‘Clarice,’ ‘SEAL Team’ Eye Move to Paramount+ From CBS

Should SEAL Team and Clarice make it to the 2021-22 season, it may not be on CBS — at least not entirely.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the two dramas, produced by CBS Studios (MGM also produces Clarice), are in discussions to move to Paramount+ next season. The ViacomCBS streaming service is continuing to bulk up its catalog of original series, and the two CBS shows could bring some potential built-in audience with a move.

Paramount+ and CBS Studios declined comment.

On May 18, ViacomCBS made the move of SEAL Team to Paramount+ official (along with second-year drama Evil), but sources told THR talks are ongoing for Clarice.

A move for SEAL Team and Clarice also opens up some real estate on CBS, which has already renewed nine hour-long dramas and ordered four newcomers to series for 2021-22. SEAL Team will have a short run on the broadcast network in the fall before migrating to Paramount+.

Clarice would also become a Paramount+ exclusive. The Silence of the Lambs sequel, starring Rebecca Breeds as FBI agent Clarice Starling, has faced some standards and practices challenges in its first season on CBS, even as executives have encouraged showrunners Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman to explore the darker elements of the story. CBS chief creative officer and Showtime CEO David Nevins courted Lumet and Kurtzman to bring Clarice to the broadcast network and not to a streaming outlet.

SEAL Team has been a steady performer for CBS over its four seasons. The current season, which wraps May 26, is averaging 6.5 million viewers with a week of delayed viewing. The David Boreanaz-led show follows a SEAL unit as they take on dangerous missions throughout the world.

Spencer Hudnut, Christopher Chulack, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Boreanaz executive produce the series, which was created by Benjamin Cavell.

Kurtzman and Lumet executive produce Clarice with Elizabeth Klaviter and Heather Kadin. The show has averaged about 6.1 million viewers over its inaugural season.

Movement of series within a media conglomerate’s ecosystem has become a fairly common practice in the past year. At ViacomCBS, The Man Who Fell to Earth was initially slated for Paramount+ but will run on Showtime instead; an adaptation of video game Halo went the other direction, ending up on the streamer after being developed for Showtime.

NBCUniversal has made similar decisions with shows like Da Vinci Code prequel Langdon and hybrid comedy-unscripted series True Story going from NBC to Peacock. Disney has likewise moved Love, Victor and High Fidelity from Disney+ to the more adult-oriented Hulu.

May 18, 3:55 p.m. Updated with SEAL Team officially moving to Paramount+.