CBS Confirmed Demotion To Jerry Bruckheimer's Hit Franchise-Starter Is Unwarranted

Published Oct 5, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Fire Country season 4 had its fair share of trouble. From a storytelling perspective, the CBS action drama began its fourth installment setting up Billy Burke and Stephanie Arcila’s exits, which had enormous consequences for Fire Country’s characters and the series as a whole. Losing two major cast members who had been part of Fire Country from the very beginning wasn’t the only shakeup for the firefighting drama, as behind the scenes, showrunner Tia Napolitano exited Fire Country at the end of season 4.

All these changes forced Fire Country season 4 to decide what it truly was about at its core, and while the firefighting drama focused just as much on the Leones as it did on the rebuilding of Three Rock, it still clearly needed to find a new direction by Fire Country season 4’s ending. CBS risks dooming Fire Country season 5 with its reduced episode count, and the situation is made even worse by the fact that there is no quantifiable reason warranting such a demotion.

CBS Downgrading Of Fire Country Season 5 Explained

When Deadline reported that Fire Country would return for a fifth season, it also revealed that season 5 would have only 13 episodes instead of the 20 that seasons 3 and 4 had. The lowest episode count Fire Country ever had was in season 2, but that was simply a consequence of the 2023 Hollywood strikes. The news of Fire Country season 5’s shorter run wasn’t accompanied by an explanation for the change, although Deadline suggested that it was because of CBS’s bigger slate of scripted TV shows for the 2026-2027 season.

Their reasoning is sound, as Fire Country season 5 is in good company in regards to its reduced episode count. Indeed, during the 2026-2027 TV cycle, NCIS: Origins season 3 and NCIS: Sydney season 4 will also have a shorter run with 10 episodes each, while Matlock season 3 has been given 13 episodes. The decision to cut Fire Country season 5’s episode count is nevertheless confusing in light of the firefighting drama’s success that already spawned Sheriff Country and will originate a medical drama in the same universe.

Why Fire Country's Demotion Is Unwarranted

It’s undeniable that Fire Country’s ratings dropped season by season. From proving itself as a breakout hit due to Fire Country season 1, episode 1 racking up 5.74 million live viewers, becoming the most-watched series premiere during Fall 2022, to Fire Country season 4 only averaging 3.79 million live viewers in the 2025-2026 TV cycle, it’s clear that there has been a decline. However, the drop in viewer numbers wasn’t as large when considering those who streamed the TV show.

Indeed, while live and same-day viewers steadily declined, multiplatform viewers increased, effectively counteracting the live viewership drop. Fire Country season 4 live, same-day, and multiplatform viewers averaged 8 million, which is a relatively low decline compared to Fire Country season 1’s 10 million. What inevitably made Fire Country season 4’s ratings look worse were Sheriff Country’s, as the spinoff’s season 1 outperformed the parent series’ season 4 by a margin of around one million live viewers or more in all but six episodes.

Sheriff Country season 1’s incredible success shouldn’t nevertheless lessen Fire Country’s feats. Four years in, Fire Country has proven that it is a reliable performer, both in the context of its overall ratings and the fact that it kickstarted its own franchise early on in its run. Its demotion becomes even more unwarranted when considering what it went through with the behind-the-scenes upheavals and storytelling problems that have long plagued the firefighting drama.

Losing two original cast members was undoubtedly impactful, especially considering how central to the story were Vince Leone and Gabriela Perez. Adding to that how Fire Country season 5 will see Eric Guggenheim take over as showrunner, the changes have yet to end for the first responder drama. Fire Country season 5’s shortened run only makes things more difficult for the CBS action drama, especially in light of its recurrent storytelling problems that the firefighting drama didn’t solve when it could count on full seasons, making Fire Country’s future feel especially perilous as a result.

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