The NCIS franchise continues to expand, and one of the upcoming shows is going to give fans exactly what they’ve wanted for years: more Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo)!
De Pablo left NCIS in 11 before returning for the Season 16 finale and four episodes of Season 17. Weatherly exited at the end of Season 13 and was last seen at the end of the tribute to Ducky and the late David McCallum in the current 21st season.
The new series was given a straight-to-series order on February 28. “We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” said Weatherly and de Pablo at the time. “The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter. We also want to acknowledge and thank the fans from around the world who supported the ‘TIVA’ movement for years. To this day, they say hello in grocery stores and on the street to tell us how much these characters mean to them and ask what Tony and Ziva are up to now. This is for you!”
Read on for everything we know about the show so far, and keep checking back as we learn more.
What’s the Name of the Show?
While the nickname for the show was NCIS: Europe, the official title is NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Weatherly and de Pablo announced it in a video shared on social media on May 7.
What Is the Tony & Ziva Spinoff About?
The new series picks up after Tony and Ziva were reunited in Paris (off-screen) following the revelation she was alive and her completing one final mission with NCIS. “Since then, Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together,” according to the official description. “When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, try to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so that they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.”
As de Pablo shared in the video with the announcement of the title, fans should expect “intrigue, romance, the background of Europe. Impossible situations that will make our life very complicated, but somehow a little something about love.”
If anyone watches the new show without having seen NCIS, “you’re going to think, ‘Wow, this is like Mission Impossible with a couple,’” Weatherly told TV Insider.
De Pablo is happy that it’s taking the franchise outside of the US. “This show, for many years, was a very sort of American show. That’s how people viewed it. When we started traveling, we realized that this show was not just an American show. It appealed to a massive international market. So what we’re doing now and what we always planned to doing was putting the show outside of the US to tap into that international world and give it that thing that we always wanted, the je ne sais quoi,” she said to TV Insider.
She added that it will answer questions that fans have, including, “What happened to these characters and where are they now and who are they now and where are they living and all that.”
Why Will It Be Streaming on Paramount+ and Not Airing on CBS?
The rest of the NCIS franchise—the original, Hawai’i, Sydney, and the upcoming Origins—is, so why is the Tony and Ziva spinoff a streaming series? “It was always designed to be,” CBS Studios President David Stapf told Deadline. Furthermore, “because it’s going to be on Paramount+, it can exist within the universe without, in our minds, cannibalizing anything else.”
Who’s Starring in the New NCIS Show?
Weatherly and de Pablo are back as Tony and Ziva (and are also serving as executive producers). Joining them as series regulars are Isla Gie, Amita Suman, Maximilian Osinski, Nassima Benchicou, Julian Ovenden, Terence Maynard, Lara Rossi, and James D’Arcy.
Gie stars as Tali, Tony and Ziva’s precocious 12-year-old daughter who is sick of being treated like a child. She’s more intuitive and vigilant than the adults around her give her credit for and she’s ready to prove this to them. “Tony & Ziva should really be called Tony & Ziva & Tali because their priority now, both of them, is Tali, not themselves or each other,” Weatherly told TV Insider.
Suman plays Claudette, the Chief Technical Officer at Tony’s private security company and the only reason the place runs as smoothly as it does. There’s no problem Claudette can’t solve or code she can’t crack. Osinski’s Boris is a Russian ex-pat and a brilliant computer hacker, one of the best and most elusive in the world. Boris lives outside the law and polite society and enjoys the anonymity and freedom that affords.
Benchicou stars as Martine, a former French intelligence agent with the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE). She is elegant and cunning, playing both sides of any conflict masterfully to protect her own self-interest. Ovenden plays Jonah, a former computer programmer for the NSA and now the Secretary General of Interpol. Charming, decisive and confident, Jonah sees the ways in which the world is broken and knows he can fix it.
Maynard’s Dr. Lang is a deeply experienced therapist. Gentle and probing, Dr. Lang treats patients with severe traumas and helps them find comfort and agency. Rossi plays Sophie, a highly skilled professional with a background in the Special Air Service (SAS). Sophie brings a unique blend of maternal warmth and hyper-vigilance to her role as a caretaker for Tali.
D’Arcy stars as Henry, a high-ranking official at Interpol who has spent his career in law enforcement chasing international criminals. Career-focused with no wife or family of his own, Henry has always been happily married to his job.
How Many Episodes Will It Be?
This should be no surprise, given it is a streaming show: It has been given a 10-episode order. But remember: That’s just for this initial season. We’ll have to wait to see if it’s renewed, but if it is and as long as it’s a streaming show, chances are we should expect 10-episode seasons.
When Will It Air?
Production began in Budapest in July. That means chances are it won’t premiere until early 2025 the earliest.
Will Any Other NCIS Characters Appear?
Stapf told Deadline in March that “as [the show is] designed now, no,” there won’t be other former NCIS stars appearing, “but never say never.” He hasn’t ruled out crossovers, though did note that the writers room just opened.
And when TV Insider spoke with Sean Murray (who plays McGee) and asked about the possibility of him showing up on the spinoff or Weatherly and de Pablo appearing on NCIS, he said, “Yeah, it’s very possible, I’ll say that. Especially inside of our franchise, as I’m sure you could guess. And yeah, we like to have fun with some of that stuff, and it’s all in the family, so we’ll see what happens.”
Why Is There a Tony & Ziva Spinoff?
According to Stapf, Weatherly and de Pablo had been discussing the possibility of a spinoff since both exited NCIS, “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’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,” Stapf continued to Deadline. “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.”
How Can Fans Be Ready for the New Show?
Not only can fans stream the NCIS episodes featuring Tony and Ziva on Paramount+, but de Pablo and Weatherly are also launching a rewatch podcast. Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch premieres on Tuesday, June 4, and will feature de Pablo, Weatherly, and special guests reminiscing about the show’s impact in television and pop culture and revealing exclusive behind-the-scenes moments.