hit crime dramas will soon be heading into yet another break… and once again, sports content is to blame.
As CBS fans know, the network took a unique approach to its programming slate this year and approached the winter breaks much differently than its competitors at ABC, Fox, and NBC. Rather than pulling its shows off the air in late November, bringing them back for a few weeks in January, and then sending them on another break during the Winter Olympics, CBS aired new episodes of its shows through mid-December and then kept them off the air until after the Olympics finished. This essentially kept crime dramas such as NCIS, FBI, Boston Blue, Elsbeth, and more off the air for just over two months before they returned in the final week of February or the first week of March.
The hope from fans was that this longer break would prevent further multi-week breaks in the schedule, but that sadly will not be the case for several CBS shows.
CBS remains the home to March Madness coverage, and the annual basketball tournament will soon force CBS to pull its Thursday and Friday night programs from the schedule to make room for March Madness coverage. The March Madness coverage will begin on March 19 and March 20 with First Round coverage, followed by Semifinal coverage the following week on March 26 and 27.
During these two weeks, there will be no new episodes of Elsbeth, Sheriff Country, or Boston Blue, with all three shows being pulled from the schedule to make room for CBS’s primetime March Madness coverage. So what does this mean for the series?
Elsbeth will be signing off the air following its episode on March 12 and will return on April 2. Meanwhile, Sheriff Country and Boston Blue will both be airing one final episode on March 13 before getting pulled from the schedule and returning on April 3.
The good news is that once we get through this March Madness-related break, all three shows should air without much, if any, interruption as their respective seasons come to an end for the season. CBS has not yet dropped finale dates for the season, but we expect many CBS shows will begin to wrap up their current seasons beginning in mid-April. Thankfully, Elsbeth, Sheriff Country, and Boston Blue have all been renewed for the 2026-27 season and will be back with new episodes in the fall!
Of course, if you find yourself missing the three shows during their break in the closing weeks of March, you can revisit past episodes via Paramount+, which is home to all three series!