CBS is shaking up its winter premiere plans and shifted back the return of one NCIS series.
Fans who have been waiting for the return of NCIS: Sydney are going to have to wait a tad longer it seems for the show to return.
Just two weeks before the international NCIS spinoff was slated to kick off its new season, CBS has announced that season 2 will no longer premiere on Jan. 31. Instead, the show’s second season will kick off one week later on Feb. 7. So why the last minute change?
In announcing the show’s delayed premiere, CBS revealed the premiere is being pulled to make room for a yet-to-be-announced special. So what might be taking the place of NCIS: Sydney’s premiere? It’s looking incredibly likely that the premiere was pulled to make way for what will likely become a special connected to the Southern California wildfires, perhaps a benefit or a news special raising awareness of the victims of the fire and celebrating the first responders who have been working around the clock to protect and serve.
This theory is fueled by the fact that CBS opted not to pull the winter premieres for Fire Country and SWAT, meaning this special will air just before Fire Country. Kicking off the night with a special designed to help raise awareness and funds for those impacted by the fires as a lead into Fire Country makes sense given the series follows firefighters in Northern California.
Given Jan. 31 is fast approaching, CBS should confirm its plans for the special soon.
With NCIS: Sydney delayed by a week, it’ll be interesting to see how it might impact the show’s schedule for the rest of the season but it seems likely there might be a week in the mix when Fire Country and SWAT are in reruns and we get a new episode of NCIS: Sydney or perhaps a 2-episode event somewhere along the way.
It’ll also be interesting to see what the Friday night ratings will look like in those two weeks with all the changes coming to CBS’s line-up, as viewers shouldn’t forget that the winter premieres also mark a new timeslot debut for SWAT. The series will be shifting back to the closing hour which Blue Bloods has occupied for years as the new closing program for Friday night, moving from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. starting with its premiere on Jan. 31.