CBS Boss Explains Why NCIS: New York Is Happening But Not Tony & Ziva Season 2

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Sam Hanna’s NCIS return is prioritized over continuing Tony & Ziva’s story.

The NCIS franchise has evolved significantly in recent years. CBS has experimented with new directions, launching the first international spin-off, NCIS: Sydney, and a prequel series, NCIS Origins. But the network also understands the appeal of familiar favorites, recently reuniting the original, popular NCIS couple played by Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo.

The series NCIS: Tony & Ziva followed the former couple as they raised their daughter, Tali, in Paris while navigating a dangerous situation in Europe. Unlike previous NCIS shows, this one streamed only on Paramount+. Although it started with a lot of excitement, the show was cancelled after only one season, which disappointed many fans. Now, the news that another spinoff, this time starring Sam Hanna, is in development feels like another blow.

As a huge NCIS fan, I was really curious why CBS went with NCIS: New York instead of continuing with NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Apparently, it all came down to LL Cool J! CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach told Deadline they were eager to have Sam Hanna back on screen. When the opportunity presented itself, they jumped at it. It seems bringing back that character was a big driving force behind the decision.

LLM is practically family here at CBS. He’s made appearances on NCIS for the past two years since NCIS: LA finished, and those appearances have done really well. We felt it was a great creative move to bring his character, Sam Hanna—who’s originally from New York but has been living in LA—back to his hometown. New York City has a large port and strong Navy presence, which offers exciting possibilities for the show. We’re especially looking forward to the premiere party on the Intrepid! When we expand a show, we always want to find what makes the new location special, and we think New York offers a lot of potential.

NCIS: New York is returning to the way the original NCIS show expanded its universe. Like NCIS: Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawai’i before it, the new series will focus on a separate NCIS office in a different city. It will be interesting to see how often characters from NCIS: New York and the original series interact, given that both teams are relatively close to each other – the original NCIS is based in Washington, D.C.

CBS took a risk with NCIS: Tony & Ziva by deviating from the usual formula. The show couldn’t rely on the characters being part of NCIS anymore, and had to creatively integrate the brand into the story – which it did by reimagining what the NCIS acronym stood for. The final episode strongly hinted at a second season, but now, with NCIS: New York also in the works, a continuation seems unlikely.

Sam has returned to the NCIS universe multiple times since NCIS: Los Angeles came back, appearing in both NCIS: Hawai’i and the original NCIS series. He’s scheduled to reappear next week in an episode called “Reboot.” While details about the episode are currently limited, it’s probably because the network is waiting to announce a potential spinoff series, as this episode will likely set it up.

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2026-04-16 14:48