NCIS Universe’s First-Ever 3-Way Crossover Event Set for January 2023
When NCIS Special Agents land in the crosshairs of a hitman, it will fuel CBS‘ first-ever three-way crossover between NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: Hawai’i.
NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i have crossed over twice thus far, including with their very recent season premieres. But NCIS: Los Angeles, which kick off its 14th season this Sunday at 10/9c, has yet to join in the fun.
“You know, that’s a challenge,” LA showrunner R. Scott Gemmill told TVLine when asked about the potential for a three-way crossover. “Three different shows during COVID, with travel…. We’ve talked about it for a long time, so hopefully it’ll happen. It’s not that we won’t keep trying, that’s for sure.”
NCIS boss Steven D. Binder echoed Gemmill in a recent TVLine Q&A, saying that even a two-way crossover “is very difficult, logistically, to pull off, because Hawaii requires a day to travel there and back, and anyone [on our cast] who goes there, we have to write them out of one or possibly two shows on our side.”
Crossing over with Los Angeles “is a little easier, since they’re ‘down the street,'” Binder allowed, “but it adds up. It’s deceptively difficult to keep the days straight and the shooting schedule straight…. I am in awe of these shows that do it regularly!”
Per EW.com, NCIS‘ three-way crossover event is penciled in to air in January 2023, and will involve “a mysterious and highly trained hitman” who has several NCIS agents in his sights.
At this early stage, the RSVP list looks to include NCIS‘ Gary Cole, Wilmer Valderrama and Brian Dietzen (who play Alden, Nick and Jimmy); NCIS: Los Angeles‘ Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J (aka Callen and Sam), and NCIS: Hawai’i‘s Vanessa Lachey, Yasmine Al-Bustami and Noah Mills (who play team leader Jane, Lucy and Jesse).
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I’m the person who doesn’t care for crossovers in general, so I’m not terribly excited for this. I really wish shows would stop doing them, or at least doing them with such frequency. And since I really only watch the original and it looks like Sean Murray (who is my favorite on the original) isn’t going to be in the crossover part I may just skip the other two.
Totally agree stop with the crossovers. I don’t like NCIS Hawaii at alll.
This sounds like a mess in the making. The last time anyone from OG NCIS even mentioned LA was back in 2016 when Tony went to LA. And since then, almost every team member from the team that went to LA back in 2009 has left! Only Mcgee and Vance are left.
How is it going to be explained to 98% new people that this whole team has existed in LA for so many years despite no one mentioning them in so many years? Oy vei. I wanted a crossover like this a few years ago, but not like this
And also, If Hetty is not included with this, I’m out. Because how anyone can know who the LA team and not know who it’s legendary leader is is just not possible.
Because they never mention that there are NCIS teams all over the world either. It would make sense that the mother ship would only interact with other NCIS teams on a need basis and other wise have their focus strictly within their own case loads.
Vance was mentioned in passing when Kilbride took over. But yes, they by and large are the red headed step child
There was a brief (blink and you miss it) mention on NCIS: Los Angeles about the whole blood diamonds thing tied to the assassination of Eli David not long after that happened on the main show. And last season, Deeks mentioned the Gibbs scholarship fund.
It is my understanding that Mark Harmon didn’t like NCIS: LA, so I assume that’s why there were so few connections and crossovers. With him now only a producer, they might be more willing to interact with the LA team.
There is also the matter of the lawsuit Donald Bellisario filed against CBS over NCIS LA in 2011.He claimed as an NCIS spin-off he was entitled to compensation. CBS claimed it was Shane Brennan’s own independent idea after Bellisario left as Showrunner of NCIS It was settled on undisclosed terms in 2013—but it was definitely to CBS interest as Defendant to keep as much separation as possible.
Very interesting since it was like LA was not in the same universe for many many years. NCIS, NO and Hawa’i went their own way, with LA out on their own, and did not even refer to anyone in the other shows for many years, so I am curious about the re-linking of them.
Seems like they could fix this scheduling problem by offsetting the production schedules for each of the shows and starting them at different times so they could build in some gaps to shoot the crossover stuff.
I was thinking Kenzie should crossover with the new Hawaii based show, as she apparently had connections in Hawaii.
Although, I thought the crossover season premiere was a total disjointed snooze fest.
Vance is the common thread between the 3 shows… they should make it a Vance centric arc that at least could make sense.
Nice to see that they remember that LA really is part of the NCIS family for a change.
I know right.
Are they really trying to save NCIS: Hawai’i with the crossovers to boost its ratings?
Please, there’s nothing to save. It was one of, if not the highest rated new show last season. It doesn’t need the mothership or LA to bring it up. I’d actually argue that Hawaii is trying to make it’s own path, they clearly are shooting for a younger, less conservative demo than most procedurals. I don’t watch either of the other NCIS shows, but I have dvr series recording for Hawaii.
I really hate how CBS is trying to shove Hawaii down throats. let Hawaii success or not as a standalone like LA. same for NCIS the new team is good and the actors have their fans let them build its own audience without distraction too much crossovers could hurt it.
I’m partly excited the idea has potential but depending on how well the writing and execution will be? the airing day and time?
part 1 of the premiere was good but part 2 was horrible. same writer? and why too much kacy in part 2 it was irrelevant to the story so any NCIS viewer didn’t care and would have preferred this time spent with the case.
LOL Ya’ll complaining about too much Kacy. After the premiere aired and all you mothership fans that clutched your pearls because of the lesbians? It was hilarious to see all the panty twisting because there was like 5 minutes of women in love. The horror!!
I wonder if any of the actors from NCIS: New Orleans are willing and able to make a cameo to get some small representation from all four series.
Director Vance could be working his way through the NCIS field offices, briefing them via MTAC on the situation affecting all of NCIS, and we just happened to see him briefing whoever on the NO team is in the office (while the others are out investigating a case, perhaps?)
Dick Wolf has mastered the art of the crossover, especially with the #One Chicago franchise. Part of it is because the actors frequently show up in each others shows, so having them all work together makes sense. The recent L&O 3-way crossover worked pretty well, but you could tell the weaker link of the story (the return of the OG L&). The match-ups of SVU and OC work because of the shared history of Benson & Stabler, but we don’t get a ton of overlap, which helps because OC is mostly long-form storytelling vs. SVU’s case of the week. The FBIs did okay with their crossover, though they stretch it a bit by including International’s crew.
There are two real problems with crossovers: when the shows are on a different night and in reruns. L&O, One Chicago, FBIs are all on the same night, so the transition is bit more seamless. But NCIS:LA is on Sundays and other NCISs are on Mondays. If you watch one but not the other, you won’t know how things resolve or you’ll come into the middle of a story, with characters you don’t know and probably won’t care about.
The other problem is reruns. When you’re watching an episode of Chicago Fire and the story is resolved on PD, you’re left hanging because the shows don’t run at the same time and the order is off.
I don’t understand why they don’t put them all on one night like the other shows do.
I don’t think Bellisario/NCIS is under one production banner the way Dick Wolf’s shows are. They’d have to also rearrange scheduling and LA has worked on Sunday nights (I think it was on Mondays previously). By Wolf having 3 hit shows on 3 consecutive nights, the networks are probably more accommodating, the way ABC was when Shonda Rhimes had 3 shows on one night.
I am so not a fan of crossovers. I don’t watch the FBI, L&O shows and occasionally will watch Chicago Fire only. Even as a NCIS family viewer I find they take away from each show. jmo
Will all three series come to a special time on Monday???
I’m just hoping they don’t schedule the LA portion of the crossover on a Sunday after an NFL game which delays the start time and makes DVRing the show somewhat haphazard
I hated it when they re-scheduled LA to Sunday night. I have no patience waiting for whatever sports event is over to watch it and I wind up viewing it On Demand. CBS should put it back on its original schedule.
Far too early to tell!
My guess, the hitman takes someone (hopefully not a regular) out on NCIS: LA and G and Sam follow them literally and figuratively on to NCIS prime. I really really hope the victim isn’t Callen’s fiance. that trope is awful and been done to death too many times.
I hate crossovers. I DVR all of the shows I watch. Sometimes I watch them right away, sometimes, I let the shows build up multiple episodes. Crossovers are why I quit watching Grey’s anatomy and Station 51.
I liked both shows, but they had so many crossovers, you couldn’t watch one of them and just enjoy it. You had to watch both of them in the correct order. It was just too much work. I stop watching shows when they become work.
I wish they stop making these crossovers. I have no interest in LA or Hawaii. I just want to enjoy watchin g O.G NCIS without being forced to watch other shows every few months to not miss parts of the story. Recently premiere was completely ruined for me because Raven story line ended in boring Hawaii
Agreed. I ended up having to read a recap to find out what happened in the Raven story line. I don’t watch Hawaii, and I was barely familiar with Los Angeles in its early years. I haven’t seen it at all for the past few years, and the characters have changed so much I don’t know what’s going on. Even worse is when these episodes go into syndication. It’s really annoying when a marathon of one show includes an episode whose beginning or conclusion is missing because it originally aired in a different show.
Hi TVline, have you already looked at the gender imbalance/balance in [recent] network TV shows, especially the procedurals? I was looking at a picture of NCIS and I think it was 7 guys and 2 ladies. That may be an interesting study, especially by channel: I would think CBS is the worst.
47% of series regulars are women:
https://tvline.com/2022/02/17/glaad-report-tv-lgbtq-representation/
(I photo’d HAWAII’s Jesse vs Lucy because Lucy recently got coverage elsewhere on site.)
Thank you for reminding me of the article and for sharing the numbers. One of the times when I am happy to be wrong.
I don’t care for crossovers either but the good thing about free will and a remote control is that I can simply… choose not to watch the other shows. What a concept.
Frankly, why CBS Studios couldn’t have done a three-way NCIS crossover while the New Orleans spinoff was active is anyone’s guess. A reason I could give is simple neglect/unwillingness.
#MissedOpportunity
Uhu.. another show(s) with lack of ideas…
what about ncis australia when will we see that.
That’s only for Australia.
Would be nice if they could have fit in Scott Bakula as Pride – the team was intact when the show ended a season ago…this is the big 20th Anniversary cross-over…let’s not forget NOLA! :)
It’s about time we get LA in a cross-over…all that legal BS when Don Belisario sued CBS over the whole spin-off rights, first refusal, residuals thing was when NCIS and LA distanced themselves – that why you never saw the Director or other NCIS or NOLA characters on LA (CBS Settled and Don was happy) and they had created NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger (Played by the late great Miguel Ferrer – sadly missed after 5 1/2 years!)
Stop making the crossovers and forcing us to watch the shows we aren’t interested in. Geez! 😡
A part of me would love to also get the New Orleans and Red Teams involved in this cross over.
Maybe have a brief cameo by a Red Team agent (Dave Flynn), who has been assigned to the New Orleans office since Sabastian has been bumped up to field agent, taking a call from NCIS – DC, about a case he worked on in the past.