Summary

• NCIS franchise is deviating from the location-based spinoff tradition with NCIS: Origins & NCIS: Tony & Ziva, focusing on original cast members.
• Departure from the spinoff norm seen with cancelation of NCIS: Los Angeles & NCIS: Hawai'i signals a shift back to the flagship series' roots.
• A shift in focus to the original cast could bring added complexity & depth to the characters, offering deeper exploration on streaming platforms.

The NCIS franchise is breaking a 15-year spinoff tradition by creating NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva. The NCIS: Origins spinoff will explore the backstory of former Special Agent in Charge Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). NCIS: Tony & Ziva will see Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) expand on what happened to their characters after leaving the flagship series and what their lives look like now. The spinoffs will continue to expand the franchise, which recently flexed its mainstay status on television by celebrating the NCIS franchise's 1000th episode.

The franchise has commanded television for 21 years, with its flagship series recently receiving its renewal for NCIS season 22. The Origins spinoff will premiere alongside the flagship series on the CBS fall television schedule. The franchise will look completely different when it enters the 2024-2025 schedule, due to the nature of the new spinoffs that will change the franchise's makeup. The franchise's departure from its greatest spinoff tradition was further confirmed by the cancelation of NCIS: Hawai'i before season 4. The NCISverse will say goodbye to currently beloved characters, and the lives of past favorites will be reexamined.

NCIS Breaks From The Franchise's Location-Based Spinoff Tradition

NCIS New Orleans crossover

By creating NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva, the franchise is parting ways with its location-based spinoff tradition, which has been 15 years in the making. The trend started in 2009 with the creation of NCIS: Los Angeles, six years after the original franchise launched. The California-based spinoff was created to explore the Office of Special Projects on the opposite coast. The franchise continued the location-based spinoff trend with the launch of NCIS: New Orleans in 2014, NCIS: Hawai'i in 2021, and NCIS: Sydney in 2023, with the shows featuring landmark elements of the places where they were set.

NCIS: Hawai'i broke an unwanted franchise record

Over the last few years, there have been signs that the location-based era of the franchise was ending. NCIS: New Orleans was canceled relatively recently, in 2021. The seven-year run of the New Orleans-focused spinoff was a feat for television, but paled in comparison to the longevity of its Los Angeles-based counterpart, which was on-air for 14 seasons. Despite its incredible run, NCIS: Los Angeles was also recently canceled, having concluded in 2023 - and now, NCIS: Hawai'i has joined them. With its cancelation, NCIS: Hawai'i broke an unwanted franchise record, becoming the shortest-lived NCIS show in the franchise.

While NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva are called expansion series for expanding on original cast members and storylines, the true expansion of the NCISverse happened when the franchise opened new offices. The introduction of new NCIS offices saw the introduction of some of its universe's strongest characters, like Special Agent Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) from NCIS: Los Angeles and Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) from NCIS: Hawai'i. Plus, both series were home to one of the most beloved characters in the franchise: NCIS Senior Special Agent Sam Hanna (LL Cool J).

How NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva Will Shift The Focus Of The NCIS Franchise

Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David

New NCIS spinoffs will break from the tradition of introducing NCIS offices as a way to create new storylines for its world. NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva will shift the focus of the NCISverse back to the franchise's flagship series. Even though Origins and Tony & Ziva will explore new stories, their origin points back to the original series. This means NCIS has parted with its location-based spinoffs, except its Australia-based series. NCIS: Sydney has been renewed for season 2, despite a mixed reception. The last remaining location-based show is a sign of the times for the franchise.

NCIS: Sydney is a reflection of both the show's history and what its future could be. While still a location-based police procedural, the Aussie-themed spinoff departed from major norms for the franchise, and those departures are mirrored in the upcoming spinoffs. NCIS: Sydney focused on more serialized storytelling, for instance, which saw the storyline loosely carry over from one episode to the next. NCIS: Tony & Ziva will follow the same formula, similarly utilizing this narrative technique. It's a major departure from the formulaic case-of-the-week storytelling approach that NCIS is known for.

It's unclear how the break from tradition and shift back to the original NCIS cast will affect the franchise's standing as it navigates the cultural shift from network television to streaming. The franchise could lose some of its charm by closing its beloved spinoff offices that were a mainstay of prime-time television. Then again, it could add new layers of complexity and intrigue by creating more depth for the show's strongest characters. The opportunity for deeper character development will suit the ability to watch more content at once on streaming platforms.