NCIS and NCIS Hawai'i renewed for a further season. NCIS LA ends this spring no news on the rumored NCIS Sydney/Australia "spinoff" (born from CBS/Paramount having profitable business interests down under and need a certain amount locally produced content with local talent to keep whatever business rights) I'm really happy for the Hawai'i renewal. Like the location, design/tone and characters so far, especially Jane, Jesse and Ernie.
As stoked as I am to see NCIS: Sydney...if THAT's the only reason they're making the show, it leaves me cold. Shows should exist because their makers WANT them to exist, not to appease the Fucking Lawyers(tm).
I for one look forward to some hopefully non American flavored NCIS regardless of the business reasons behind it. Lots of good acting talents from those areas of the world. I'm not looking forward however that a "NICS LA" person is heading it up on the production side.
I honestly didn't know Shane Brennan is Australian. It's not quite as much a shock as, say, Alex O'Loughlin, but close!
Yeah, Brennan being in charge is not a good sign. It's probably going to be more like LA than the parent show.
had been wondering about Lucy but it seems Yasmine Al-Bastami had a scheduling issue after The Chosen came back for another season.
Lucy's returning to the Hawai'i office in next week's episode. I'm not spoiler coding that since it's mentioned in the officially released promotional plot synopsis for the episode.
Well, tonight's season two finale of NCIS: Hawai'i had a cameo appearance from Spoiler: cameo LL Cool J playing Sam Hanna and picking up about where the series finale of NCIS: Los Angeles left the character . And now the show's social media feed announced that he is joining the cast next season on a recurring basis. I admit, I laugh at all the "See you soon" promos for the new season given that depends on how the strike(s) pan(s) out.
Spoiler: LA and Hawai'i finales and casting announcement I do kind of wonder how Sam joining Hawai'i ties into the rest of LA's ending. The search for Hetty isn't going to play out on Hawai'i is it? I doubt it since otherwise, you'd think they'd also announce that Callen, Nell, Nate, Sabatino and "New Guy" would also be showing up. So, I kind of wonder if there is some sort of separate plan for that. Meanwhile, given we know Sam is coming to Hawai'i, I guess that's who the guy who was filling in as acting head of Hawai'i in this two-parter was talking about when he said in his phone conversation "I know just the person I want to send." Eh, as long as they're just keeping it vague with "see you soon" it's all good. If they had actually said "see you in the fall" I'd raise an eyebrow since I don't really expect any network show to be premiering this fall.
I really enjoyed the Hawaii series until now... Expecting this to turn into Spoiler: character the Sam Hanna show now. Spoiler They should just have let the LA characters off into the sunset - at least for now. Let alone his contract won't come cheap, the studios already looking to save costs and additionally taking away screen/story time from regular
Spoiler I wouldn't worry about Sam taking over Hawai'i or stealing the spotlight from one of their other regulars just yet. The initial reports indicated he'd only be a recurring role, though admittedly that's being somewhat muddled by further reports since that say he's "joining" the Hawai'i team, though those two terms are not mutually exclusive. As for potentially overshadowing the show's cast, it should be noted that during late season 2 they did set up the storyline with Tennant's son being accepted into the Naval Academy. Assuming he does go off there in the third season, that does create a vacancy in the show's main cast which should make it possible to accommodate Sam without having to neglect anyone else in the cast. And finally, there's this article in which Vanessa Lachey voices her enthusiasm over having LL Cool J joining the show which certainly does not sound like she considers him a threat to her position as the show's lead. She also seems to indicate this decision was influenced by the success of the franchise's three-way crossover this past winter. I'm not trying to dismiss your concerns entirely, I'll admit I have my own reservations about the idea. But I trust the show's writing and production staff enough that I'm willing to give things the benefit of the doubt and see how things play out.
Spoiler I don't think the Sam Hanna actor is on the same pay grade as Tennants son, guest appearances or not. I also don't doubt Vanessa (who is very busy otherwise too) won't enjoy having to work a bit less either for her NCIS paycheck. My unhappiness stems from the show's characters point of view only. Guess we'll see if/once the writers and potentially also acting strike ends
Spoiler: Did I miss something or.... did they say why they kept the fact Maggie Shaw committed treason, and being incarcerated hush hush? I always suspected Maggie was only a part of something bigger, who was her superior(s)? They made it seem like Jane mostly only worked with her during much of her time with the CIA even when stateside.