Not even done with its first season, CBS is already planning a spin-off of Dick Wolf’s procedural “FBI” called “FBI: Most Wanted.”
The potential series will get a backdoor pilot during an upcoming episode of “FBI” this spring. The spinoff is centered around the division of the FBI tasked with tracking and capturing the notorious criminals on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
An air date for the episode has not yet been determined.
“Most Wanted” was given a series commitment, which means that CBS would have to pay out a large sum to Wolf and Universal TV if the series is not picked up.
Wolf will write the script with Rene Balcer, with Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski serving as executive producers. Fred Berner will direct. As with “FBI,” the spinoff will be a co-production between Universal Television and CBS Television Studios. Wolf has an overall deal with Universal TV, which produces his “Chicago” franchise and “Law & Order: SVU” for NBC.
“Most Wanted” won’t even be the only Wolf-produced spinoff to get a backdoor pilot this season. Wolf is also developing a new “Law & Order” that will follow the Hate Crimes unit, which will get its own launch pad during an episode of “SVU” this year.
“FBI,” from Dick Wolf, is the network’s top new series, drawing 13 million viewers (based on Nielsen’s live-plus-seven numbers). “FBI” was one of the four freshman series that CBS renewed for a second season, alongside “Magnum PI,” “The Neighborhood” and “God Friended Me.”