January is halfway through, but the wait for new episodes of CBS’s hit series will drag on for several more weeks to come… and fans have NBC to blame for the delayed returns to our favorite CBS hits.
Why is NBC to blame, you ask? Well, it’s more of an indirect reason. NBC is set to host the 2026 Winter Olympics from February 6 to February 22 as they take place live in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and CBS does not want to put its shows in direct competition with the Olympics. It’s an understandable decision as the Olympics often draw strong viewership, and it’s also not an uncommon move.
CBS has developed a habit of pulling its primetime series from the schedule when the Winter Olympics roll around every four years. Usually, CBS brings its shows back in January and simply sends them on a break during the weeks of the Winter Olympics, but this year they decided to take a different approach. Instead of bringing their hit series back in January only to air a few new episodes before sending them back into reruns, CBS has decided to keep the shows off the schedule until after the Winter Olympics air.
This is resulting in CBS keeping nearly 20 hit series off the air through all of January and the majority of, if not all of, February. The good news is that once CBS’s hit series return in February and March, fans should be in for more new episodes without interruption. It’s expected that there will be fewer breaks in the seasons when shows like NCIS, FBI, Boston Blue, Ghosts, and more return given the long break.
Here’s when your favorite CBS shows will return in 2026
Now that we’ve established NBC is to blame for keeping our favorite shows off the air due to the Winter Olympics and CBS’s decision to put the shows on a longer break, when exactly will CBS’s hit shows return?
Most CBS shows will return to the air with new episodes the final week of February, while a small handful of series will arrive the first week of March. The CBS midseason schedule begins the returns of The Neighborhood, DMV, and FBI on Monday, February 23, a night that will also bring the premiere of the new FBI spinoff CIA. In the days that follow, we’ll see the CBS lineup gradually return, with midseason premieres lined up nearly every night of the week through March 3 with the returns of the NCIS series.
Here’s a complete guide to the CBS midseason premiere dates:
Monday, February 23
8:00 p.m.: The Neighborhood (Season 8 Winter Premiere)
8:30 p.m.: DMV (Season 1 Winter Premiere)
9:00 p.m.: FBI (Season 8 Winter Premiere)
10:00 p.m.: CIA (Series Premiere)
Wednesday, February 25
8:00 p.m.: Survivor 50 (Three-Hour Season 50 Premiere)
Thursday, February 26
8:00 p.m.: Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (Season 2 Midseason Return)
8:30 p.m.: Ghosts (Season 5 Winter Premiere)
9:00 p.m.: Matlock (Season 2 Winter Premiere)
10:00 p.m.: Elsbeth (Season 3 Winter Premiere)
Friday, February 27
8:00 p.m.: Sheriff Country (Season 1 Winter Premiere)
9:00 p.m.: Fire Country (Season 4 Winter Premiere)
10:00 p.m.: Boston Blue (Season 1 Winter Premiere)
Sunday, March 1
7:00 p.m.: 60 Minutes
8:00 p.m.: Y: Marshals (Series Premiere)
9:00 p.m.: Tracker (Season 3 Winter Premiere)
10:00 p.m.: Watson (Season 2 Winter Premiere)
Tuesday, March 3
8:00 p.m.: NCIS (Season 23 Winter Premiere)
9:00 p.m.: NCIS: Origins (Season 2 Winter Premiere)
10:00 p.m.: NCIS: Sydney (Season 3 Winter Premiere)
Wednesday, March 4
8:00 p.m.: Survivor (Time Slot Period)
9:30 p.m.: America’s Culinary Cup (Series Premiere)
10:30 p.m.: Hollywood Squares (Time Slot Period)