Think we’ve gotten enough “Country” on CBS? Get ready for another Fire Country spinoff!
CBS sure does love its franchises. NCIS, of course, has been dominant with three current shows, along with two canceled ones. FBI had its own two spinoffs for a time before the new CIA entry came along. In short, the network has learned that building “blocks” of shows is good for the ratings.
Now, it looks like CBS wants Fire Country to be the start of such a franchise. There’s already the spinoff Sheriff Country, which has been renewed for a second season. Deadline now reports that plans are underway for a third entry, tentatively titled (no shock) Med Country.
Deadline’s sources claim that a second-season episode of Sheriff Country will serve as a “backdoor pilot,” introducing these characters, with the apparent idea that it will be set at the main hospital in Edgewater, the fictional California town where Fire and Sheriff both take place.
The spinoff is in the very early stages of development, but it has officially been confirmed by CBS, which also announced the development of four additional projects, including a new cop drama starring Matt LeBlanc. However, it’d be hard to imagine the network passing on another entry in this franchise. Obviously, making Fridays a “Country night” with all three shows is easy fodder for viewers and would elevate the new spinoff more.
It should be noted that there had been ideas for a spinoff of Fire Country, titled Fire Country: Surfside, that would have starred Jared Padalecki as a SolCal fire chief who relocates to the coast to help a new team of firefighters. That never got past the development stage. This new medical spinoff does seem more planned out, which can help CBS.
It’s not hard to see more than a few parallels between these Country shows and NBC’s One Chicago franchise. You have a show on firefighters, one on cops, and now one in a hospital. A difference is that, rather than one of the biggest cities in the United States, these will be set in a town of 25,000 people.
CBS does need a new medical drama now that Watson has been canceled. It can be interesting to see what kinds of emergencies and storylines could use the woods setting and climate to make this stand out among other medical series. It’s also obvious that there will be crossovers and how Fire and Sheriff characters can drop in at the hospital for a case.
Both of those shows have featured numerous first responders, so perhaps they will bring back some old characters to be the stars. Or, more likely, they create a new character, perhaps one with links to a current Fire or Sheriff character who will be the linchpin of this spinoff. It can be anyone from a newbie doctor to the new director of the hospital putting things in shape.
Again, this is way too early, and likely any plans won't be solidified until Fire and Sheriff return in the fall of 2026. Still, the idea that Med Country boosts this franchise to One Chicago levels seems highly likely to give CBS yet another successful programming block.
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