CBS seemingly added more entries than usual to the annual list of canceled and ending TV shows, which means the upcoming TV schedule will look quite different once the fall months arrive. More recently network canceled its two FBI spinoffs, and then followed up by pulling the plug on Queen Latifah’s The Equalizer in early May. The decisions have left some fans in arms, and now they’ve been addressed by one of CBS’ head honchos.
CBS Boss Explains Decision To Cancel Two FBI Spinoffs
Speaking at CBS' Fall TV schedule reveal event (via TVLine), the network's President of Entertainment Amy Reisenbach addressed the nature of the business while speaking to the cancellations of FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted, neither of which cracked the Top 20 primetime shows by way of Live + 35 Day engagement. (Meanwhile, mothership drama FBI was #11.)
Namechecking the latest tentatively titled spinoff, which boasts Lucifer's Tom Ellis in the lead role, Reisenbach said:
Obviously we love working with Dick [Wolf] and we’re so excited to be bringing CIA onto the schedule. But...we have to be fiscally responsible, and ultimately those deals and the shows just weren’t penciling out for us for an economic perspective.
It's definitely true that network series' cast contracts tend to work more in the actors' favor as the seasons build up, and the sixth season usually marks negotiation time for such deals. As such, it's often when network execs go hardest on weighing the pros and cons of keeping a show on the air.
FBI: Most Wanted was indeed at that point, with Season 6 set to wrap up on May 20, while FBI: International was only on for four seasons before the cancellation news. And despite not cracking the delayed-viewing Top 20 for all of TV, the dramas' total viewerships still handily beat out a lot of other primetime offerings, averaging around 6.5 million.
Perhaps if both or either had been more of a draw for younger demographics, their fates could have changed.
Why The Equalizer Also Faced An Unexpected Cancellation
The past month has been rough for The Equalizer fans. First, the previously announced plan for a backdoor spinoff starring Bosch's Titus Welliver and Harlem's Juani Feliz went belly-up. Two days after the ep aired in mid-April, it was reported that CBS would not be moving forward with the follow-up project.
Then, just a couple of weeks later, the news broke that The Equalizer wouldn't be moving forward with Season 6, despite Queen Latifah and others reportedly agreeing to take a salary cut to balance any budgetary issues. When addressing that particular decision, Amy Reinsenbach stated:
It’s never easy to end shows. We had a lot of options this year, and the schedule is really full. So we always have to look at all of our shows, look at the aggregate, the creative, where they are in their life cycle, what the finances look like, what the ratings are…. And we make those tough decisions.
In the case of the Sunday night offering, ratings almost definitely played heavily into the cancellation decision, as The Equalizer's average nightly viewership shrank by nearly two million viewers, which isn't so easy to sweep away and feel confident while ordering new seasons.
At this point, no plans are seemingly being made to shop The Equalizer or CBS' other canceled shows around to other networks, which is understandable. For now, they can all be streamed in full with a Paramount+ subscription.