A new FBI spinoff could be coming, but what would it mean for International and Most Wanted? Here’s what we know and think!
CBS has always loved how FBI is a big hit with viewers. The first season in 2018 was so successful that they ordered a backdoor pilot for a spinoff, FBI: Most Wanted, halfway through that first year. Most Wanted started in 2019 and is still running.
That was followed by FBI: International debuting in 2021, focusing on a European-based team of agents. We’ve seen several crossovers between the shows, and a good connection has made them all a big part of CBS’s Tuesday block.
A new FBI spin-off in the works at CBS
Now, it’s reported by TVLine that CBS is planning another spinoff, tentatively titled FBI: CIA. The plotline, per the press release, is “a dedicated, strait-laced FBI agent and a street-smart CIA agent join forces as part of a new, clandestine task force charged with solving and preventing domestic terrorism in and around New York City.”
It should be noted that technically, the CIA is supposed to be prevented from operating on American soil, but that doesn’t stop TV shows about it being made. Pairing it with the FBI as a joint operation would get around that and still maintain the connection to the other shows.
It’s likely we’ll get an episode later in FBI Season 7 that serves as another backdoor pilot and if successful, the new series will start airing in the 2025-26 season. That will expand the FBI universe, but will it come at the expense of one of the other two spinoffs?
Will an FBI show be axed for the new spinoff?
There is a tendency for CBS that when one spin-off begins, another has to end. It happened with NCIS, which ended the New Orleans spinoff, then began NCIS: Hawaii. That was unexpectedly axed in 2024 for the new NCIS: Origins show.
The issue is that CBS depends on having all three FBI shows on Tuesday nights. A spinoff on another night might work, but it can also be CBS realizing that having four FBI shows may be a bit much, even for them.
There’s also the fact that CBS is currently on a spin-off kick. There’s Sherriff Country, a spinoff of Fire Country, and the possibility of another Country spinoff called Surfside. The sitcom The Neighborhood has two spinoffs in the works, and The Equalizer is potentially getting one, too.
What this all means is that there’s going to be less room on the schedule for yet another new show, especially given networks tightening budgets. A reason NCIS: Hawaii was canceled was the high production costs of filming in Hawaii, and CBS may be wary of spending more cash on a bigger show.
So the possibility of one of the spinoffs being canceled is up there as ratings for International and Most Wanted are good but not as strong as the mothership series. With International, there is the complication that it films on location in Europe, which can be costly, even with some tax breaks. It’s also seen a large amount of cast turnover, mostly due to actors not wanting to be away from families in America for so long.
That could be a factor for CBS thinking it’s best to cut International and focus on the U.S.-based series. On the other hand, Most Wanted has the lowest ratings of the three FBI shows and, despite a smaller cast, often fails to captivate audiences as much as the other two shows do. Ratings are always the deciding factor for a show’s survival, which makes it a candidate to be dropped.
This is all the early stages as the spin-off still has to get that “pilot” on the air to gauge viewer reaction before CBS decides to move ahead. Maybe the network will decide to keep the other three FBI shows and just have FBI: CIA on another night to build around (Maybe paired with the planned Equalizer/Fire Country spinoffs). However, it’s also a strong possibility that this new show means an FBI series will come to an end this year.
FBI Season 7 returns on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 8/7c on CBS.