CBS is keeping its latest spy drama in the field. The network has renewed CIA for second season following a strong freshman run anchored by stars Tom Ellis (Lucifer, Miranda) and Nick Gehlfuss (Chicago Med, Love & Mercy), according to Deadline. The series airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on CBS and is also available to stream on Paramount+, giving the show a weekly broadcast slot and a digital afterlife.
CIA follows by-the-book FBI Special Agent Bill Goodman (Gehlfuss), who is temporarily assigned to a joint CIA/FBI task force in New York, per Deadline. There, he’s partnered with Colin Glass (Ellis), a seasoned and secretive CIA operative whose methods are far looser than Goodman’s. Together, they tackle covert missions involving international plots, terrorist networks and high-stakes geopolitical maneuvering, with Goodman forced to adapt to a world where the rules are murky and the victories are often classified.
The renewal comes on the heels of a solid ratings launch. The February 23 premiere of CIA drew 8.4 million multiplatform viewers within its first seven days, according to Nielsen figures cited by Deadline. Across its first three episodes, the series improved its time period by 39% compared to last fall and won its Monday 10 p.m. slot against ABC’s The Rookie and NBC’s The Voice, a performance CBS is touting as a key factor in the early pickup.
The show is also expanding the growing FBI universe. The premiere featured a crossover appearance from Jeremy Sisto’s Jubal Valentine, with more cross-pollination on the way, per Deadline. Upcoming episodes will see FBI stars Alana De La Garza and Missy Peregrym visit CIA, while series regular Necar Zadegan (24, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce) is set to appear on FBI, further knitting the franchises together.
Showrunner Mike Weiss, who oversees both FBI and CIA, credits the behind-the-scenes teams for making those crossovers possible. “None of this fun world-building would be possible without amazing collaborators like our FBI producer Amanda Slater and CIA producer Paul Cabbad and the hardworking teams that support them,” Weiss told Deadline. Executive producers on CIA include Dick Wolf (Law & Order, Chicago Fire), Weiss, Ken Girotti, Paul Cabbad, Nicole Perlman, David Chasteen, Anastasia Puglisi and Peter Jankowski, with the series produced by Universal Television in association with Wolf Entertainment and CBS Studios, per Deadline.
Television in association with Wolf Entertainment and CBS Studios, per Deadline.