When the cameras stop rolling for the final time, a certain kind of silence descends upon a television set. Not overly dramatic. Not very loud. Just the sound of a show coming to an end before the majority of the audience had settled in. As CBS wraps up a season that has seen more departures than arrivals, more farewells than greenlight celebrations, that is the sentiment that permeates the network at the moment.
The completion of Watson, a medical mystery drama starring Morris Chestnut, and DMV, a workplace comedy centered around the hectic rhythms of a Department of Motor Vehicles office, was confirmed by CBS in late March 2026, confirming what many had suspected for months. On May 3, Watson will have its series finale. On May 11, DMV comes next. At the end of a season that somehow managed to sneak these cancellations in almost as an afterthought, two shows, two sets of writers, and two casts all came to an end within weeks of one another.
It’s difficult to ignore how casual the entire situation seemed. The math wasn’t hard when Watson and DMV weren’t on the list of ten early renewals that CBS had already rushed through back in January. The two programs were put on hold while the network observed how well its more recent additions, Marshals, the Yellowstone spinoff that received a Season 2 renewal after just two episodes, and CIA, the FBI offshoot, performed. Weeks before the formal announcement, there’s a feeling that Watson and DMV might have been doomed. The ratings information was already available. Simply put, CBS hadn’t stated it aloud yet.
From the beginning of its second season, Watson faced challenges. Despite the cast’s excitement, a scheduling change to Monday nights after CIA’s postponed premiere didn’t seem to help. The Sherlock Holmes medical mystery plot was an intriguing enough hook, and Morris Chestnut has a captivating on-screen persona. The audience it had developed did not entirely follow the show when it eventually returned to Sundays, where it had performed better commercially. Around 3.1 million people watched the most recent episode live on the same day, which is respectable for a network drama but not enough to keep a show afloat in a lineup that includes Marshals and Tracker.
The DMV is a little different. With over 10 million multi-platform viewers during its premiere week, the show appeared to be off to a promising start, surpassing its lead-in, The Neighborhood, which was in its eighth and final season. A draw was Tim Meadows, who was adored by everyone who watched him develop his career over decades of comedy. However, the delayed multi-platform viewing began to decline somewhere between the excitement of the launch and the second half of the season, and that figure is now more important than it has ever been. Linear ratings did not change. The more in-depth interaction did not. Some viewers felt that the show’s main idea—DMV employees and their existential boredom—was underutilized, as if the creators were circling the ideal version of the program but hadn’t quite found it.
The cancellations are not isolated incidents. Over the past two years, a larger wave of departures has been reshaping CBS. After eight seasons, S.W.A.T. came to an end. FBI: After four, international was finished. FBI: Most Wanted concluded its sixth season. After Season 8, the comedy The Neighborhood, which at one point dominated the network’s Monday schedule, said goodbye. Additionally, CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end in May 2026. The network cited financial reasons for this decision, but the collapse of the late-night industry as a whole probably deserves equal credit.
A lineup reset is what CBS is doing, with differing degrees of transparency. In terms of philosophy as well as programming, the network is making room. The renewed shows have a distinct vibe. Going into its fourth season, the Canadian-style supernatural workplace comedy Ghosts has the kind of devoted viewership that keeps a network afloat in the face of uncertainty. The Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is about to enter its third season. The drama about firefighting, Fire Country, was granted a fifth season. Despite its merits, Watson never quite succeeded in becoming as compelling as these shows.
It’s possible that CBS executives were pleased enough with their upcoming comedy pilots, Tillbrooks, a multi-camera family sitcom, and Eternally Yours, a vampire workplace comedy from the Ghosts showrunners, to let DMV go. Eternally Yours is positioned as a companion to Ghosts and is reportedly already generating enthusiasm internally, indicating that the network isn’t operating blindly in this regard. Something is in the works for them. The confidence to cancel a show with millions of viewers suggests they think it will succeed, but whether it does is another matter.
In all of this, though, there is something worthwhile. At the time of their cancellations, the only two scripted shows with Black leads on CBS were Watson and The Neighborhood. As part of its 2026–2027 schedule, the network has acknowledged this by mentioning Cupertino, a new Silicon Valley legal drama starring Mike Colter. Sonequa Martin-Green plays a significant part in Boston Blue as well. It’s unclear if that’s a real change or just careful scheduling optics. From a distance, networks can make these figures appear balanced.
It feels more like a platform managing a portfolio than a television network making editorial choices when you watch this cycle of cancellations and renewals play out. The programs with the strongest brand, the most reliable performance, or the most beneficial strategic placement are the ones that endure. Watson was a good show, but it didn’t establish itself quickly enough. It’s possible that DMV required more time than current network economics permit. The issue isn’t that CBS canceled them; that’s just part of the nature of the industry. The issue is that the window of opportunity between premiere and cancellation keeps getting smaller, and the shows that have the potential to become something are the ones that are most likely to end before they have a chance.
There are still episodes available as of right now. Watson airs at 10 p.m. on Sundays. DMV is still scheduled for Monday at 8:30 p.m., if you’ve been meaning to watch. Both programs are coming to an end. An audience for the final bow is the least they deserve.
