The weeks are counting down until many of the biggest network shows are back in the 2024 TV schedule, but the NCIS franchise has a particularly intriguing project in the works for streaming as well: a Paramount+ spinoff starring Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo. No premiere date has been announced for NCIS: Tony & Ziva, but Weatherly has sporadically kept fans updated on filming with photos from set in Budapest, Hungary. And after seeing one such photo from Weatherly, I have an idea for a crossover that would be so wild that I kind of want it to happen. Why not bring the Tony & Ziva cast in contact with the FBI: International Fly Team?
Hear me out! News broke back in July when production began that NCIS: Tony & Ziva would be filming in Budapest. Ever since its premiere in 2021, FBI: International has filmed in Budapest with Fly Team HQ located in the city. Even their headquarters being blown up didn’t relocate them. I’m not sure what would bring the characters of Tony & Ziva together with the characters of FBI: International, but it’s at least likely that the actors aren’t too terribly far away from each other. With International Season 4 premiering sooner than Tony & Ziva will, just imagine if a member of the NCIS spinoff cast popped up on CBS this fall!
From a plot standpoint, it’s actually not that wild of an idea. The plot of Tony & Ziva has the two former NCIS agents and their daughter going on the run across Europe with a mystery to solve in their pursuit of that elusive happily-ever-after. I could easily imagine a case like that falling to the Fly Team if it wasn’t the premise of an entirely different show. No, it’s not the plot that made me laugh as soon as I had the idea. It’s the fact that between NCIS: Tony & Ziva and FBI: International, they’re already connected to a whole lot of other shows.
At this point, Tony & Ziva shares a TV universe with (of course) the original NCIS, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai’i, Sydney, the upcoming NCIS: Origins, JAG, and Hawaii Five-0, all on CBS. FBI: International’s place in the nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe is even crazier, as it is connected to FBI and FBI: Most Wanted on CBS, and Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med on NBC/Peacock. A crossover between International and Tony & Ziva would connect so many TV shows that I’d be kind of worried about CBS disrupting the space-time continuum.
In all seriousness, it would be fun to see a crossover between the actors who presumably aren’t filming hundreds of miles apart from each other, but I’m not truly expecting it to happen. Still, with Tony & Ziva sounding like the biggest departure from the usual NCIS format in franchise history and FBI: International bringing Chicago P.D. veteran Jesse Lee Soffer over as the new Fly Team leader, change is certainly afoot. Unfortunately, that change may not apply to changing the title of Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo’s show, as even Weatherly commented on why it doesn’t feel right.
For now, you can look forward to the Season 4 premiere of FBI: International on Tuesday, October 15 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, between FBI and FBI: Most Wanted. As for NCIS: Tony & Ziva, you can revisit all of Weatherly and de Pablo’s seasons of NCIS streaming with a Paramount+ subscription while waiting for their spinoff to premiere.