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.
LL Cool J is set to star in a new show by CSI creator Anthony Zuiker. It seems that Zuiker is something of an LL fan, so when offered the chance to work with the rapper/actor, he jumped at it. The result is The Man. LL will play an undercover cop who deals with busting perps and running stings at night, and then works to raise his three adopted children by day. The formula is to have the crime stories as the weekly feature while the home life is serialized and takes place in longer arcs throughout the season.
I like to think of it as CSI: In the House, as this does vaguely resemble the plot for LL's previous TV role on that fairly successful sitcom. LL appeared in an episode of House last season, as well as the movies Last Holiday and SWAT. There is nothing official on when this all might come to fruition, but given that it is CBS golden boy Zuiker, things should move quickly.
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. 
Almost a year ago we reported that James Todd Smith aka Ladies Love Cool James aka LL Cool J was making his return to television. The rapper-turned-actor's new drama, The Man, even seemed to be heading for the fall season lineup.
LL Cool J is set to star in a new show by CSI creator Anthony Zuiker. It seems that Zuiker is something of an LL fan, so when offered the chance to work with the rapper/actor, he jumped at it. The result is The Man. LL will play an undercover cop who deals with busting perps and running stings at night, and then works to raise his three adopted children by day. The formula is to have the crime stories as the weekly feature while the home life is serialized and takes place in longer arcs throughout the season. 
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