‘NCIS’ Showrunner Says Crossovers Aren’t ‘Impossible’ After ‘Hawai’i’ Cancellation

“NCIS” co-showrunner Steven D. Binder was disappointed by the cancellation of the franchise’s “Hawai’i” spinoff, but that doesn’t mean crossovers are out of the question in the future.

Fans of CBS’ long-running shows were surprised after the network pulled the plug on its island iteration starring Vanessa Lachey. With “NCIS: Los Angeles” ending its run in 2023, the flagship series’ options for possible crossover episodes could become trickier now that its current sibling show in the United States is no longer on the air. But Binder said “there are ways” for the “NCIS” universe to bring together series in the future, even with the new 1990s-set “Origins” movie premiering this fall and international sibling “NCIS : Sydney”, which will return to CBS in spring 2025. .

“One of the challenges of crossovers is getting your actor on location, even ‘Hawaii’ was very difficult for us because that means they’re now on our show,” Binder told TheWrap in a recent interview. “’Sydney’ is wonderful. It wouldn’t be much more logistically difficult to get people there, nor would it necessarily be impossible. It’s a matter of time, effort and resources.

“We could definitely get some of their collaborators on our side a lot easier, just because they have a shorter episode order,” he added.

As for the upcoming “NCIS: Origins,” starring Austin Stowell as young Leroy Jethro Gibbs and narrated by original Gibbs actor Mark Harmon, Binder said coming up with a crossover idea wouldn’t be much different from Previous episodes featuring younger versions of characters. at various periods.

“You’re not going to see Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Knight (Katrina Law) talking to young Gibbs, but then again, I wrote an episode where a young Ducky (David McCallum) was talking to himself today during an autopsy in his head…so there is room to be inventive,” Binder noted.

Reflecting on the abrupt conclusion of “Hawai’i,” which ended its third and now final season with a cliffhanger, Binder said the cancellation was “personally difficult for me because I have a lot of friends relatives who work on the series.

“Their devastation is my devastation,” Binder said. “I think it was a victim of a perfect storm of a changing industry…I don’t think it would have been canceled for another season. It wasn’t abandoned because it wasn’t successful, it was a must-watch show and people enjoyed it. There were a lot of numbers. »

Earlier this month, CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach credited the overall performance and finances for ending “NCIS: Hawai’i” — as well as other surprise-canceled shows “CSI: Las Vegas » and “So Help Me Todd”.

All episodes of the “NCIS” franchise are available to stream on Paramount+.

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