The TV landscape remains brutal for Black-led shows. On Friday (Mar. 27), CBS announced that “Watson,” starring Morris Chestnut and “DMV,” starring Tim Meadows, would be canceled.
“Watson,” a medical spin on the Sherlock Holmes novels, had a strong debut season after premiering in January 2025, leading to its renewal for a second season two months later. The series was still drawing decent ratings, as its latest episode, which aired on March 22, drew 3.1 million live-plus-same-day viewers, according to Nielsen. Chestnut starred as John Watson, a doctor who took on medical mysteries weekly at his practice following the death of his best friend, Holmes.
By comparison, “DMV” starring Meadows, Harriet Dyer and Tony Cavalero, launched last fall and had solid ratings for a show based on three East Hollywood DMV workers who were underpaid, dealing with workplace dramas, hijinks and all of the chaos that could happen interacting with customers at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“Watson” will air its series finale on May 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, while “DMV” will air its final episode on May 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.
The cancellation news for “DMV and “Watson” leaves CBS with an absence of Black-led programming for the moment. With “The Neighborhood” in the midst of its final season, the network is set to roll out new seasons of shows like “Marshals,” “George & Mandy’s First Marriage,” the network has renewed “CIA,” “Tracker,” “Matlock,” “Elsbeth,” “Fire Country,” “NCIS,” “NCIS: Origins,” “NCIS Sydney,” “Boston Blue,” “Sheriff Country,” “FBI,” “Ghosts,” “Survivor,” and “The Amazing Race.”
The network has greenlit a new series, “Cupertino,” starring “Luke Cage” alum Mike Colter. Named after Apple’s home base, the series is from the creators of “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight,” Robert and Michelle King. It centers on a lawyer taking on the giants of Silicon Valley after being cheated out of his stock options by his former employer, a tech startup. With his back to the wall, Colter’s character teams with another scorned attorney to fight for those who’ve been taken advantage of by the tech elite.
