LL Cool J is back, and the NCIS Universe is expanding again.
The new spin-off series NCIS: New York is premiering on CBS on Tuesday, October 6, with the NCIS: Los Angeles star reprising his role as Special Agent Sam Hanna. This time around, Special Agent Hanna returns to his home city to try to figure out what happened to his friend Jack Halloway, a Navy reservist who died under suspicious circumstances.
Hanna teams up with fellow NCIS agent Nick Schaeffer (Scott Caan), working under Assistant Special Agent-In-Charge Robyn Wells (Jennifer Beals). NCIS: New York also brings on Jacqueline Byers, Shane Harper, and Devin Druid to round out the rest of the recurring cast.
LL Cool J serves as an Executive Producer for the series, working alongside showrunner Byron Balasco. NCIS: New York brings The Pitt‘s Scott Gemmill back into the mix as he helped Balasco develop the new spin-off. Gemmill previously worked as a showrunner and executive producer on NCIS: Los Angeles.
“New York is totally different; it’s a lot grittier, it’s more character-driven. New York is the main character and the star. Sam hasn’t been in New York in many, many years. So he has to get re-acclimated to that,” LL Cool J said of the new series in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “Plus, he’s a man looking for redemption in many ways because of different things that he’s been through over the course of his career in law enforcement. It’s pretty special and a great contribution to the NCIS Universe in general.”
NCIS: New York is the eighth in the NCIS Universe, and it will be the fifth active series in the franchise. The original series, NCIS, debuted in 2003 with Mark Harmon as the lead actor. It’s still on, wrapping up its 23rd season earlier this year. NCIS: Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawaii have wrapped up, but Sydney, Origins, and Tony & Ziva are still active.
That means there are a lot of opportunities for crossover episodes, and it’s something that LL Cool J is looking forward to. “There might be,” the former rapper said when asked about the potential. “I’ll put it to you like this: I welcome crossovers. I think crossovers are great, and they’re fun.”
Federal Case File · Open Since 2003 How Well Do You Know NCIS? “Rule #1: Never let suspects sit together — and never assume.”
🚨The FieldCrime scenes
🔬The LabForensics & Caf-Pow!
⚕AutopsyDucky’s domain
📋The RulesGibbs’ gospel
🛡The TeamThe MCRT
01
The show’s title is an acronym for the real-world federal agency its agents work for. What does “NCIS” actually stand for?
✓ Correct! NCIS stands for the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service — a real civilian agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy that investigates crimes
involving the Navy and Marine Corps. The show follows its fictional Major Case Response Team.
✗ Not quite! It’s the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service — a genuine federal agency under the Department of the Navy that handles crimes tied
to the Navy and Marine Corps. The other options sound official, but only one is the real deal.
02
For 19 seasons, the team was led by stoic, coffee-fueled Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Which actor played him?
✓ Correct! Mark Harmon played Gibbs, the ex-Marine sniper
and unflappable team leader, from the 2003 premiere through Season 19. Michael Weatherly played Tony
DiNozzo, Gary Cole later joined as Alden Parker, and Rocky Carroll plays Director Leon Vance.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Mark Harmon, the face of the
franchise as Gibbs for 19 seasons. Michael Weatherly played DiNozzo, Gary Cole arrived as Alden
Parker, and Rocky Carroll plays Director Vance — but Gibbs is all Harmon.
03
NCIS didn’t start on its own — the characters were introduced in a two-part backdoor pilot during an earlier military legal drama. Which show did NCIS spin off from?
✓ Correct! NCIS spun off from JAG, the long-running Navy
legal drama. Gibbs and his team debuted in the Season 8 JAG episodes “Ice Queen” and
“Meltdown” (2003) before launching their own series later that year.
✗ Not quite! The answer is JAG. Donald P. Bellisario’s
Navy courtroom drama introduced Gibbs and the team in a two-part backdoor pilot in 2003, setting the
stage for NCIS to become a massive franchise of its own.
04
Gibbs lives by a numbered list of unwritten rules. His famous Rule #9 advises agents to never go anywhere without what item?
✓ Correct! Rule #9: “Never go anywhere without a
knife.” It’s one of the most quoted of Gibbs’ rules and pays off more than once in
the field. (Rule #23, fittingly, is “Never mess with a Marine’s coffee if you want to
live.”)
✗ Not quite! The answer is a knife — Rule #9 is
“Never go anywhere without a knife.” Coffee is practically Gibbs’ lifeblood, but
the rule that’s saved his team in a pinch is the one about always carrying a blade.
05
The team’s beloved forensic specialist — a brilliant goth who runs on a giant caffeinated drink called “Caf-Pow!” — is named what?
✓ Correct! Abby Sciuto, played by Pauley Perrette, was the
heart of the lab for 15 seasons — pigtails, dog collar, and an endless thirst for Caf-Pow!.
Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) later took over forensic duties after Abby’s departure.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), the
goth forensic scientist fueled by Caf-Pow!. Kasie Hines came along later as a lab specialist, Ziva
David was a field agent, and Jenny Shepard was an NCIS Director.
06
The team’s kindly, story-telling Medical Examiner is affectionately nicknamed “Ducky.” What is his actual name?
✓ Correct! “Ducky” is Dr. Donald Mallard
— Mallard, hence Ducky — played by the late David McCallum for two decades. His
apprentice and eventual successor in autopsy is Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).
✗ Not quite! The answer is Dr. Donald Mallard —
“Mallard” is the duck that earns him the nickname “Ducky.” He was played by
David McCallum. Jimmy Palmer was his assistant, and Dr. Taft was a recurring surgeon and friend of
Gibbs.
07
Fan-favorite Ziva David, played by Coté de Pablo, joined the team as a liaison and skilled operative. Before NCIS, she was an officer with which intelligence agency?
✓ Correct! Ziva David was a former officer of Mossad,
Israel’s national intelligence agency — and the daughter of its director, Eli David. Her
deadly skills and mangled American idioms made her one of the show’s most beloved characters.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Mossad, the Israeli intelligence
agency where Ziva served before joining NCIS — her father Eli David even ran it. The FBI and
CIA are frequent NCIS counterparts, but Ziva’s background is Mossad.
08
The original team’s headquarters — the bullpen, autopsy, and Abby’s lab — is located at the Navy Yard in which U.S. city?
✓ Correct! The Major Case Response Team works out of the
Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. The franchise later spread its spinoffs across the map
— Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai‘i, and Sydney — but the original calls D.C.
home.
✗ Not quite! The answer is Washington, D.C., home of the
Washington Navy Yard where Gibbs’ team is based. Los Angeles and other cities anchor the
spinoffs, and Norfolk is a major naval base often referenced — but HQ is in D.C.
Case Debrief · Stand Down Your Agent Rank
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/ 8
Lead investigator — or still rinsing the Caf-Pow! out of the carpet?
That blanket welcome to a crossover does include former Los Angeles co-stars Chris O’Donnell and Eric Christian-Olson. “
All things are possible. We’re still in thebeginning of our journey here,” Balasco told Deadline.
The star power in the NCIS Universe is strong, with options existing for O’Donnell, Christian-Olson, Gary Cole (NCIS), Wilmer Valderrama (NCIS), Scott Bakula (New Orleans), Cote de Pablo (Tony & Ziva), Michael Weatherly (Tony & Ziva), and more.
NCIS also returns to CBS on October 6, with its 24th season premiering at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the season three premiere of NCIS: Origins. NCIS: New York rounds out the investigative triple-header at 10 p.m. ET.
