The cancellation time of year has come for network television in the 2026 TV schedule, and CBS finally came down with news for two scripted series that weren’t named in the ten-show renewal spree back in January. Medical drama Watson and freshman comedy DMV have both been axed, and while the news comes at the very end of March, they may have been doomed for cancellation much earlier in the month.
The cancellations don’t come as huge shocks after CBS gave pretty early renewals to the rest of the scripted slate, with the exception of CIA and Marshals, with the former not premiering until late February and the latter not premiering until March 1. Watson had an uphill battle for viewers in Season 2, as the fall move to Monday nights didn’t seem to pay off despite star Morris Chestnut’s optimism, and joining Tracker and eventually Marshals on Sundays this spring evidently didn’t result in the kinds of numbers that would save it.
As for DMV, the comedy starring Harriet Dyer and Tim Meadows was paired with a show that was already on its way out, with the eighth and final season of The Neighborhood as its lead-in on Monday nights. The dramas of Monday nights will be back in the 2026-2027 TV schedule, as FBI was guaranteed through Season 9 back in 2024 and the network already renewed CIA, although CBS hasn't clarified whether they'll stay on that night.
The series finale for Watson will air on Sunday, May 3, while the series finale of DMV airs on Monday, May 4. Deadline reports that the odds weren’t in their favor after CBS didn’t include them in the renewal spree earlier in the year, with their survival to the 2026-2027 TV schedule depending on how well Marshals and CIA would perform for viewers, as well as how much faith the network has in the two comedy pilots that are in the works.
And this is where the two shows may have already been doomed weeks ago, even if the official news didn’t go public until late March. Marshals was renewed for Season 2 back on March 12, after just two episodes of the Yellowstone spinoff had aired. CIA had to wait a bit longer before getting a Season 2 renewal on March 23, but Top 10 Nielsen ratings from the week of February 23 - March 1 already had CIA at #10 while Watson and DMV were nowhere to be seen. (Marshals was at #1 on that same list.)
So, CBS already had data that CIA was outperforming Watson and DMV well before Tom Ellis and Nick Gelfuss’ show was officially renewed, and obviously had the numbers for Marshals as well. It’s possible that the two cancelled shows were already doomed a while ago, but the news was simply not publicly confirmed until now. Networks do often wait until Fridays to cancel shows, and CBS is set to announce its 2026-2027 TV schedule on April 15.
One of my big questions at this point is whether the writers of Watson and/or DMV will have time to guarantee some closure in the series finale, or if filming had already wrapped on the possibility of another season. I can’t help but look back at FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International getting cancelled last year, as Most Wanted rose to the occasion and delivered an excellent series finale with plenty of closure, whereas FBI: International ended with a lot of unanswered questions.
For now, there are still new episodes of both cancelled shows on the way. You can find Watson Season 2 continuing on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET, and DMV Season 1 on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET, all on CBS. You can also always revisit early episodes streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
