Those of you hoping to see Lucifer actor Tom Ellis on your screens soon this fall, I'm sorry to say there's been some major and shocking scheduling changes at CBS. The star is set to lead new FBI spin-off series, CIA. The show was supposed to air in the fall 2025 schedule at the network, though now it's been delayed to a few months later.
Don't expect to see CIA until 2026, at the earliest in January next year. The Dick Wolf crime drama has been delayed to the midseason schedule, switching places with medical drama series Watson season 2. According to Deadline, there's three major reasons this shift has happened.
First is the fact that original showrunner set to take on the duties, David Hudgins, has left the show. He's been replaced by Warren Leight who has previously held those duties on Law and Order: SVU. A clear reason for this showrunner change and why Hudgins decided to leave is not known at this time.
The second reason Deadlines cites is that even though the writers room is currently open and running, there still seems to be some unfinished scripts that are awaiting approval for production. Finally, there's supposed to be three leads for the upcoming series. Though only Ellis, which makes one part of that trio, has been cast. So really the show started running out of time with unfinished scripts and not having the two other leads on board yet.
However despite all these delays, the news outlet shares the move to the midseason schedule will now give production enough time to do what it needs to do. Casting for the rest of the major roles will begin soon, and filming is supposed to start this fall.
It's interesting that there's been all these major delays since CBS gave CIA the green light for a straight to series order back in April. Though sometimes, these things just take time. And there's a lot of moving factors that go into making a television series. It is what it is.
While it's certainly disappointing news, this does allow for a spot to open up in the 10 p.m. Monday night slot for Watson season 2, which had initially been pushed to the midseason schedule so CIA could premiere in the fall. But now, the second season will be here on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025 sharing the evening schedule with the OG series of CIA, FBI season 8.
Stay tuned to GeekSided as we bring you updates about CIA on CBS.
More CBS news from GeekSided: