‘Elementary’ EP Says Season 6 May Be Series’ Last

CBS’ “Elementary” may be nearing its end.

In a recent interview with TVLine, executive producer Rob Doherty said that Season 6 could be the show’s last. “We’re not sure yet,” Doherty said. “[But] we want to do everything we can do to keep it from being the last season. But we’ll see where we are in a few months.”

Although the show may not return for a Season 7, Doherty said that Season 6’s initial 13-episode order could still go up if one of the network’s new shows flops. “There’s always a chance we could [return] earlier,” Doherty revealed. “If we were, it stands to reason there might be additional episodes ordered. We are in ‘wait and see’ mode at the moment.”

Like “Elementary” Season 6, “Code Black” Season 3 also got a reduced 13-episode order from the network. CBS Corporation CEO Leslie Moonves said that the decision to bring back both shows for a shorter run is a new approach the network is trying out to keep original series on air throughout the whole season.

“One of the changes in having so much midseason is that, look, repeats aren’t working as well as they used to,” Moonves said (via SpoilerTV) during the network’s annual Upfront press breakfast last May. “It’s good to have originals all the way through, so if you take a ‘Code Black’ — it was on Wednesday night and doing decently on Wednesday night — there’s no reason that ‘Criminal Minds’ couldn’t come off for a short period of time and you put in ‘Code Black’ and you continue with originals all the way through.”

“Same with ‘Elementary’ on a Sunday night or a Thursday night,” Moonves continued. “So you have a lot more leeway to do things.”

This is the first season of “Elementary” that received a 13-episode order. The first five seasons of the series all had 24 episodes each.

In related news, Doherty recently teased to TVLine that Natalie Dormer may finally reprise her role as Moriarty in Season 6. “With respect to Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller), we’re working hard to see an old flame come back to the show,” Doherty said at CBS’ summer press soiree.

While Doherty didn’t mention Moriarty’s name, the showrunner did say that the mystery ex “may or may not lead a league of assassins, or once led a league of assassins” — an outright confirmation that he was indeed referring to Dormer’s character. At the London Film and Comic Con last month, Dormer also said (via Radio Times) that the chances of her going back to “Elementary” are “pretty high.”

“Elementary” Season 6, which also stars Lucy Liu as Joan Watson, Aidan Quinn as Thomas Gregson and Jon Michael Hill as Marcus Bell, will premiere midseason on CBS.