Fire Country Season 5's Major CBS Demotion Explained By Max Thieriot

Published Sep 17, 2026, 10:39 AM EDT

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Max Thieriot finally addresses Fire Country season 4's demotion.

On the heels of the 2025-2026 TV cycle, CBS made some additional announcements about its confirmed slate for the next season. There were confirmations about Michael Weatherly and Mark Harmon's return as Tony Dinozzo Jr. and Old Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS season 24 and NCIS: Origins season 3, respectively. Meanwhile, Ghosts season 5 and Matlock season 3 were pushed to the midseason. That said, one of the most shocking decisions that the Eye Network made during the off-season involved its premier first-responder series.

While it wasn't being delayed to 2027, CBS revealed that Fire Country season 5's episode count would be significantly slashed. Instead of its usual 20-episode output, the upcoming year will only see it releasing 13 — that's almost just half a season worth of output and is nearly the same production for streaming projects. There was no official explanation for the change, but, understandably, viewers were frustrated and curious. Now, they are getting some information about it.

In a new interview with Collider, Thieriot sheds some light on the CBS demotion of Fire Country season 5. He cites the change of showrunner, from Tia Napolitano to former Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I. helmer, Eric Guggenheim. Thieriot, who doesn't only play the lead star of Fire Country, Bode, but is also an executive producer and co-creator adds a layer into their storytelling, as they attempt to mix some new things for their viewers. Read his full quote below:

"Eric has such a great relationship with CBS and has worked with and for them for so long that he has insight into some of the stuff that works and doesn’t work, and he’s been through a lot of it. At the same time, he’s not coming in and being like, 'Hey, I’m going to make this show Magnum.' It’s Fire Country, so it’s about what we need to do that. Eric is a great listener, and I think he’s doing a tremendous job at honing in on what the things are that really work with the show and will make it dynamic and special and unique. Sometimes just having new voices and new opinions and new thoughts and just a new way of looking at things can be great. Just mixing stuff up sometimes is important if you want to try new things. It’s hard to try new things when you’re used to doing things in a certain way, and he just offers a new perspective. At the same time, he’s very collaborative. I think it’s a great combination of things that make him a great showrunner and a great fit for the show."

CBS (via MoviesStillsDb)

Fire Country is coming out of a massively transformative season, as season 4 started with the death of Billy Burke's Vince and exit of Stephanie Arcila's Gabriela — two beloved original cast members. When their respective exits were first confirmed, they were justified through the idea of wanting to shake things up for the series. While Burke continues to be mum about the matter, Arcila's post-Fire Country stint comments have confirmed that it wasn't her decision to leave.

Since then, the rest of Fire Country season 4 felt like a transitional period. Bode and the whole of Edgewater were still mourning the losses of Vince and Gabriela, but the story had to move forward, so new characters came in for fresh stories. Season 5 was supposed to be the show's return to form, now that the cast exits were already way behind them. It's curious, however, if the shortened year will have an impact on how the project handles its procedural concept and whether it will be shifting more into a serialized narrative.

While Fire Country season 5 will only have 13 episodes, its first spinoff, Sheriff Country is coming back for season 2 with its original episode count intact. It's curious if, aside from the internal changes that are happening for the flagship, the upcoming second spinoff, that will be a medical procedural, also has something to do with this change in CBS's fall 2026 lineup.

Fire Country