TV habits are about to get a serious makeover, and CBS is the one behind the curtain. The network has just unveiled its 2025-26 primetime schedule, and to say it’s franchise-heavy would be an understatement. If you thought NCIS was Tuesday’s past—it’s actually Tuesday’s future.
That’s right, the OG procedural is reclaiming its classic 8 PM slot after a four-season run on Mondays, now leading what CBS is boldly calling “Super Tuesday”. It’s a full-blown NCIS block: NCIS, followed by origin series NCIS: Origins, and the globe-trotting NCIS: Sydney.
Meanwhile, FBI (previously holding Tuesday real estate) is moving to Mondays at 9 PM to kick off a night of federal action, handing things off to new Dick Wolf-led spinoff CIA, starring Tom Ellis. Mondays are now FBI-to-CIA, and honestly? It’s the most alphabet-soup lineup we’ve seen in years, and we’re kind of obsessed.
But wait—there’s more.
Fire Country Fridays are getting even hotter with spinoff Sheriff Country and Boston Blue, the latter starring Donnie Wahlberg, reprising his Blue Bloods role. That’s right, Danny Reagan is back…just in Boston this time.
NCIS Tuesdays are a big, bold move
For the first 18 years of its run, NCIS made Tuesdays its turf. Now, it’s reclaiming that space with a triple-threat lineup that screams franchise synergy.
CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach told Deadline that the decision came straight from the fans: “We’ve heard the audience, and we have stacked Tuesday,” hinting at another mega-crossover à la the one that rocked 2023.
With NCIS: Origins diving into Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ backstory and Sydney expanding the global NCIS footprint, Tuesdays are no longer just appointment TV—they’re franchise devotion. It’s comfort food with edge, legacy meets legacy-building, and a serious ratings play.
The new players are CIA, Sheriff Country, and Y: Marshals
CIA is the splashiest addition to the CBS slate. It stars Tom Ellis as a chaotic CIA case officer paired with a no-nonsense FBI agent. Think FBI: International meets Lethal Weapon, but make it post-Patriot Act. It’s produced by Dick Wolf and Eriq La Salle, so expect high-stakes cases and moral gray zones.
Fridays now belong to Sheriff Country, starring Morena Baccarin as Sheriff Mickey Fox, the estranged sister of Fire Country’s Sharon Leone. With family drama, small-town crime, and marijuana farms, it’s shaping up to be the network’s Justified.
And then there’s Y: Marshals. Set in the Yellowstone universe and led by Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, it airs Sundays at 9 PM and promises to bring that rough-and-tumble Taylor Sheridan storytelling to CBS’s more buttoned-up landscape. As Reisenbach teased, “Tonally we think they will go great together,” referring to its pairing with Tracker.
So, with FBI on Mondays, NCIS owning Tuesdays, and Yellowstone vibes bleeding into Sundays, CBS has declared it: franchise flow is the future.
