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FBI fans, listen up because this is big news. CBS has locked in the premiere date for its brand-new FBI spinoff titled CIA, and it will finally release on February 23, 2026. After months of stops and starts, the wait is almost over.
So what exactly happened behind the scenes, and why did production freeze for so long? The short answer is a mix of showrunner exits, casting shake-ups, and timing issues that stacked up one after another.
The longer answer is below, and trust me, it’s a wild ride, but hey, if you're a fan, then you're gonna love it!
The road to the CIA premiere was way messier than fans expected
Anyone who has followed the FBI universe knows that every new project has its own level of madness and fun, but CIA takes that to a whole new level. When CBS first confirmed the show, it sounded like a clear-cut win for fans of the universe.
Tom Ellis was first announced as the fast-talking CIA officer Hart Hoxton and was hyped as the first official cast member.
CBS ordered the series straight to production in April 2025, and fans assumed it would air right after FBI every Monday night. But things spun in a totally different direction.
The first blow came when David Hudgins, who previously worked on Most Wanted, stepped in as showrunner and even planned to co-write the pilot with Dick Wolf. Hudgins later told colleagues he was ready to shape the tone of CIA, but summer hit, and he walked away from the series entirely.
CBS then brought in another Wolf universe icon, Warren Leight, known for Law & Order: SVU. It looked like things were finally settling, but the calm didn’t last.
Right as cameras were set to roll, two more stars were added. Michael Michele and Nick Gehlfuss joined the cast, with Michele originally playing a CIA supervisor watching over Ellis and Gehlfuss’ characters. But mere weeks later, Michele unexpectedly left the show.
That alone would have caused major delays, but then Leight stepped away too, right after executive producer Eriq La Salle finished directing the premiere.
This double exit paused production entirely. CBS froze everything while searching for another showrunner, and fans wondered if the expansion was falling apart. The turning point finally came when CBS locked in the February 23 release date, signaling that production was moving again and the ship had steadied.
What CIA is actually about and how it connects to the FBI universe
Even with the constant cast exits, the goal for getting the show out to fans stayed the same. The show revolves around an unlikely duo who couldn’t be more different. Ellis plays Hart Hoxton, who works for the CIA with a fast mouth and basically zero patience for rules.
Gehlfuss steps in as Bill Goodman, an agent who sticks to the book, trusts the law, and definitely doesn’t love anything that does not comply with his idea of how work should be done. The network described them as total opposites who end up being each other’s best shot at solving major threats on US soil.
CBS shared in its announcement that,
“When this odd couple gets assigned to work out of CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their set of differences may actually be their strength.”
The series was first planned to debut in the fall, right after FBI, and even had plans for the characters to appear in a soft-launch episode of the parent show. That episode never happened due to casting delays.
Instead, CIA moved to midseason but kept its Monday 10/9c slot right behind FBI, which makes the universe crossover energy even stronger. CBS also released early photos of Ellis and Gehlfuss in character, giving fans their first look at this new pairing.
Natalee Linez later joined as a CIA analyst, rounding out the main trio.
CBS turning CIA into the newest FBI spinoff has been a long, bumpy journey, but the February 23 premiere finally puts the series on solid ground. With a mix of new faces, unexpected exits, and behind-the-scenes turns, CIA arrives carrying major anticipation.
The wait was long, but the countdown is officially on.
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