Prolific mystery author Harlan Coben is moving into Rod Serling territory. He’s set to host an unscripted true crime series for CBS dubbed “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist.”
The hourlong series will feature the scribe taking audiences “through gripping tales of murder, high-profile crimes and life-altering surprises, each meticulously unraveled to reveal hidden truths, deceptions and lies. With exclusive interviews and never-before-seen archival materials, the series will provide an in-depth look at stories where nothing is as it seems,” per CBS’ series description. “Final Twist” is slated to bow as a midseason replacement during the 2025-26 season between fall and spring seasons of “Survivor.”
The series hails from Final Twist Productions, All Rise Films, Triage Entertainment and See It Now Studios. Jeff Zimbalist is executive producer and showrunner. Also executive producing are Coben and Ben Coben for Final Twist Productions, Stu Schreiberg for Triage Entertainment and Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong for See It Now Studios and Jess Philipps.
Coben is consistently one of the world’s top selling authors with more than 90 million books sold. His works have been catnip to Hollywood for some time. The many TV and film adaptations of his novels include Netflix miniseries “Caught,” “Just One Look,” “Missing You” and “Fool Me Once” and Amazon Prime Video’s “Harlan Coben’s Shelter.” Coben’s work is popular in France and has been the source of material for French film adapatations.
A native of New Jersey, Coben has been savvy about branding himself and his distinctive brand of mystery storytelling, with 35 novels and counting on his resume. He’s among the few popular authors to make the leap into TV as a recurring host. Serling, the legendary writer of “Requiem for a Heavyweight” and “Patterns,” hosted the influential CBS anthology drama “The Twilight Zone” from 1959-1964. He also hosted the NBC anthology drama “Night Gallery” from 1969 to 1973.
CBS unveiled its 2025-26 schedule and programming plans at a press event Wednesday at its Hollywood headquarters, in advance of next week’s upfront programming presentations in New York from other major networks.
