The NCIS franchise is one of television’s most notable success stories. It all began as a 2002 spin-off from JAG and the main NCIS show led by Mark Harmon (which emerged in 2003) has now eclipsed all other contenders, currently in its eighteenth year. There have been further spin-offs including NCIS: Los Angeles (currently in its twelfth year) and NCIS: New Orleans (currently in its seventh season). There was one misfire, 2013’s NCIS: Red, which would have had a mobile base of operations, but after a ‘planned pilot’ as part of a NCIS: Los Angeles story it didn’t go to a series.
It’s now been announced that NCIS: New Orleans will finish this year. The Scott Bakula-led show, created by the late Gary Glasberg, has had a distinct turn around in cast and hasn’t hit quite the ratings it had in previous runs, but it was still a popular arm of the franchise. The finale will go out on 16th May with its 155th episode.
“Sad to end our love affair with this phenomenal city but so grateful for all the friends we made along the way,” Bakula said in the announcement. “I will miss the music. Big thank you to CBS for seven years.”
However, the NCIS mothership is still going strong, the Los Angeles arm is still popular and it looks as if there’ll be another NCIS series launching towards the end of the year, this time based in Hawaii. It’s likely to have a new cast, but thanks to crossover episodes it’s already been established that NCIS exists in the same universe as the recent Hawaii Five-O reboot. Given that other 5-0 crossovers included the Magnum and MacGyver reboots, that’s quite a pool of potential talent to choose from – if the new show wanted to revisit some established names and faces?
