Ask Matt: Whatever Happened to ‘CSI’ Shows, ‘Modern’ and Other Cancellations & More
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, it’s the most frequent complaint, but there’s always closed-captioning. Check out this story for more tips.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected]. Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays.
Where Have All the CSI Shows Gone?
Question: As the rather anemic Fall 2025 TV season gets underway, it seems that network linear TV these days is all about different iterations of the same franchise. The era when shows like Person of Interest aired are definitely gone. Thinking of TV franchises, I was wondering why the CSI franchise fizzled out, but the NCIS franchise keeps chugging along with new versions. For a long time, CSI and its spinoffs dominated the CBS lineup. CBS tried to resurrect it a few seasons ago with CSI: Vegas, but it didn’t last long. Have series featuring science fallen out of favor? Or have viewer preferences changed in favor of shows like FBI or NCIS, which are more straightforward crime dramas? — Stanley A.
Matt Roush: That’s an interesting question to ponder why CSI didn’t make a bigger splash when CBS brought the show back with a few of its original stars and it never really ignited the way the original series did back in 2000, when it almost single-handedly turned CBS’s fortunes around and spawned a tidal wave of procedurals — and especially in the case of NCIS, a spinoff of JAG, more long-lasting and multi-spoked franchises. Most of these shows nowadays have a science component (owing a debt to CSI) but tend to spend more time in the field than in the lab, so maybe that accounts for why the more action-oriented crime dramas have continued to flourish while CSI, like so many series in the past, faded away after having had its moment. It’s still one of the most influential shows ever, but tastes do change, and who’s to say that it won’t try for a comeback again? And thanks for bringing up Person of Interest. That’s the kind of show I really miss on broadcast TV, and if it were developed today, it almost certainly would be airing on Paramount+ or some other streamer and not on a linear network. A pity.
We’re Done with One-and-Done Shows!
Question: The recent cancellations of Dexter: Original Sin and Mid-Century Modern are pushing me to give up on TV, or at least anything that isn’t tied to a “limited” series. It appears the current format is spending a lot of money to get a show on the air, but do absolutely nothing to actually keep it on the air. There’s so much promotion about how well they have done, then a blindside, and the networks move swiftly onto another shiny toy. I read everywhere how well Dexter did last winter, and Mid-Century was groundbreaking for its three LGBTQ leads — what a great story to keep it going? I get that shows come and go, but loyalty and longevity was once a staple of what a TV series strives for. Now getting a series to 30 episodes is like 100 episodes back in the day. It appears networks think viewers have no attention span and just want something new every week.
My partner actually suggested we just call everything now a mini-movie or miniseries, because that’s what they really are now. Which brings me to Stranger Things, which comes back soon for its 35th episode in 9 years. I like the show, but I can’t ever remember anything from it, and then I hear the creators brag about how TV shows should have long breaks. It’s comments like this that make me feel these are not TV shows anymore. Why not call it Stranger Things Part 5: The End or something like that? Last vent, I promise: A show like Stranger Things then shouldn’t be eligible for Emmys for TV series. Open it up to a TV series that bothers to film “X” number of episodes each year. The TV landscape is a convoluted mess! Thanks for letting me vent. — Alex
Matt Roush: Venting comes with the territory, and more and more it’s happening with fickle streaming platforms that seem unwilling to commit to long runs (let alone long seasons). I’ve discussed Dexter: Original Sin in this space before, and now reading this, I’m thinking they should have promoted that as a limited series to begin with. (It’s an origin story, and once young Dexter became Dexter the killer, what more was there to say? Plus, Resurrection revived the elder Dexter in such a way that it might be odd to keep both versions going.) I am much more disappointed by the fate of Mid-Century Modern and still believe that if Hulu had aired the episodes weekly instead of a binge drop and given the show a platform to build its audience over time, it might have had more impact. That’s a show that could have worked just as well on Fox or FX. (Also, still not over the Emmys snubbing the late Linda Lavin — who, by the way, gets a fun shoutout in this week’s episode of Only Murders in the Building, whose success on Hulu is obviously an exception to the current rule.)
As for Stranger Things, I’m now resigned to thinking of that show as an “event series,” not unlike a movie franchise where you wait years between new installments. The three-year hiatuses between Seasons 3 and 4, and now 4 and 5, are ridiculous, and we’re all going to need a refresher course to remind us of what’s what in Hawkins and the Upside Down. (Thankfully, I was able to attend the dazzling Broadway production of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, and just hearing that synthesized theme music, and the thrill it sent through the audience, reminded me how much we’ve missed it.) I guess I agree it isn’t a level playing field for a show like this to compete at the Emmys with series that churn out episodes weekly on a yearly basis, but that’s true with a lot of things in the way the industry now works — or doesn’t.
CW Shows in Limbo
Question: Do you know about the statuses of Sherlock & Daughter and Good Cop/Bad Cop? I enjoyed both of them and am wondering what is taking so long for The CW to announce whether they are renewed or canceled. — Caroline C.
Matt Roush: As of this writing, neither of these shows has been canceled or officially renewed. The issue here is that The CW is no longer a network aligned with and acting as a pipeline for two major studios (CBS and Warner Bros). It’s more of an independent network that acquires the majority of its scripted programming from Canada or other sources, and its scheduling doesn’t follow any conventional rules that I can tell. The fate of these and other shows hinges on complicated international co-production and financing and distribution deals, so your guess is as good as mine.
How Alone Is This Lone Wolf?
Question: Is there some trouble or something going on at Tracker? Just about every cast member has left the show except the star, Justin Hartley. — Scott S.
Matt Roush: What’s going on appears to be a creative course correction that is leaning into the lone-wolf aspect of Colter Shaw (Hartley), with only Fiona Rene as Reenie now officially listed as a recurring regular. How this plays out in terms of Colter finding his new clients and who he can still lean on for long-distance support from time to time remains to be seen, but it doesn’t surprise me that the underdeveloped characters who were mostly seen on the other end of his phone calls were ultimately seen as disposable. Considering the state of network TV, it’s also possible there were budget considerations in trimming the cast, but Tracker always felt to me like basically a single-lead show, and now we’ll see if it can live up to that challenge.
How Significant Was the Late-Night Bump
Question: When Jimmy Kimmel Live returned from its short-lived suspension, his show had huge ratings for that Tuesday telecast. It was big news about the ratings. I was wondering how JKL is doing following that one-night increase. Is the show doing higher numbers since returning on other days? I have not seen any news about the show’s ratings beyond the first night back. Additionally, how is The Late Show with Steven Colbert doing since CBS announced it was cancelling the talk show? — Buddy G.
Matt Roush: It’s obvious that Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings would come down to earth after his newsmaking return, but my sense is that given the hubbub over his suspension and Stephen Colbert‘s cancellation — and last week all of the widely publicized stunts during Kimmel’s latest Brooklyn visit (and his exchange of appearances with Colbert) — their newfound notoriety has lifted their shows’ numbers in general terms. (Check out this report on latenighter.com, which tracks this sort of thing more closely than I ever could.)
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected]. (Please include a first name with your question.)
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