CBS is one of the most popular broadcast television channels in existence and one of the longest-running. As such, the Eye Network has seen hundreds of shows come and go in its time (it was founded almost a full century ago!).
But while CBS is still running and home to a couple of franchises now between NCIS and FBI, there are some series that we wish could have gone on longer. The network is known for favoring more traditional broadcast fare with a lot of legal dramas, multi-cam sitcoms, and police procedurals. Most of the shows featured on this list lean into horror, pscyhological thriller, or sci-fi, and that might be the reason they were canceled too soon.
Clarice
As a psychological horror show engineered to function as a sequel to the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice was a bold move from CBS as it isn't the type of show the network is known for producing. The majority of CBS series are procedurals and sitcoms, so the introduction of a tense horror show connected to Hannibal Lecter was pretty surprising.
It always felt like Clarice landed on the wrong network and the execs seemed to agree as there were once discussions to move the show to streaming service Paramount+. Unfortunately, it never panned out and the show was canceled. It's disappointing because Clarice Starling is a fascinating character and Rebecca Breeds did a decent job with her. I would have liked to see how the character and the show would have continued to develop.
So Help Me Todd
This comedic legal drama was a refreshing change of pace when it debuted in season 1. Starring Marcia Gay Hardin and Skylar Astin, So Help Me Todd felt like it was mixing things up a little bit from the standard legal drama fare and many found the bond between Margaret (Harden) and her son, Todd (Astin), quite endearing.
The ending of season 2, in particular, was incredibly tense and well-written, leaving viewers on the edge of their seat as they waited to see what would happen with Merritt Folding's arrival. So, it was a real bummer when the series was suddenly canceled.
Evil
The addition of Evil on this list is kind of cheating since the series only aired on CBS for one season before it was moved to Paramount+ for its latter three seasons. Like Clarice, Evil was a departure for CBS as a horror thriller about a trio investigating potential supernatural incidents for the Catholic Church.
While I am happy that we got four seasons and that the writers were able to work on an additional four episodes when the series was canceled to wrap things up, I wish that the show would have had an opportunity to continue for a few more seasons. The creators did their best to craft a satisfying ending, but there were a lot of loose plot threads left dangling and it was obvious that the show needed more time to bring things to a proper conclusion.
BrainDead
Robert and Michelle King are brilliant writers but they haven't had a lot of luck with show longevity outside of their hit series The Good Wife and its spinoff The Good Fight. BrainDead was a fun and addictive dark comedy drama series about a documentary filmmaker and her brother, a U.S. Senator.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the lead and her character soon learns that extraterrestrial insects have invaded the political scene in Washington D.C. It was a very satirical series, but it seems like CBS has a hard time making shows work that are outside of its usual scope.
NCIS: Hawai'i
It was a shock when CBS canceled NCIS: Hawaii as the series had seemingly performed pretty well and the other series within the popular NCIS universe ran for significantly longer.
NCIS: Hawaii was a refreshing change for the show because it featured a female lead in Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant and it also had a prominent queer relationship between main characters Kate Whistler and Lucy Tara. Because it ended after just three seasons, it became the shortest show in the NCIS franchise and left fans with several cliffhangers.
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