CBS, NBC and ABC Drama Schedule 2026–27: Every Night, Time Slot and Premiere Date
Quick answer: Every fall drama on CBS, NBC and ABC is on the air by Thursday, Oct. 15. CBS opened its premiere week on Sunday, Oct. 4, with Marshals and Tracker and filled in the rest of its nights through Friday, Oct. 9. NBC brought the One Chicago block back on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and the two Law & Order shows on Thursday, Oct. 8. ABC's Thursday trio of 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Nashville and Grey's Anatomy starts last, on Oct. 15. In the network listings we checked at 12:17 a.m. ET on Monday, Oct. 12, the three networks had 22 new drama episodes and four new comedy episodes listed for the week of Oct. 12 through Oct. 18.
The tables below come from the three networks' own premiere-date releases, cross-checked against The Futon Critic's listings and TVmaze. Times are Eastern. The network feeds give Pacific viewers the same clock hour, and Central is an hour earlier. Each show has its own page, which says whether the next episode is new or a repeat and lists the weeks ahead; the first show in each block is linked below, and the rest are on the new-tonight index.
What's on CBS, NBC and ABC each night this season?
Sunday through Friday, hour by hour. Where two networks have a drama in the same slot, both rows are listed. Harlan Coben's Final Twist, the CBS Monday anthology, is included for completeness but doesn't have a page here.
| Night | Time ET | Network | Show | Season | Fall premiere |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 8 p.m. | CBS | Marshals | 2 | Oct. 4 (8:30 p.m. ET that night) |
| Sunday | 9 p.m. | CBS | Tracker | 4 | Oct. 4 (9:30 p.m. ET that night) |
| Monday | 8 p.m. | CBS | FBI | 9 | Oct. 5 |
| Monday | 9 p.m. | CBS | CIA | 2 | Oct. 5 |
| Monday | 10 p.m. | CBS | Harlan Coben's Final Twist | 2 | Oct. 5 |
| Monday | 10 p.m. | NBC | Line of Fire (new) | 1 | Sept. 21 |
| Tuesday | 8 p.m. | CBS | NCIS | 24 | Oct. 6 |
| Tuesday | 9 p.m. | CBS | NCIS: New York (new) | 1 | Oct. 6 |
| Tuesday | 10 p.m. | CBS | NCIS: Origins | 3 | Oct. 6 |
| Tuesday | 10 p.m. | ABC | R.J. Decker | 2 | Sept. 15 |
| Wednesday | 8 p.m. | NBC | Chicago Med | 12 | Oct. 7 |
| Wednesday | 9 p.m. | NBC | Chicago Fire | 15 | Oct. 7 |
| Wednesday | 10 p.m. | NBC | Chicago P.D. | 14 | Oct. 7 |
| Thursday | 8 p.m. | ABC | 9-1-1 | 10 | Oct. 15 |
| Thursday | 9 p.m. | ABC | 9-1-1: Nashville | 2 | Oct. 15 |
| Thursday | 9 p.m. | CBS | Elsbeth (9:01 in the listings) | 4 | Oct. 8 |
| Thursday | 9 p.m. | NBC | Law & Order: SVU | 28 | Oct. 8 |
| Thursday | 10 p.m. | ABC | Grey's Anatomy | 23 | Oct. 15 |
| Thursday | 10 p.m. | CBS | Cupertino (new) | 1 | Oct. 8 |
| Thursday | 10 p.m. | NBC | Law & Order | 26 | Oct. 8 |
| Friday | 8 p.m. | CBS | Sheriff Country | 2 | Oct. 9 |
| Friday | 9 p.m. | CBS | Fire Country | 5 | Oct. 9 |
| Friday | 10 p.m. | CBS | Boston Blue | 2 | Oct. 9 |
Saturday has no first-run drama on CBS or ABC this fall. CBS's release puts 48 Hours there from Oct. 10, and ABC's schedule gives the night to college football. NBC's fall release lists no Saturday scripted series either.
Which comedies share those nights?
Four half-hour comedies sit in front of the dramas on Wednesday and Thursday, with two more NBC pairs arriving later in the fall. They're listed here because they decide when the 9 p.m. dramas start, and because Ghosts takes Elsbeth's Thursday hour for two specials.
| Night | Time ET | Network | Show | Premiere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | 8 p.m. | ABC | Scrubs | Sept. 30 (two episodes) |
| Wednesday | 8:30 p.m. | ABC | Abbott Elementary | Oct. 7 |
| Thursday | 8 p.m. | CBS | Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage | Oct. 8 |
| Thursday | 8:30 p.m. | CBS | Eternally Yours (new) | Oct. 8 |
| Thursday | 9 p.m. | CBS | Ghosts specials (two episodes each) | Oct. 29 and Dec. 10 |
| Friday | 8 p.m. | NBC | Happy's Place | Oct. 23 |
| Friday | 8:30 p.m. | NBC | Newlyweds (new) | Oct. 23 |
| Monday | 8 p.m. | NBC | St. Denis Medical | Nov. 2 |
| Monday | 8:30 p.m. | NBC | The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins | Nov. 2 |
When do the midseason shows come back?
None of the three networks had announced a midseason date when we checked on Oct. 12. The wording below is the networks' own: CBS says "the second half of the 2026-2027 broadcast season," ABC says 2027, and NBC has named months for its two new series.
| Show | Network | Season | What the network has said |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matlock | CBS | 3 | Second half of the season |
| Ghosts | CBS | 6 | Specials Oct. 29 and Dec. 10, then early 2027 for the rest |
| NCIS: Sydney | CBS | 4 | Second half of the season |
| Einstein (new) | CBS | 1 | Second half of the season |
| High Potential | ABC | 3 | 2027, date to be announced |
| Will Trent | ABC | 5 | 2027, date to be announced |
| The Rookie | ABC | 9 | 2027, date to be announced |
| Shifting Gears | ABC | 3 | 2027, date to be announced |
| The Rookie: North (new) | ABC | 1 | 2027, date to be announced |
| The Rockford Files (new) | NBC | 1 | January, Thursdays at 8 p.m. |
| Sunset P.I. (new) | NBC | 1 | February, Mondays at 8:30 p.m. |
Also on FOX: Best Medicine (Tuesdays at 8) and Doc (Tuesdays at 9) have been running since late September, and Animal Control holds Sunday at 8:30. FOX is keeping Murder in a Small Town, Memory of a Killer and its two new dramas, Baywatch and The Interrogator, for midseason. FOX's network hours end at 10 p.m. ET, so there is no 10 o'clock row for it.
What changed from last season?
Three moves matter if you're going by last year's habits. Marshals, which ran its first season from March to May, now leads CBS's Sunday night ahead of Tracker. NCIS: New York takes the 9 p.m. hour between NCIS and NCIS: Origins, so the Tuesday block is three NCIS shows in a row. And on NBC, Law & Order now follows SVU at 10 p.m. instead of opening the night, which NBC describes as a new time slot for the original series. Ghosts, a Thursday regular last season, is reduced to the two holiday specials until 2027.
Where can I stream them the next day?
CBS's episode releases say each episode is on Paramount+ the day after it airs for Essential subscribers, and Premium subscribers can also watch the CBS broadcast live. NBC's own NBC Insider pages list the One Chicago and Law & Order premieres as next day on Peacock. ABC's premiere-date release says all of its original programming streams the next day on Hulu, and on Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. For the hour-by-hour question on any given night, the new-tonight index lists every show page, including Elsbeth, Grey's Anatomy and CBS's Friday block.
Frequently asked questions
When do CBS dramas return?
They already have. CBS's premiere week ran from Sunday, Oct. 4, through Friday, Oct. 9, with one or more dramas starting each night except Wednesday and Saturday. Matlock, NCIS: Sydney and the new Einstein are held for the second half of the season.
What night is One Chicago on?
Wednesdays on NBC, 8 to 11 p.m. ET: Chicago Med, then Chicago Fire, then Chicago P.D. The three shows have shared that night since the Oct. 7 premieres.
Which night has the most new dramas?
Thursday, once ABC starts on Oct. 15. From that week, Thursday carries 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Nashville and Grey's Anatomy on ABC, Elsbeth and Cupertino on CBS, and SVU and Law & Order on NBC, seven dramas across the 8-to-11 window.
Sources
- CBS: fall primetime premiere dates for the 2026-2027 season (Paramount Press Express) and TVLine's CBS premiere-date rundown
- NBCUniversal: NBC sets fall premiere dates for 2026-27 and TVLine's NBC premiere-date rundown
- ABC: fall 2026 premiere dates and primetime schedule and TVLine's ABC 2026-27 schedule
- TheWrap: NBC fall 2026 premiere dates (Rockford Files and Sunset P.I. months)
- TVmaze U.S. schedule and The Futon Critic listings (weekly episode counts, checked Oct. 12)