Morris Chestnut isn’t clocking out of the clinic just yet—CBS is bringing Watson back for a second season.
The medical mystery drama, which reimagines Dr. John Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame as a doctor solving rare and baffling disorders, has officially been renewed. The decision comes just two months after its January premiere and on the heels of a solid freshman run that’s clearly got the network paying attention.
Backed by standout Sunday night numbers, Watson quickly proved it wasn’t just a one-case wonder. The series launched strong with a post-AFC Championship debut that pulled in 9.58 million viewers. That episode ballooned to 18.7 million cross-platform viewers over five weeks, with 7 million tuning in on Paramount+—making it the most-watched CBS original on the streamer this season. And week to week, it’s averaging nearly 6.8 million viewers, per Nielsen.
Set six months after Sherlock Holmes’ death (at the hands of Moriarty, of course), the show follows Watson—played by Chestnut—as he returns to his roots as a medical doctor. Now the head of a clinic for rare disorders, Watson is pulled back into a world of danger and deduction when ghosts from his past, including Moriarty himself, come knocking.
Randall Park steps in as the notorious nemesis, Professor Moriarty, with Matt Berry voicing the late Sherlock Holmes. The cast also includes Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall, Inga Schlingmann, Ritchie Coster, and Rochelle Aytes.
The Season 1 finale will air in two parts on may 4 and may 11, rounding out its 13-episode first season. Behind the scenes, Craig Sweeny serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside Chestnut, Sallie Patrick, Larry Teng, Shäron Moalem MD, PhD, Aaron Kaplan, and Brian Morewitz.
This renewal joins a flurry of CBS announcements for the 2025-26 season, including green lights for Elsbeth, Tracker, Fire Country, Ghosts, and a whole slate of NCIS content. Meanwhile, CBS also announced new shows like Sheriff Country and a Blue Bloods spinoff (Boston Blue) starring Donnie Wahlberg. On the flip side, longtime shows like SWAT, FBI: Most Wanted, and FBI: International were recently canceled—while the fate of The Equalizer remains in limbo.
But for now, Watson is alive and well—medically and otherwise—and ready for another season of mysterious cases and high-stakes drama.