Published Sep 9, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT
Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV.
Although the network has spent decades building some of TV’s most successful procedural franchises, CBS’ best franchise in the current era is its most underrated, putting others in the genre to shame. With long-running franchises like *NCIS *bringing several shows to the network over the last two decades and others, like the more recent *FBI *franchise branching out into an interesting split of shows, CBS has long known how to make a single series into a fantastic franchise. Despite the fact that not every franchise spinoff has longevity attached, the network has certainly found the key to ensuring long-term success.
With franchises dominating tons of airtime on CBS, many have their eyes on the biggest hits on the network like *NCIS, *which dominates the network’s Tuesday night block. While they’ve earned their praise through hundreds of episodes and massive ratings, building a recognizable brand is only a part of building a franchise that has staying power. Newer franchises, which have been coming to life on the network over the past few years, have sometimes gotten lost in the fray as older franchises have continued to build on themselves, like the network’s breakout hit Fire Country, which has quickly expanded.
Debuting in 2022, the series has become one of CBS’ best over the course of the past few years, spinning off into a secondary franchise series with *Sheriff Country *debuting in 2025. The shows have quietly become one of the most complex examples of a shared-world in CBS network history.
Although *Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *tend to feel like very different shows, sharing the same universe and operating within the same town throughout each of their runs makes it easy for the shows to cross over. From a story perspective, bringing *Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *together makes sense, allowing the first responders to all work together in the face of a disaster or an emergency within Edgewater. CBS has luckily already confirmed that the shows will feature a significant crossover event within the 2026 season, and will share stories as each of their seasons begin and then progress.
*Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *share an interesting way of moving, especially because they’re not just sharing a universe, but sharing a space. For most franchises, the only time they brush up against one another is during crossover events, but for these CBS shows, they’re constantly bumping into one another regardless of what’s happening from episode to episode. This is impressive for more than one reason, but from a story perspective, it’s fascinating to see characters crossing over on a regular basis, or events making their way from one show to the other without the regular sense of crossover fanfare.
While the connection between the two shows exists more naturally than the shows of some other franchises,* Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *have such a significant stock in one another that it makes sense for their stories to align more closely. Their 2026 crossover event is all part of a long-term strategy that will see the shows converging on a similar path, leading *Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *through their seasons.
Although they’re impressive enough from a story perspective, *Fire Country’s *crossovers with *Sheriff Country *and vice versa have a significant logistical strain that makes their consistency even more impressive. *Fire Country, *which began in 2022 and takes place in a fictional Northern California town prone to weather-related disasters, films in Vancouver, British Columbia and has since its start. While the Edgewater of the series is mostly on a soundstage, the ambiance of the outdoor shots has a similar quality to other shows filmed in Vancouver, which makes the decision *Sheriff Country *made for its location all the more intriguing.
While *Sheriff Country *shares a universe with the original series, the show films on the opposite side of the country. With its production in Toronto, Ontario, *Sheriff Country has to stylize itself to feel the same as Fire Country *while working on an entirely different coast, which makes it all the more impressive that the shows have the same distinct look and feel. Knowing that the shows are in production on opposite coasts, their crossover events are even more impressive of a feat. The reality of making the shows work certainly isn’t an easy one, but consistently looks smooth.
With a franchise that sees both of its shows sharing a singular town, the way that *Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *operate makes it clear that they care deeply about the consistency between them. Both shows put in the effort to ensure that they can deliver high quality content, complete with characters crossing over, throughout their seasons.
Although the success of *Sheriff Country *hasn’t been as massive as *Fire Country *was during its first season, the CBS hits have been able to move through their first season as a franchise with an interesting sense of ease. Each of the shows understands their characters in ways that allow them to bend toward each other’s narratives, especially in *Sheriff Country’s *first season coming on the heels of a massive tragedy for *Fire Country. *With *Fire Country *season 4 having to navigate the loss of massive characters while *Sheriff Country *built a foundation, the shows relied heavily on each other.
With both shows going beyond operating purely as procedurals, *Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *each have something that makes them stand out. For *Fire Country, *the different threads that run through the fire department are always more interesting than the disaster-of-the-week. From the fact that there are firefighters from both Cal Fire and Three Rock always working together, to the interpersonal stories that have run through the series, the character dynamics are what makes the show work. The same goes for *Sheriff Country, *just in a slightly different way. Each series has leaned into being a drama, then a procedural.
As another crossover approaches in the coming season, *Fire Country *and *Sheriff Country *each have no signs of slowing down. Larger franchises may receive more attention, but CBS’ most impressive universe still exists within the boundaries of Edgewater, building up stories that work within such a tightly wound shared universe.
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Fire Country follows Bode Donovan, a young convict seeking redemption by joining a firefighting program in his Northern California hometown. Working alongside elite firefighters, Donovan and fellow inmates strive to control massive wildfires in the region while navigating personal challenges and community dynamics.
Sheriff Country ](/db/tv-show/sheriff-country/)
Sheriff Country is a television series that follows the daily life and duties of law enforcement officials in a rural American county. The show documents the challenges and triumphs of the local sheriff’s department as they tackle crime, maintain order, and serve their community.