Bishop to NCIS

On August 13, TVLine's Michael Ausiello reported on NCIS's casting to fill the void left by Cote de Pablo.

According to exec producer Gary Glasberg, the plan is to feature a handful of guest agents in the same way Paul Cassidy (Jessica Steen) filled for Kate until Ziva gained acceptance or the way rotating interns replaced Bones's Zack Addy (Eric Millegan). I assume from the amount of detail given about Agent Bishop, she will eventually be the new full-time team member:

[Bishop] is bright, educated, athletic, attractive, fresh-faced, focused and somewhat socially awkward. She has a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance, fierce determination and idealism. She’s traveled extensively, but only feels comfortable at home.

The description sounds a bit scattered, but clearly geared to appeal to younger female viewers. NCIS is still tops in the ratings going into its eleventh season, but even the best need occasional shakeups.

Cote de Pablo Leaving NCIS

TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich reports, with NCIS's eleventh season due to start production next week, Cote de Pablo (Ziva David) has announced she is leaving the show. de Pablo's contract expired last season, but she will appear at the start of Season 11 to wrap up Ziva's arc.

Several characters have left NCIS over the years, but not a character this important, a field agent, since Kate Todd was killed by Ari Haswari and replaced by Ziva. That change succeeded, in part because Kate and Ziva were very different characters fleshed out over time. I'd like to see a new female field agent added to maintain the show's overall appeal, but things could go in another direction.

NCIS: "Damned If You Do"

My interest in NCIS is only occasional these days. The show has been around for ten seasons and will be around for at least eleven. Even its biggest fans are hard pressed to say it's doing anything new. I remember how fresh it seemed in comparison to the stately JAG. While CSI tried to add flash to forensics, NCIS peppered its procedure with humor, a tack that has also worked for Bones. But while Bones' lead relationships have steadily progressed, NCIS's Gibbs has stood pat for several seasons.

Gibbs was a buttoned-down, closed-off ex-Marine until Jenny Shepard's appointment as director showed his softer side. Season 3 ended with a bombing that revealed the painful past of losing his first wife and daughter. This was real character development. Another step could have been Gibbs marrying again. At the very least, his three ex-wives show he's not afraid of commitment. His last serious relationship was with Army CID Col. Hollis Mann (Susana Thompson) in Season 4. Thompson left for a role on NBC's Kings, and Don Bellisario left after Season 4, taking some storylines with him. Remember the possibility that Director Shepard's father was alive?

For the last several seasons, the show has touted Gibbs' integrity. It doesn't jibe to call his character into question now. My biggest complaint about the finale, though, is it doesn't deliver on the threat to Gibbs. That threat is abruptly pulled back in the name of letting Gibbs go on a secret mission for national security. So, at least three episodes of posturing. If I were more invested, I'd feel cheated.

NCIS: Los Angeles: "Red, Part Two"

OSP and Red team continue pursuing an elusive, unknown killer as the body count rises.

Part Two had more moments between Callen and Paris and the members of Red team, Scott Grimes bringing the comic relief. I don't get the sense that a Red series will be very different from NCIS: Los Angeles, but if Part Two's ratings hold up to Part One's, CBS could make a full night of NCIS, with Red in the Tuesday 10:00 P.M. slot that has lagged for years.

If Red doesn't go to series, I'd welcome Paris or Red team back on either NCIS or NCIS: Los Angeles.
UPDATE (May 15, 2013): CBS decided against bringing Red to series. The ratings were decent, but apparently the concept wasn't strong enough to sway execs. Instead of a full NCIS night, CBS is moving Person of Interest into the Tuesday 10:00 P.M. slot, so TV's three most watched dramas will air on the same night.

NCIS: LOS ANGELES: "Red, Part One"

In this anticipated backdoor pilot for a spinoff, Callen and Sam rendezvous with a mobile Red team to investigate a murder in Idaho whose details match one in Los Angeles.

I admit up front I'm spoiled by the two-part, Season 8 JAG episode introducing the cast of NCIS. It was so different in tone, pacing, and cinematography that it almost didn't fit JAG. Odd fit aside, the aforementioned qualities are what I loved about NCIS for its first seven seasons.

In Season 6 of NCIS, the Los Angeles team was introduced in a two-part, backdoor pilot. By then, NCIS creator Don Bellisario had ceded control to Shane Brennan. Brennan and CBS developed NCIS: Los Angeles without Bellisario's input. Bellisario, in fact, sued CBS for compensation, the parties settling two months ago. I admit to being a Bellisario fan before opining that NCIS: Los Angeles's characters and chemistry weren't as well formed from the start. I say the same about Red team.

Lead agent Paris Summerskill (Kim Raver) had an interesting background in the performing arts and better romantic chemistry with Callen than anyone previously has. However, with ten minutes left in Part One, Paris's ex-partner, Roy Haines (John Corbett), was called back into action. Paris supposedly had chemistry with Roy, but she responded to his appearance by slugging him and sulking off. The rest of the team haven't distinguished themselves yet. Corbett does seem comfortable, as he usually does.

I realize I can't judge a two-parter by part one, but first impressions are important. Because NCIS hit the ground running, I had thought any spinoffs would do the same, but they haven't. That said, I prefer NCIS: Los Angeles Seasons 2, 3, and 4 to classic NCIS Seasons 8, 9, and 10. If "Red" makes a splash in the ratings, CBS is sure to afford it the same chance to grow on me.

NCIS: "Shabbat Shalom"

A Navy man's body is fished out of the Potomac, and Ziva's father (Michael Nouri), the aging director of Mossad, visits her unannounced. Not even his own people know he's in D.C. At first, the two events seem unrelated, but Eli David reveals he is secretly meeting with his Iranian counterpart, also in Washington, to broker peace.

If the wrong people knew they were meeting, both Eli and his counterpart would be shot. It all falls apart when the dead Navy man is found to be a reporter, and Eli confesses to Ziva that he killed the man to protect the secrecy of his meeting.

I'll stop there for anyone who hasn't caught the episode, but for me, it was the most riveting since Season 8's "Enemies Foreign"/"Enemies Domestic". Season finales are expected to be dramatic and often don't live up to the hype. Mid-season twists are more effective because they sneak up on viewers. My interest in NCIS overall has waned, but bringing back a character like Eli David brings me back. We'll see for how long.

NCIS Season 10 Premiere: "Extreme Prejudice"

NCIS's tenth season premiere dealt with the fallout from the bombing of NCIS headquarters in the Season 9 finale. As much as one might want to, I couldn't empathize with the characters' emotions in the wake of the bombing because it was a fictitious terrorist act. The show wanted me to feel the grief and anger anyone might after a 9/11-like event, but I couldn't, because I experienced the real 9/11. Angry, afraid, and powerless, I watched a terrorist attack unfold on live TV news. I'm in no mood to relive it for a TV drama.

Gibbs caught up and killed the terrorist, the disgruntled father of a dead serviceman, but not before the terrorist bombed a team of pursuing FBI agents. All of it felt hollow. Fictitious catastrophes simply remind me that I'm watching a TV show, that any empathy I feel is engineered by writers. It's no position from which to buy into an episode, much less a season of repercussions.

Don Bellisario Sues CBS

While following up on the rumor that Linda Hunt was leaving NCIS: Los Angeles, I came across the April 28 news that NCIS creator Don Bellisario was suing CBS over NCIS: Los Angeles.

From a personal standpoint, I'm glad to get any insight into what Bellisario thinks of the spinoff. I hadn't heard anything from him since he stepped down as NCIS showrunner in 2007. While I've remained a fan of NCIS, I can't help wondering where Bellisario would have taken it. (It's quite possible the show would have run aground had tensions between Bellisario and Mark Harmon persisted.)

Both Bellisario and CBS claim to be supported by contract language. However the case turns out, it does seem one worth hearing.

UPDATES: On June 21, 2012, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon ruled in favor of CBS under a 2006 agreement between the studio and Bellisario. However, Bellisario may re-focus his suit based on a 1992 agreement.

On January 18, 2013, a week before the scheduled start of a trial, Bellisario and CBS settled.