Ghosts season 5 will not be returning with new episodes in January 2026

We’re closing in on the end of the year, and we all know what that means. Our favorite TV shows are wrapping up for Christmas and the New Year, and that’s certainly the case for Ghosts season 5.

There is a two-parter Christmas episode for the fall finale to come on Thursday, Dec. 18, and we certainly can’t wait. However, this is where the bad news starts to hit. You see, we normally get to see shows return in January, but that’s not going to be the case for Ghosts season 5, as CBS has a different plan — that could work out for the better.

“Planes, Shanes and Automobiles” – Pictured (L-R): Rose McIver as Samantha and Richie Moriarty as Pete. Photo: CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Highest quality screengrab available.

Ghosts season 5 will have no new episodes in January 2026

While NBC, ABC, and FOX all released plans for new episodes of their top shows to air in January, CBS has taken a different approach. Now sure, in 2025, we had to wait until the end of the month, but in 2026, we need to wait until closer to the end of February.

Ghosts season 5 isn’t going to return until Thursday, Feb. 26. In some good news, the Thursday night lineup hasn’t been changed at all, so Ghosts will return with Georgie & Mandy, Matlock, and Elsbeth, taking its perfect time slot of 8:30/7:30c.

But why is there such a delay? Well, CBS is trying to work around the Winter Olympics. NBC will air the games, and CBS doesn’t want to compete with such a major sporting fixture. With that in mind, CBS has decided to hold off its main shows’ returns until after the Winter Olympic Games end on Sunday, Feb. 22.

Now, yes, there is a month when episodes could run before the Games start at the beginning of February, but it doesn’t make that much sense for the network. That would mean then taking the shows back off the air, leading to issues with consistency, and while ABC, NBC, and FOX are happy to do that, CBS is not.

“Bring Your Daughter to Work Day” – Pictured (L-R): Richie Moriarty as Pete, Devan Chandler Long as Thorfinn, Danielle Pinnock as Alberta, Román Zaragoza as Sasappis, and Rebecca Wisocky as Hetty. Photo: CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Highest quality screengrab available.

There’s great news for when Ghosts season 5 does return

While it’s disappointing to go the entire month of January 2026 without new episodes of Ghosts, there is some good news when it comes to the show on the other side of the break. It means more consistency.

When shows return in January, there tends to be an on-off schedule, as the networks want to wrap the seasons up in May to stick to the traditional TV schedule. With fewer episodes per season now for a lot of shows, it means breaks here and there to stretch out the episodes available compared to the weeks to fill.

However, with CBS opting for the whole of January and most of February off, it means there are fewer weeks to fill. This allows for a more consistent schedule when Ghosts season 5 does return, and this helps the show in the long run. We all know we prefer a consistent schedule, right?

Ghosts season 5 will air on Thursday, Dec. 18 with two episodes to wrap up 2025 and will then return on Thursday, Feb. 26 on CBS.