CBS releases 2026-27 schedule
Another new NCIS show. Also: Daytime soap Beyond The Gates renewed for two more seasons
CBS became the first broadcast network to unveil its schedule for the 2026-27 television season, a month ahead of everyone else as the top-rated network looks to maintain its ratings lead.
It’s also the first under new Paramount ownership under David Ellison, who is looking to remake its news division to make it appeal more to middle America, and its’ primetime lineup reflects that, to a degree. The schedule relies on the same formulas: spinoffs, familiar faces, and paint-by-number procedurals.
New series include yet another spinoff: NCIS: New York, which features LL Cool J back as Sam Hanna, a role he originated in NCIS: Los Angeles. Scheduled for Tuesday nights, it’s sandwiched between related programs NCIS and NCIS: Origins. Another new show is from Good Wife/Good Fight/Elsbeth creators Robert and Michelle King, called Cupertino. Set in the city where tech giant Apple is headquartered, it stars former Luke Cage star Mike Colter as a lawyer taking on…what else? The tech industry. The show is slotted for Thursday nights after Elsbeth, which moves an hour earlier – forcing Matlock to midseason.
Midseason sees the premiere of Einstein, another procedural starring Matthew Gray Gubler as the great-grandson of Albert Einstein, who’s paired with a detective to consult on cases so he can stay out of jail (the show sounds more like the former CBC drama Tom Stone – which was syndicated as Stone Undercover in the U.S.)
The lone comedy on the schedule is from Ghosts creators Eternally Yours, featuring a family of vampires. The show is slotted after Goergie’s & Mandy’s First Marriage on Thursday nights. In fact, it’s the only sitcoms on the entire schedule, as CBS has abandoned comedies Monday nights to air an all-drama block of FBI, CIA, and Harlen Coben’s Final Twist – ending a tradition dating back to the days of I Love Lucy, Gilligan’s Island, M*A*S*H, and Newhart (Ghosts returns in midseason.)
As for other areas of the schedule, Survivor and The Amazing Race remains on Wednesdays; Fridays remain unchanged with Sheriff Country, Fire Country, and Boston Blue, Saturdays have encores and 48 Hours; and Sundays are also unchanged with 60 Minutes, Yellowstone spin-off Marshals, and Tracker.
Out are Waston and DMV, as both were canceled weeks ago, and The Neighborhood is closing up shop after eight seasons. As it has done in previous years, look for CBS to launch its new lineup in mid-October, once football season settles in and all the other fall premieres have taken place.
Meanwhile, CBS also announced Wednesday the renewal of daytime serial Beyond The Gates for two more seasons, through the 2027-28 season. The soap opera – the second featuring a majority-Black cast, has improved ratings in the time slot formerly occupied by The Talk. The series premiered on February 24, 2025.
Last week, CBS announced it was upgrading Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed to the time slot now occupied by the Late Show With Stephen Colbert starting May 22, in a time-buy, with game show Funny You Should Ask following. CBS president George Cheeks said Wednesday in a press briefing that the move was “temporary” as the network plans to develop a low-cost alternative for the 2027-28 season.