“NCIS: New York” seemingly materialized out of thin air when CBS announced the series order back in April.
There had been no rumblings of a New York-set offshoot of the 24-year-old “NCIS” franchise, let alone that it would find LL Cool J reprising his beloved “NCIS: Los Angeles” character, Special Agent Sam Hanna.
And yet with LL Cool J and CBS vet Scott Caan as its leads, “NCIS: New York” made so much sense that it was tempting to meet the surprise series order with a shrug. LL Cool J, after all, had slipped back into his Sam Hanna persona multiple times since “LA” ended in May 2023 — first with an arc on “NCIS: Hawai’i,” and then a few appearances on the mothership (the most recent of which aired one week after the “New York” news broke).
Caan meanwhile starred alongside Alex O’Loughlin on CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” reboot for all of its 10 seasons, and even crossed over his character, HPD Detective Sergeant Danny Williams, to “NCIS: LA” in May 2012, where he shared scenes with — you guessed it — LL Cool J’s Sam. (The “NCIS” franchise is no stranger to such multiversal casting paradoxes.)
“NCIS: New York” also contains another important piece of “NCIS: LA” DNA in executive producer R. Scott Gemmill, who served as the very first “NCIS” spinoff’s showrunner for the second half of its 14-season run, and very much shepherded its more high-octane years. While showrunning HBO Max’s Emmy-winning “The Pitt” (which he created), Gemmill found time to develop “New York” with showrunner Byron Balasco (“Kingdom”), and the two co-wrote the pilot episode.
All of which is a long way of saying that “NCIS: New York,” on paper, was a fastball down the middle. The greatest TV franchise in the world meets the greatest city in the world? How could CBS say no?
In execution, though, the spinoff eclipses such modest expectations, due in large part to the performances by LL Cool J and Caan. Together, they demonstrate a delightful chemistry that is not limited to (pretty funny) jokes about their physical disparity. But they also shine as individuals.
No one would ever suggest that LL Cool J was not a “lead” on “NCIS: LA,” but Sam Hanna was arguably the brawn to the brains of his partner, Chris O’Donnell’s G. Callen. Save for the occasional Very Special Episode that involved a loved one (tragically widowed in the Season 8 finale, Sam currently has a grown daughter and son) or a fellow former Navy SEAL, Sam didn’t drive that much story.
With “NCIS: New York,” however, LL Cool J (born James Todd Smith) meets the moment of being No. 1 on the call sheet (as well as an executive producer). In addition to commanding the screen as a hulk of a human being, the actor/rapper effortlessly earns your engagement as a viewer by seizing this chance to play deeper, nuanced moments. Sam hails from Queens, yes, but he hasn’t called New York home in a minute. Nor, as he declares in the pilot, is he looking to join a new team. So if he is going to elect to stick around (instead of continuing with James Bond-like solo missions, as sampled in this series’ cold open), character development can only follow. LL Cool J has said that in this spinoff, Sam is “in search of redemption” — though from exactly what, we do not yet know.
It’s Caan, though, who really surprises, as Special Agent Nick Schaeffer. If you assumed Caan would be serving up yet another variation on the wise-cracking, slightly dickish archetype he launched in 2001 with the “Ocean’s Eleven” film franchise, revisited on HBO’s “Entourage,” refined across a decade of “Five-0,” and recently rehashed with Fox’s “Alert: MPU,” that is not the case. Raised in Bay Ridge among a family “of cops and fire,” established from go as a bit of a ribeye-and-martini snob, and more clever than caustic with his quips, Nick is, refreshingly, one of the most mature characters Caan has had the chance to play.
In the pilot, Nick offers careful consideration of his “temporary” partner’s situation as they investigate the alleged suicide of a longtime friend of Sam’s who’d been working as a tug boat captain. That episode (the only one available for review at press time) builds to a speech from Nick, set at the foot of a handsomely lit Queensboro Bridge, that is heartfelt, incisive and quite moving — and that just might be enough to compel Sam to make camp where his story began, in the Big Apple.
Every “NCIS” spinoff is informed and distinguished by its locale, be it New Orleans, Oahu, Bucharest or Camp Pendleton circa 1991. In the modern tradition of “FBI,” “Blue Bloods” and “White Collar,” “NCIS: New York” showcases and thus effectively co-stars The City That Never Sleeps. The first episode is rife with wide shots that make clear the show is filming on location (and not cheating with, say, Toronto), and features excursions to Red Hook and Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn, and Central Park. Will Sam come to miss the car chases that he and Callen got drawn into on the streets of L.A.? In trade for the occasional foot chase into the MTA subway system? We shall see.
Sandwiched on Tuesday nights between “NCIS” and the prequel spinoff “NCIS: Origins,” and as the long-running franchise’s latest entry, “NCIS: New York” is of course poised to host crossovers. In fact, “NCIS” vet Brian Dietzen pops up in the first episode (via video chat) as D.C.-based medical examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer. Other such cameos are likely to follow. (Hey, maybe we’ll also meet Nick’s identical cousin, Danny…?)
The cast also includes Jennifer Beals (“The L Word”) as Special Agent in Charge Robyn Wells, Jacqueline Byers (“Salvation”) as Special Agent Addison “Addy” Ross, Shane Harper (“Power Book IV: Force”) as Special Agent Wyatt Sellers, and Devin Druid (“13 Reasons Why”) as Tech Specialist Sean Sullivan.
The pilot allows little time for intros, but in short: Addy is full of swagger and a little “mean,” with a father who is a felon; Wyatt is a wholesome import from Alaska who’s been dubbed “Milkman” and is newly jilted; and Sean is said to have a “broken moral compass” (which tracks since we learn he is begrudgingly mashing keyboards for NCIS instead of serving time for an audacious hack). And can’t forget about Sid (played by Duncan), a Staffordshire Terrier and key member of the team. Byers and Harper enjoy an easy chemistry as the other team of partners working alongside Sam and Nick, while Beals suits up nicely as the SAC and gets amusing scenes to play as Robyn wrangles bratty Sean. Not one “NCIS” has come out of the gate with a so-so ensemble, and based on the first episode alone, that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
Sadly, “NCIS: New York” continues a trend started by “NCIS: Hawai’i” and picked up on by “Origins” and “Tony & Ziva,” in that it has no opening theme per se. Instead, for the time being at least, there’s only the briefest of title cards with subway cars zipping behind it. Even so, it’s an “NCIS” through and through.
“NCIS: New York” premieres Tuesday on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.