CBS is already looking ahead to their 2026-27 TV season with three new series announcements, all in different stages of development. As part of their long-term development plan, the network is said to be making an effort to “drastically perform as a more efficient brand while providing our audiences with the synergy they are asking for.”
CBS has put into development three spinoffs of their 2000s drama NUMB3RS, titled NUMB3RS: Budapest, NUMB3RS: Fugitive Task Force, and NUMB3RS: L3TT3RS. The original NUMB3RS was set in Los Angeles and followed “an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes.” Full synopses for the spinoffs are below:
NUMB3RS: Budapest “follows an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, they travel throughout Europe with the mission of solving a wide range of challenging crimes.” NUMB3RS: Budapest has been ordered to pilot.
NUMB3RS: Fugitive Task Force “is a high-stakes drama that focuses on an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the Fugitive Task Force, an elite unite that relentlessly pursues and captures the notorious criminals on the Bureau’s Most Wanted list.” NUMB3RS: Fugitive Task Force is opening a writer’s room over the summer for a potential script-to-series order.
In NUMB3RS: L3TT3RS, “a dedicated, street-laced FBI agent recruits his mathematical-genius brother and a street-smart literary-genius CIA agent to be part of a new, clandestine task force charged with solving a wide range of challenging crimes in and around New York City.” Characters in NUMB3RS: L3TT3RS will be first introduced on episodes of existing CBS programs. There will not be a script or pilot prior to a potential series order.
The three NUMB3RS spinoffs in development are said to be purposefully similar to CBS’s three FBI spinoffs, but with a NUMB3RS spin. NUMB3RS: Budapest is the NUMB3RS IP answer to the recently-canceled FBI: International; NUMB3RS: Fugitive Task Force is NUMB3RS’ version of the recently-canceled FBI: Most Wanted; and NUMB3RS: New York is NUMB3RS’ answer to the potential spinoff with the working title FBI: CIA.
Ironically, NUMB3RS itself was canceled by CBS in 2010. However, NUMB3RS was produced by what is now known as CBS Studios and as such is a more financially viable franchise than FBI. Should all three spinoffs be ordered to series, CBS could very well create their own ‘One NUMB3RS’ night.
What do you think of this news? Do you think NUMB3RS: Budapest, NUMB3RS: Fugitive Task Force, or NUMB3RS: L3TT3RS will be ordered to series? Let us know what you think of this April Fools’ article in the comments!