It’s been eight years since Michael Weatherly departed NCIS as a series regular, though he did finally reprise Tony DiNozzo earlier this year for a cameo in the David McCallum tribute episode “The Stories We Leave Behind”. Still, unless you watched him for six seasons playing Dr. Jason Bull on Bull, chances are you know Weatherly best from NCIS, which is kicking off its 22nd season next month on the 2024 TV schedule. While the popular CBS show is logically labeled as a procedural, Weatherly recently shared why he thinks NCIS is different from other shows in that genre, like FBI and Law & Order.
Over on Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, Weatherly and fellow NCIS alum Cote de Pablo, who host the podcast together, were chatting with director Dennis Smith, who helmed 63 episodes of NCIS from 2003-2017. During their conversation, Weatherly talked about what makes the series such an appealing watch, and that included saying this:
it's not just evergreen in an FBI, Law & Order kind of way, in the Dick Wolf kind of evergreen way, because there's not a lot of character revelation… I don't want to dismiss that whole [genre], but NCIS is lumped in with a genre of crime procedurals and it ticks all those boxes. But it's not really a crime procedural. It’s a workplace comedy in parts, and it's a romantic thriller in parts. Sometimes it's like a horror movie. It’s a mash up of these things.
There’s no way for NCIS to avoid being called a procedural, because just like FBI, Law & Order and other shows of that ilk, it chiefly sees its main characters solving cases of the week, most of which involve murder victims. However, as Michael Weatherly sees it, it’s not as though NCIS resides fully in that procedural space thanks to its exploration of other genres/tones. Sometimes things can get darker than usual, but then there’s also plenty of time spent on Tony DiNozzo, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Ziva David and all the other important characters who’ve appeared over the years in lighthearted situations.
Whether you agree with Michael Weatherly’s assessment on how NCIS stands out from other procedurals or not, it is clear the series has been doing something right to be airing for over two decades and launch a small screen franchise currently comprising six shows total, with two more on the way. One of those series is the Paramount+-exclusive NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which will follow the title characters going on the run in Europe after Tony’s security company. In case you can’t tell from that premise, Tony & Ziva will be more serialized compared to the other NCIS shows, so don’t expect to follow a straightforward procedural narrative either.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva is filming in Budapest now and is expected to drop for those who have a Paramount+ subscription sometime in 2025. NCIS Season 22 and the new Gibbs-centric prequel NCIS: Origins will both premiere on Monday, October 14.
