The path seems to be the same, but the problem is different.
Despite being officially ditched around a month ago, NCIS: Hawai’i is still making headlines.
The show’s abrupt cancellation left everyone wondering what had actually led CBS to a decision to scrap a seemingly successful show with a fandom that is now more than ready to fight the network until it brings their favorite series back.
Fans’ numerous personal investigations proved that there could actually be a myriad of reasons, though just one of them remains the pivotal one, according to CBS representatives.
Though such an option seems to be very unlikely, NCIS: Hawai’i’s lovers still cherish a hope that the show will somehow repeat another CBS crime drama’s fate, but despite all the similarities, the circumstances are not that similar after all.
Upon NCIS: Hawai’i’s cancellation and all the fuss surrounding it, CBS definitely had some kind of déjà vu as something similar had already happened to the network a year earlier. Back in 2023, CBS came up with a decision to scrap S.W.A.T., another police procedural drama, after its 6-season run.
Met with a huge backlash from fans who pointed to the last season’s cliffhanger that was doomed to remain unexplained, the decision was magically altered within several days, allowing the show to air one more season that would wrap it all up in its finale.
Though S.W.A.T. fans wouldn’t mind more installments to come in the future, at least they got a decent conclusion that the series received even after being deprived of all the budget for more seasons.
NCIS: Hawai’i is currently going through something very similar, if we exclude the happy ending from the formula. The show’s third season was also caught off guard by the cancellation news as it later on proved to have a major cliffhanger that, unlike in S.W.A.T.’s case, now somehow has no chance of being explained.
The reason why NCIS: Hawai’i will most likely not go down the same road as S.W.A.T. lies in the fact that the former has stronger competitors in CBS’ tight schedule.
While S.W.A.T. was scrapped due to its budget cut, NCIS: Hawai’i had no problem with money, but still will give its time slot to another show, NCIS’ upcoming spinoff about Leroy Jethro Gibbs in particular, which looks like an option with much bigger potential for the network.