How NCIS Tony & Ziva Spinoff Was Conceived Revealed By CBS Exec

CBS Studios President David Stapf has revealed how the upcoming NCIS Tony and Ziva spinoff was conceived, and how the new show’s stars were involved. The procedural spinoff was announced earlier this year, with Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo and Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David reprising their roles from the original series. The show will air on Paramount+ instead of CBS, where most other spinoffs for the franchise reside.

Speaking with Deadline, Stapf revealed how the idea for the NCIS Tony and Ziva series came about. Citing Weatherly and de Pablo as the masterminds behind the project, he explained how their characters’ popularity coupled with their ideas for the show helped it get the green light. Check out what Stapf had to say below:

Michael and Cote have been talking about this show for years and years and years. So they were the ones that cooked up the rough edges of the idea, went to [writer] John McNamara, along with us, saying, we’d love to do this show. And the timing was right.

They had started talking about it before, somewhere after they had both left NCIS. Put yourself in their shoes. They’re constantly getting hit up by fans as to, oh my god, I miss you. When are you going to be back together, what happened to your child and all that stuff. And so, again, I keep saying it but there was an organic reason for this show to exist, it was almost like a fan demand for it.

What To Expect From Tony & Ziva’s New NCIS Spinoff

While information on the exact story of the spinoff is still under wraps, it has been confirmed the show will take place in Europe. While raising their daughter, Tali, overseas, Tony’s security firm gets attacked, prompting the events of the story to unfold. Filming for the series begins this summer, meaning it will only be a few more months until the story of Tony and Ziva’s spinoff is more concrete.

This spinoff will be the first in the NCIS franchise to follow a returning cast of characters in a new location. While the upcoming NCIS: Origins show will feature the younger days of Leroy Gibbs, Tony and Ziva’s spinoff differentiates by bringing the characters’ original actors back. It’s also expected to follow a serialized format similar to NCIS: Sydney, where an overarching case is the anchor point for everything that happens in the show.

Even though it’s unclear what will happen during Tony and Ziva’s return, the fact the lead actors are heavily involved means their characters will have a story worthy of their return. Given how wide the NCIS universe is expanding, with their spinoff set to be the fifth concurrently-airing show, other characters from the original may also make small appearances. With plenty of possibilities for their return, it seems the couple’s spinoff will be a memorable entry in the ever-expanding franchise.