No one does franchise television quite like CBS. Over the years, the network has launched some of the most successful franchises of all of television, ones that have reached millions of viewers and racked up hundreds of episodes.
First came CSI which ran for 15 seasons and over 300 episodes and spawned four spinoffs CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, CSI: Cyber, and CSI: Vegas. While the most recent spinoffs in the franchise didn’t have quite as much staying power, CSI: Miami ran for 10 seasons and over 200 episodes, and CSI: Miami ran for nine seasons and nearly 200 episodes.
Next came the NCIS franchise which has launched six successful shows with a seventh in development. The franchise technically started with JAG, but officially kicked off in 2003 with the premiere of NCIS which is still going strong and recently celebrated its 1,000th franchise episode with over 400 of those episodes coming from the flagship series.
And then came the FBI franchise which is now three shows strong on CBS with FBI, FBI: International, and FBI: Most Wanted. The Wolf Entertainment series have helped create a strong performing programming block for CBS and it seems the network is now looking to once again expand the FBI franchise by taking the franchise into a truly unexpected direction.
CBS working on fourth FBI spinoff, this time about the CIA
Interestingly, CBS is reported to be working on a new spinoff of its FBI franchise which will bring the worlds of the FBI and CIA together to follow a “strait-laced FBI agent and a street-smart CIA agent are part of a new, clandestine taskforce charged with solving and preventing domestic terrorism in and around New York City.”
The working title for the show is FBI: CIA which is definitely a bit on the nose, and CBS is reportedly looking to soft launch the series with a backdoor pilot set to air this season on FBI. The hope seems to be for the show to be picked up for the 2025-2026 broadcast season.
Casting is currently underway for three characters who will play the CIA and FBI leads in the new series. These characters will appear in the planned backdoor pilot coming this spring, and would be series regulars should the show receive an official order from CBS.
Much like the flagship series, FBI: CIA will be set in New York and within the same universe as the other franchise shows which paves the way for crossover storylines and builds upon the already established shared universe of the three existing shows. What does remains unclear is what this new expansion of the franchise could mean for the likes of FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted.
Currently, all three shows air on Tuesday night but if FBI: CIA is ordered to series that would give CBS four FBI shows in the mix and mean that one of the shows would likely need to air on another night. That is unless CBS chooses to bring either FBI: International or FBI: Most Wanted to an end with their current seasons – FBI has already been renewed through the 2026-2027 season having landed a three-season renewal last year.
Another option is that CBS could order a shorter season of FBI: International or FBI: Most Wanted and order a shorter first season of FBI: CIA, which could allow one of the shows to air in the fall and the otter to take over at midseason. However, that move seems unlikely.
Of course, there is also the possibility the network could perhaps look to move FBI: International or FBI: Most Wanted to Paramount+ which will soon become home to the Tony and Ziva NCIS spinoff. We’ve seen past CBS properties move to Parmount+ including EVIL, SEAL Team, and Criminal Minds, so perhaps one of the FBI shows could be next in line.
FBI: Most Wanted seems like a perfect candidate to make a move to streaming as it could adopt an updated format similar to Criminal Minds: Evolution with a shorter season focusing on a more serialized case. The show’s darker subject matter also would also work well on streaming as we’ve seen with Criminal Minds: Evolution.
Only time will tell what CBS might have planned, but it’s clear they see continued value in the FBI franchise!