It’s no secret that “NCIS’ is television’s #1 drama, and has already spawned the nearly-as-successful spinoff “NCIS: Los Angeles’. And, if everything works out as planned, viewers will soon get their first glimpse of another spinoff of the procedural hit in a two-part “backdoor pilot” set to air next year.
“NCIS’ star Mark Harmon is also an executive producer on the spinoff — to be titled “NCIS: New Orleans’ — which, as “TV Guide’ points out, may surprise those who remember Harmon adamantly opposing the “Los Angeles’ spinoff over fears it could dilute the original.
Harmon, however, has changed his tune, and he reveals there’s one reason why: “Gary Glasberg!” he tells “TV Guide’, pointing to the “NCIS’ showrunner who will also be at the helm of the New Orleans-set spinoff. “The target is two terrific episodes of this series, which we were going to do anyway. But now we have the chance to REALLY do it.”
As Glasberg explains, he initially pitched the New Orleans storyline as an idea for a single episode to take place during network sweeps. “And to Mr. Harmon’s credit,” Glasberg says, “he looked at me and said, ‘That’s more than a sweeps episode.’ I realized he might be right. We’ll do our best to cast and write it well and create something fun and different.”
The two-part “NCIS’ spinoff episodes are set to air next year during May sweeps; if successful, “NCIS: New Orleans’ could join the CBS schedule as early as fall 2014. No actors have yet been cast.
Last season, CBS attempted a spinoff of “NCIS: Los Angeles’ (“NCIS: Red’) with former “Northern Exposure’ star John Corbett heading a team of mobile NCIS agents; the network ultimately decided to pass.
