CBS’ original plan for the fall of the 2025 TV schedule was to debut Tom Ellis’ new CIA series to air alongside fellow Dick Wolf TV production FBI on Monday nights. That changed with the network pushing CIA back to midseason, which meant moving Watson Season 2 from a midseason 2026 premiere to fall 2025. That came as great news for fans of the doctor/detective show starring Morris Chestnut, with the potential downside of being split from Justin Hartley’s mega hit Tracker. Now, with the premiere weeks away, I’ve come to think that the change could be great for Watson.
Season 1 of Watson aired on Sunday nights, directly after Season 2 of Justin Hartley’s drama. While premiering after the AFC Championship Game (complete with Taylor Swift in attendance) surely helped Watson get off to a strong start, being paired with the #1 network TV series couldn't have hurt the freshman series when building an audience! For Season 2, Watson is moving to air on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET, directly after FBI Season 8 at 9 p.m. ET, DMV at 8:30 p.m. ET, and The Neighborhood at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. While the time slot change might not have happened if CIA hadn’t been pushed back to 2026, it could pay off for Watson.
For one thing, FBI is one of CBS’ other most-watched shows, and it seems like a safe bet that plenty of people will be tuning in for Season 8 this fall. If airing directly after Tracker on a Sunday night was good for Watson Season 1, then I imagine airing after FBI on Mondays is a great alternative.
Monday arguably also isn’t the most competitive night of scripted network TV this fall, so perhaps more people will be game to try Watson. Since the first season only ran for thirteen episodes and is available streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, interested parties wouldn't even have to do too much to catch up for Season 2.
With Season 2 adding Robert Carlyle as Sherlock Holmes to recur as a guest star opposite Morris Chestnut’s John Watson, I’m guessing some newcomers might be curious enough to check Watson out for the first time. I’m assuming that promotion for Season 2 will lean on the show introducing Sherlock in the flesh, since the character only “appeared” via a hallucinatory voice cameo from Matt Berry in Season 1. The duo of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes has been popular for well over 100 years, since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his first short story about the pair. Why not on Watson?
Plus, the 10 p.m. ET time slot on Mondays was successful enough for NCIS: Origins last season that it was renewed and switched to another night for the 2025-2026 TV season. Of course, being part of the NCIS world meant that Origins was likely going to be an early hit no matter what, so Watson isn't guaranteed to recruit all those viewers just by inheriting the time slot. Still, perhaps the time slot that worked so well for NCIS: Origins could be a good fit for Watson.
Finally – and admittedly, anecdotally – I at least find myself more likely to consistently watch a show that airs on a weeknight, and NBC showrunners told me earlier this year that it’s “very difficult to get people to show up on network television” for a serialized show on Sunday nights. Watson was at least somewhat serialized in Season 1, and the arrival of Sherlock Holmes leads me to suspect that the same will be true for Season 2.
All in all, perhaps there are enough variables on Monday nights to make up for Watson losing the post-Tracker slot, and gaining the post-FBI time slot that had previously belonged to NCIS: Origins. Check out the Season 2 premiere on Monday, October 13 at 10 p.m. ET, and/or streaming the next day on Paramount+.
