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“Tiva” is back. CBS Studios is expanding its ever growing NCIS franchise by bring back two fan favorite characters from the mothership series, Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly, and Ziva David, portrayed by Cote de Pablo, who will reunite on screen for the first time in 10 years. Paramount+ has given a 10-episode series order to the untitled spinoff headlined by Weatherly and David and written by John McNamara (Trumbo, The Magicians). All three executive produce.
Nicknamed NCIS: Europe, the new spinoff, set to start production later this year, will follow Tony (Weatherly) and Ziva (de Pablo) as they find themselves on the run across the continent.
NCIS is one of CBS Studios’ most valuable franchises and its expansion has been a goal for the studio. This is one of two new NCIS offshoots greenlighted this year, along with the Young Gibbs prequel series for CBS NCIS: Origins. It is also the second extension of the NCIS franchise beyond the U.S., following NCIS: Sydney, which has been airing on CBS in the U.S.
After Ziva’s supposed death, Tony left the NCIS team to go raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris. Since then – and where we find them in the new Paramount+ original series – Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together. 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.
“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” Weatherly and de Pablo said. “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!”
Weatherly hinted at a potential ‘Tiva’ reunion last month when his New Year’s tweet, “It’s time to look at time and enjoy the moment!” prompted a fan to respond, “We all would rather look at you and Ziva reuniting.” Weatherly highlighted the comment, adding, “Stay tuned… for this might be an interesting year for such ‘moments’!”
(Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)
Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images
De Pablo, Weatherly and McNamara executive produce the spinoff with Laurie Lieser, Christina Strain and Shelley Meals. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
“I’m incredibly excited to step into the NCIS universe with Cote and Michael and thrilled to explore it from a few new angles,” McNamara said. “Given that the franchise is such a global sensation, I think it’s phenomenal that CBS Studios and Paramount+ have given us the greenlight to shoot in Europe. As to the title of this series, if I told you what it is, I’d be violating the Espionage Act.”
Weatherly, an original NCIS cast member, had been with the series since its launch in 2003. He left after 13 seasons and went on to headline on another CBS/CBS Studios drama Bull. Speculation about his potential return to the NCIS franchise picked up after Bull ended its run last spring. He recently did a cameo in the Ducky tribute episode of the mothership.
De Pablo joined NCIS in Season 3. She appeared in Seasons 3 through 10 and exited the series early in Season 11. In the Season 13 finale, it was revealed that Ziva apparently had died in an explosion in Israel. She returned three years later in 2019, where it was revealed she was alive and had gone into hiding. She made a surprise unannounced return in the last scene of the season 16 finale, which aired on May 21, 2019, in which Ziva arrives at Gibbs’ basement to warn him that his life is in danger. She later appeared in the first two episodes of the show’s 17th season and in that season’s tenth and eleventh episodes as part of her storyline.
Twenty one seasons in — currently ranking as the third-longest-running U.S. primetime drama — the mothership series remains the most watched non-sports program on broadcast. A big global seller, which once ranked as the most watched drama in the world, the venerable procedural has spawned three spinoffs in the U.S., NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans as well as NCIS: Hawai’i, which is headed to its fourth season. The franchise recently went international with its first non-American offshoot, NCIS: Sydney, which also has done very well in the U.S., ranking as the most watched new series of the fall.
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