If I tell you right now, before November sweeps, that CBS will renew NCIS: Los Angeles for a second season, you won't be surprised. The pre-season projections for this show were that it was a guaranteed success. It wasn't only that it was a spinoff from CBS's top-rated drama series, NCIS. No, it was programming. CBS slotted NCIS: LA in the hour right after NCIS. It had a very strong spot, a monster lead in.
I love military style series. I haven't missed one episode of JAG or its spin-off NCIS over the years -- I even watched reruns, including airings dubbed in French! -- and have watched all NCIS: Los Angeles since it began.
What I like most about NCIS: LA is that they do undercover missions, taking different personae and using gadgets, and that it stars one of my movie crushes when I was a teen, Chris O'Donnell, as well as the talented Linda Hunt.
Sadly, there are small things that I don't get about the series. These small issues are sort of bugging me and making me not enjoy the show as much as I would like as I keep asking myself these questions every episode.
Do you share the same issues? Do you have answers for me so I can enjoy the show as I want to? The list of things I don't get about NCIS: LA coming up!
I don't think of LL Cool J as a rap star anymore, I think of him as an actor. But this video below showcases both of his talents. It's for the new NCIS spinoff NCIS: Los Angeles, which I'm sure will be shortened to NCIS: LA at some point.
The song is called "No Crew Is Superior" and goes on waaaaaaay too long, but it does show a lot of clips from the show.
This Wednesday, CBS will make its official announcement for the 2008-09 season, but word has already leaked out that there will be three new drama series in CBS's new schedule. The NCIS spinoff, which I would have nixed, is in there, as well as a Julianna Margulies show called The Good Wife, and an Alex O'Loughlin vehicle set in the medical field and dealing with organ donors called Three Rivers. The latter may not have the sex appeal of Moonlight, but how much you want to bet the O'Loughlin fans will be tuning in?
All three of these shows are one-hour dramas, so that means the rumors about Without A Trace, Cold Case and The Unit all being on the bubble were true. Cold Case had a strong finish with a two-parter that performed very well in the ratings, so it could be safe, but the other two are likely to be ending their runs.
Next Wednesday, CBS will be announcing its schedule for the new season, and while rumors have swirled that Cold Case or Without A Trace might be on the chopping block -- despite good ratings -- one sure thing seems to be the spinoff from NCIS.
Well, now that I've seen the two-part NCIS episode that served as a pilot for the show, I'm hoping that CBS gives this new series a thumbs-down. I don't expect that to happen, but if it were my decision, I wouldn't dump a solid series with a loyal viewership like Cold Case or Without A Trace, for the hope of LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell's overly fussy, overly procedural NCIS derivative step-child.
This was the second part of "Legend," the episodes that are acting as the NCIS spinoff starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. It looks like a sure thing for the fall, though CBS will make it official at their upfront on May 20.
What did you think of this two-parter? Can you imagine following O'Donnell and LL Cool J for as many seasons as you've followed Mark Harmon and Michael Weatherly?
So ... what did you think of the first part of NCIS' big spinoff episodes? "Legend" is the episode that serves as the spinoff launch for a new series starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Maybe this is the first step in an NCIS franchise, a la CSI. Let's hope not.
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.
Way back in the early 1970's, when I was a kid (I'm not that old!), I remember seeing some amazing movies on the CBS Children's Film Festival. It was on either Saturday or Sunday afternoons and I vaguely recall my mother encouraging me to watch. Kukla, Fran and Ollie introduced the movies and to this day, I can still remember seeing classic foreign films that were made for children like The Red Balloon (French), Hand in Hand (British) and Skinny and Fatty (Japanese). I think those movies may have been the first that really got be interested in film.
Turner Classic Movies seems to be providing a similar service for kids today, albeit by presenting great classics from Hollywood's golden era. TCM started a new series called Essentials Jr. Grey's Anatomy star Chris O'Donnell (Scent of a Woman) co-hosts with Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine). Together, they provide introductions and discuss the films, movies that are picked to be just right for kids. According to TCM, "The chosen films are ones that any cinema-literate child should know about and be able to enjoy with family and friends including grown-ups."
I love military style series. I haven't missed one episode of JAG or its spin-off NCIS over the years -- I even watched reruns, including airings dubbed in French! -- and have watched all NCIS: Los Angeles since it began. 
This Wednesday, CBS will make its official announcement for the 2008-09 season, but word has already leaked out that there will be three new drama series in CBS's new schedule. The NCIS spinoff, which I would have nixed, is in there, as well as a Julianna Margulies show called The Good Wife, and an Alex O'Loughlin vehicle set in the medical field and dealing with organ donors called Three Rivers. The latter may not have the sex appeal of Moonlight, but how much you want to bet the O'Loughlin fans will be tuning in?
This was the second part of "Legend," the episodes that are acting as the NCIS spinoff starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. It looks like a sure thing for the fall, though CBS will make it official at their upfront on May 20.
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. 
Way back in the early 1970's, when I was a kid (I'm not that old!), I remember seeing some amazing movies on the CBS Children's Film Festival. It was on either Saturday or Sunday afternoons and I vaguely recall my mother encouraging me to watch. Kukla, Fran and Ollie introduced the movies and to this day, I can still remember seeing classic foreign films that were made for children like The Red Balloon (French), Hand in Hand (British) and Skinny and Fatty (Japanese). I think those movies may have been the first that really got be interested in film.
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
