Spring is unfortunately cancellation season when it comes to network television, and CBS has announced some shows from the 2024 TV schedule that weren't quite as lucky as the renewed NCIS and FBIs. Both CSI: Vegas and So Help Me Todd have gotten the axe from the network, but it's the latter that already has me thinking ahead to the fall due to the renewal of Elsbeth – which airs after Todd on Thursday nights – just one day earlier. So, let's look at what could replace Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin's show come fall!
So Help Me Todd won't return for Season 3 despite averaging 6.3 million viewers in seven days of delayed viewing per episode, according to THR. Those are some pretty solid numbers – and only slightly below those of fellow cancelled series CSI: Vegas – but evidently not enough to warrant a return to CBS for the 2024-2025 TV season.
In the new year following the end of the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike, So Help Me Todd has been paired with CBS' Elsbeth, a spinoff of The Good Wife that was renewed for Season 2 just one day before the bad news broke about Todd. Both are (mostly) dramas with some quirkiness to make them lighter than many of CBS' other dramatic offerings, and made for a good match.
So, what could be paired with Elsbeth in So Help Me Todd's place, assuming Carrie Preston's new show continues airing on Thursdays at 10 pm. ET in the fall? Well, we can only speculate, but I don't really see CBS moving one of its other dramas to Thursdays. For a few examples of why, the FBIs are hugely successful as one solid block of primetime on Tuesdays, NCIS rarely moves slots, and NCIS: Hawai'i has not yet been renewed for another season. All in all, my prediction is a new show being paired with Elsbeth, and CBS has some in the works.
These are the freshman drama options that are currently slated for slots in the 2024-2025 TV season: NCIS: Origins, a prequel series for NCIS' Gibbs; the medical drama Watson, with Morris Chestnut starring in a new take on the world of Sherlock Holmes; and a reboot of Matlock, which was originally planned for 2023 with Kathy Bates starring.
Two comedies are also on the way, with the Young Sheldon spinoff centered on Georgie and Mandy as well as Damon Wayans Sr. joining forces with Damon Wayans Jr. for Poppa's House, but those seem more likely to fill slots that will be vacated by Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola after their series finales in May. So, with one of the dramas more likely to fit with Elsbeth on CBS Thursdays, which will it be?
Well, if I was a betting woman, I'd put my money on Matlock. NCIS: Origins seems like a natural fit for Mondays, along with NCIS and – if renewed – NCIS: Hawai'i. Watson is a bit of a wild card, as CBS hasn't had a medical drama since Sophia Bush's Good Sam was cancelled in 2022, and that would be an interesting partner for Elsbeth if CBS wanted two very different shows.
But pairing Matlock with Elsbeth would group two mystery/crime shows with female leads, and given that CBS has found success by airing similar shows back to back with the FBIs on Tuesdays, I can definitely see Thursdays starting with Ghosts and Young Sheldon's spinoff or Poppa's House at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET, followed by Matlock at 9 p.m. ET, and ending with Elsbeth returning to its current time slot of 10 p.m. ET.
Of course, this is all complete speculation, and CBS may not be done with the cancellations yet this spring. Plus, So Help Me Todd isn't totally done yet, and it'll be months before CBS' new Thursday lineup will come into play. For now, you can keep watching So Help Me Todd at 9 p.m. ET on CBS Thursdays, and revisit past episodes streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
