The series’ cancellations leave behind the highly regarded mothership FBI, now in its seventh season and the first year of a three-year contract, and the potential new off-shoot FBI: CIA, now in development at CBS. The cancellation of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International boosts the chances of FBI: CIA.
FBI: CIA is currently in casting negotiations with several actors. Based on the talent attached to the project, sources are hearing that it will get a straight-to-series order.
It is unclear whether Universal TV and Wolf Entertainment will sell the two FBI spinoffs — which are still delivering solid linear ratings that are equal to or higher than several renewed CBS dramas, the CBS Studios-produced NCIS: Origins, NCIS: Sydney and Elsbeth — to other platforms. Last year, the companies successfully moved a Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime, from NBC to Peacock.
If that doesn’t happen, sources say that both FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International are still in production on their current seasons with a few episodes left, so they can tweak scripts to make the season-ending episodes work as series finales.
This marks a major turnaround in the fortunes of the two FBI spinoff series that were renewed for two seasons just three years ago (alongside flagship FBI ). Like most Wolf procedural franchises, FBI airs on a Tuesday night as a branded night. Given that a primetime schedule is three hours long, it was clear that CBS would have to cancel one of the other spinoffs to make room for FBI: CIA and keep the series on the same night. The network ultimately canceled two of them.
The FBI franchise comes from a third-party provider, Universal Television. CBS has had some difficult negotiations with the NBCUniversal studio over the past few years to renew the series, with financial issues reportedly playing a role in the cancellation now. Discussions between the two parties over a sixth and possibly final season of The Equalizer continue.
