At this point, the NCIS franchise has had a long and successful run on TV screens, lasting over twenty years.
It’s hard to believe that it started as a spinoff of JAG because it has become much bigger than its predecessor, becoming one of TV’s most bankable franchises.
Despite the shocking cancellations of NCIS: Hawai’i, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: New Orleans, CBS still devotes three hours of its schedule to the NCIS universe.
We have the mothership, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney, which are keeping the lights on on one of TV’s most formidable properties.
There’s also the upcoming NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which will test whether fans will check back in with iconic characters years after they last appeared on screen.
It will be a different series in many respects because it will be the first streaming exclusive offshoot of NCIS.
Will that allow for a bigger budget, or will the storyline be far more serialized than we’ve come to expect?
The NCIS Universe Deserves to Expand
We’ll have to stay tuned to find out, but I’m starting to get the feeling that CBS and Paramount should be more open to an all-stars spinoff that brings characters from multiple series together.
Of course, we’ve had countless crossovers between shows, but I think it would be great to have a more long-running team-up that could perhaps start as an anthology, with new stories and NCIS franchise veterans joining forces each season.
The characters across the NCIS universe are dynamic and have a great screen presence, so it strikes me as a valuable way to breathe some life into the NCIS brand.
From a marketing standpoint alone, uniting characters from concluded shows in the franchise would be a great way to raise awareness for the project.
In the past, crossovers have been tricky to pull off, so it may be the right time now that some of the more veteran NCIS entries have wrapped to have characters team up for an entire season.
Many faces could pop up, including current characters on NCIS and NCIS: Sydney and faces from the past, such as Abby, Pride, Hetty, and Jane.
Hey, it could also be one of the things that brings Mark Harmon’s Gibbs out of the shadows and back to helping some of his former colleagues.
There’s so much potential for an all-star team-up series, but the biggest issue would be whether the creatives could craft a storyline that made said team-up worthwhile.
A Team-Up Series On Paramount+ Could Be a Hit
In order for it to work, it would probably need to be a Paramount+ exclusive because the streaming platform should have a bigger budget.
In the last few years, the broadcast networks have found it notoriously more difficult to keep the lights on for many shows amid reduced advertising revenue.
It has led to many well-watched shows, such as Blue Bloods, being canceled.
We’re still very much in the dark about why NCIS: Hawai’i was let go despite healthy ratings, but it’s thought it was more to do with the expense that comes with shooting in Hawaii.
Truthfully, I think NCIS: Hawai’i was given the short end of the stick. It ended on a cliffhanger and didn’t get so much as a goodbye from the network.
While I understand it was only on the air for three seasons, the cast, crew, and fans deserved closure.
A potential all-star NCIS series could give some form of closure by reeling in some of the NCIS: Hawaii cast.
Paramount, as a whole, has been open to expanding long-running franchises with spinoffs, and I believe there’s a great idea to be mined from bringing these characters together against what should be a threat to everyone.
What are your thoughts on the matter, NCIS Fanatics?
Would a crossover that spans an entire season be the best foot forward for the NCIS universe?
Hit the comments below.
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