This is what I call thinking out of the box. Instead of simply replicating NCIS, the producers seem to be envisioning a completely different show. Reports claim that the CBS spinoff of NCIS may star Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Could you find two more different actors to pair in a procedural? (Okay, Ice-T and Richard Belzer on Law & Order: SVU aren't a typical teaming either, but at that's supposedly a New York police squad.)
Anyway, it's still in the talking stages, but it's exciting nonetheless. O'Donnell, best known for playing Robin in two Batman movies, being Al Pacino's young charge in Scent of a Woman, and more recently hunked it up as Dr. Finn Dandridge on Grey's Anatomy, would be playing an investigator for the Navy who's a master of disguise. Apparently, he can fake out everyone around him.
LL's character in the NCIS spinoff would be a former Navy SEAL. The rapper-turned actor starred in the feature Krush Groove and had a successful sitcom called In the House. He's also been all over the dial in episodic TV including House and 30 Rock.
According to Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment prez, in the same way that NCIS began as an episode of JAG, this new show will be back-door piloted via an NCIS episode later this season. In doing it that way, the pilot will be practically guaranteed a huge audience sampling the product because NCIS has been in the Nielsen top five all season long.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-06-2009 @ 3:59PM
VP said...
I must say that is a intriguing couple of characters. And yes the producers needed to be commended for thinking outside the box instead of creating a Gibbs clone and a Dinozzo clone. It will be interesting to see where they go with the new series.
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2-06-2009 @ 4:42PM
Anita said...
I like Chris O'Donnell and I'm intrigued by LL Cool J's character. However, I don't know if the latter is developed enough as an actor, considering his past roles. In comparison, Ice T has done fabulous things in his crime time series and the character(s) (does he play the same person) are tailor made to him.
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5-01-2009 @ 12:17PM
CCO said...
I agree, do not cancel NCIS! It's the best show on TV.
2-06-2009 @ 6:13PM
Elizabeth Lewis said...
I would definitely watch! I had the pleasure of meeting LL recently & I have nothing but praise for him exceptly I was speechless when I met him lol! Both of them are good actors so it should be great!
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4-15-2009 @ 8:38PM
jerry said...
i still hope the regular ncis is not canceled
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5-01-2009 @ 9:10AM
Kim said...
I don't watch much TV at all, but I do enjoy NCIS. I like it just like it is and if change takes place and the current characters are omitted I will no longer watch it. The current cast makes the show! Why is it once you've got something good you think you need to change it up....just leave it alone!
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5-01-2009 @ 11:10AM
Sylvia said...
I went and order CBS from my settle lite just because of NCIS and when I was waiting I watched it on my computer. Please I enjoy this show and hope it's not cancel and hope they keep the same actors for they are all great.
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5-01-2009 @ 1:05PM
Annette said...
Agree w/Kim and Sylvia above. If I am unable to watch NCIS I record so I can watch later. The whole cast gel so well. Would not watch CBS if they cancelled NCIS. NCIS is one of the better shows CBS offers, they could cancel Survivor or replace it. Waste of time..
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5-01-2009 @ 12:17PM
Shirley Rogan said...
The only show I watch is NCIS. Take that off and I watch NOTHING!!!!
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5-01-2009 @ 12:14PM
Robert said...
NCIS in it current cast and story lines are great, and should not be cancelled for another format or cast. I watch every episode daily, can't believe its being cancelled. Bob Nicholson, Florida
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5-01-2009 @ 9:12PM
Ardella said...
NCIS is the best show on TV, it's clean cut and the actor's on there make a good team. No other show could replace it. Please keep it on the air. Thank you!
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5-01-2009 @ 12:25PM
Roe said...
NCIS is my favorite series. The characters are unique and interesting. The team has dynamics like no other; tense with a feel good presence. The success of the show is the combination of the scripts and the characters. It saddens me to think that in this financially tough and depressing environment, my favorite "look forward" to show will no longer exist. Thanks guys! Another nail in our coffin.
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5-01-2009 @ 12:57PM
Michele said...
I stopped watching CBS a few years ago and it was NCIS that brought me back to the network. I would enjoy seeing a spin-off of the series, but please don't cancel NCIS.
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5-01-2009 @ 7:28PM
What?!!!! said...
WTF?! A some dude who goes around in "real life" being the "master" of disquises; get real!!! Other than a show about a bunch of investigators that crack big investigations week in and week out compared to the real world of long hours, hard work, and very little to show in the so-called "big" cases of espionage and what not; this is just yet another one of a long line of "EXTREME" shows with super mental abilities, ESP, super "hero" powers, and so forth and so on... and I am tired of such baloney shows. NCIS is a fun loving show more about the bonds between PEOPLE than the BS about super powers and super abilities to sniff TNT from a million miles away or to read minds or something!!!
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