CBS Early Renewals Leave ‘Watson’ & ‘DMV’ On The Bubble
Once again, CBS has gone for a blitz of early renewals. Ten more existing scripted series punched their tickets for the 2026-27 season today, including the NCIS franchise, dramas Tracker and Matlock and comedy Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
Factoring in recent pickups for rookies Sheriff Country and Boston Blue and previous multi-year renewals for FBI and Ghosts, the only CBS scripted series currently on the air whose fate remains in limbo are sophomore drama Watson and freshman comedy DMV. Both are on the bubble for next season.
Space at CBS will be tight on the drama side. With 10 hourlong scripted series already renewed, two new ones, Cupertino and Einstein, waiting in the wings with series orders for 2026-27, and Marshals yet to premiere, it may be hard to find space for Watson.
The medical drama set in the Sherlock Holmes universe did respectable business in its midseason launch last season on Sundays behind Tracker, earning a Season 2 renewal. The series was initially held back for another midseason run on Sundays before being summoned to the fall schedule to fill in for the delayed CIA and landed behind FBI on Mondays. Watson, which is set to return to Sundays after its winter break, saw its ratings decline in the new Monday berth. It currently ranks as the lowest-rated scripted series on the network.
CBS will likely wait to see how the series performs after its March 1 return, again behind Tracker. That is the same night that Marshals will make its series debut. The Yellowstone offshoot’s delivery also likely will factor into the final decision on Watson.
DMV‘s non-renewal is more of a head-scratcher. The single-camera workplace comedy, averaging 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, got off to a strong start. It ranked No.9 among all broadcast series for CBS’ Oct. 12-19 premiere week with 10.1M Live+35 Day multi-platform viewers. That its above its lead-in, veteran CBS comedy The Neighborhood, and half of the series the network has renewed for next season.
There also will be a comedy vacancy on the CBS schedule with The Neighborhood ending its run after eight season. The network likely will be weighing DMV against Eternally Yours, the vampire comedy pilot it has ordered from Ghosts executive producers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman.
The odds of a scripted series getting renewed after being left on the bubble by missing out on an early renewal by CBS are long. Of those in the same position last year: dramas FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, The Equalizer and S.W.A.T., and comedies The Neighborhood and Poppa’s House, only the long- The Neighborhood managed a final-season renewal. All others got canceled.
