CBS has reduced Fire Country Season 5 to 13 episodes from the usual 20 per season. Fire Country, which premiered in 2022, follows a young convict, Bode Donovan, who joins a California firefighting programme in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Donovan is assigned to work alongside elite firefighters, including people from his hometown, forcing him to confront his past while battling dangerous wildfires.
The drama became the most-watched on CBS during its first season, which brought about the launch of the Boston Blue and Sheriff Country spin-offs.
Why Fire Country episodes reduced?
The firefighter drama joins NCIS: Sydney and NCIS: Origins in getting fewer episodes – 10 episodes per season, down from 18 and 20 next season, despite strong ratings that surpassed the network’s renewal threshold.
Having added three new drama series in the 2026 fall schedule that include Einstein, Cupertino and NCIS: New York, the network had to reduce Fire Country and Matlock to accommodate this growth and to allow it to maintain quality without overwhelming production resources.
NCIS: New York and Cupertino will get 20 episodes, while Einstein will receive 13 episodes.
Further, CBS cancelled two comedies, The Neighbourhood and DMV, as well as one drama, Watson. The episode reductions are more of just fitting more content into the schedule.
Additionally, the network revealed that the multi-platform viewership for the three shows has been lower than that of the other dramas receiving full-season episodes, reflecting changing viewing patterns.
At the schedule reveal, CBS president Amy Reisenbach stated that the network will stick to what works.
“The CBS Friday night entertainment lineup has been No. 1 for an incredible 16 straight seasons, so we’re sticking with what works, Sheriff Country at 8, Fire Country at 9, and Boston Blue at 10,” he said.
Fire Country’s fans’ reactions
Fire Country fans have been buzzing online following the drama’s reduced episode count.
“The networks are all gearing up for the NFL renegotiation. Sports have become a must-have for advertising and reducing churn on streaming. And the costs of sports – particularly the NFL – just keep increasing. Scripted movies and TV are where that money is going to come from,” a user said on Reddit.
“But the cutdowns weren’t due to bad ratings or anything. CBS had a lot of shows they really liked, so instead of rejecting pilots, they dug in; they cut down the episode orders for existing shows to greenlight more of them. More shows being greenlit is a good thing, so I’m all for the shortened seasons,” another user said.