Why CBS Canceled FBI: International & Most Wanted

Dick Wolf’s CBS procedural drama “FBI” has been spreading its franchise wings wide since it premiered in 2018. Yet, recent developments indicate that the show has hit a major speed bump in its attempt to reach for the skies in the way past Wolf Entertainment success stories like “Law & Order” and the “One Chicago” franchise have done.

For a while, it seemed that the rapid expansion tactic that the aspirational “FBI” franchise had chosen worked very well. In 2019, the parent show aired a backdoor pilot for “FBI: Most Wanted,” which premiered as its own show in January 2020 and ran for a solid six seasons. In 2021, the Budapest-based International Fly Team of “FBI: International” joined the frayand this third spin-off kept its flag flying for four seasons.

As that math implies, the two spin-offs ended  — or rather, are set to end — at roughly the same time. In fact, CBS canceled both “FBI: Most Wanted” and “FBI: International” at once in March 2025. Both shows are still working on their ongoing and potentially final seasons, so the end isn’t quite here yet, even in the unfortunate case that other networks or streaming platforms opt against picking them up. For now, however, things are looking fairly bleak for the pair of shows. But what exactly caused CBS to cancel two “FBI” spin-offs in one fell swoop? As you might suspect, the answer is: It’s strictly business.

So, why would CBS just pull the plug on two “FBI” shows, especially since the parent show is a fairly reliable ratings workhorse? As of January 2025, “FBI” was drawing around 10.5 million pairs of eyes per episode, all platforms combined. The two spin-offs weren’t all that shabby either, with the 8.5 million average of “Most Wanted” and 8.4 million for “International.”

There are many reasons why a seemingly surefire hit procedural can get canceled. Dick Wolf certainly knows this very well: Behind-the-scenes chaos marked the end of NBC’s star-studded “Law & Order: LA” after just one seasonand the same network canceled “Chicago Justice” after one season in 2017 because the show couldn’t differentiate itself from the “Law & Order” franchise.

In the case of the canceled “FBI” spin-offs, the most likely catch was the circumstances surrounding the shows. Since the entire franchise so far is produced by Universal Television, CBS may very well have chosen to cancel the two spin-offs to avoid the increasingly costly renewal negotiations with the studio. On the other hand, the network has an incentive to keep “FBI” itself in the mix, since the parent show is both successful in its own right and a proven franchise starter. Because of this, it seems that CBS is simply streamlining things by cutting off two established (and therefore expensive) franchise branches and making room for a brand new spin-off: The upcoming, memorably-named “FBI: CIA,”which is set to take one of the canceled shows’ place in the prime time limelight.