Michael Weatherly Had NCIS Fans Suggest Titles For Tony And Ziva Spinoff, And One Of The Picks He Responded To Seems Like A Perfect Choice
While franchise fans are still reeling from NCIS: Hawai’i getting canceled by CBS ahead of its Season 3 finale, two new spinoffs are still on the way to help soothe the woes. For my (streaming) money, the more exciting of the pair is Tony DiNozzo and ZIva Davd’s new drama that’ll reunite former co-stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo. Paramount+ still hasn’t unveiled a title for the follow-up project, so Weatherly took to social media to try and crowd-source that particular duty, and with solid results.
NCIS fans shared quite a few suggestions for what the long-running crime drama’s latest continuation spinoff should be called, and we’ll get to several of those lower down. But before peeping out the rest of the ideas, let’s first put a big spotlight on the best of them, as shared on X:
Now, I know it’s fairly unheard of for a TV spinoff’s title to specifically tie into fan-shipped monikers, especially now that we’re well past shipping’s pop culture heyday. But let’s put some respect on Tiva’s name, since viewers first mashed the two characters’ names together when they were both series regulars on the crime drama, which stopped being a that after De Pablo’s final episode aired on October 1, 2013. So Tiva has been in existence for long enough that it can serve as a series title without sounding corny or pandering.
And while Michael Weatherly’s other responses weren’t exactly essay-length, he did offer condensed opinions for several other suggestions that were actual thoughts. Here, however, he went with a simple “Hmmm,” which might mean nothing, or it might have been the actor’s way of textually holding a finger up to his nose to indicate that the suggestion was right on the money.
When a spinoff is called something like Origins or Hawai’i, audiences are given a rather limited window through which to glean what each show is about, with “the past” and “the island state” being the biggest inferences to make. But a title like NCIS: Tiva? Not a single viewer would be confused about what characters they could expect to see. Especially after de Pablo’s return in Season 16’s finale set up her recurring arc the next year, sparking a new wave of interest in Tiva as an on-screen couple. (Interest that doubled down once Weatherly vacated CBS’ Bull.)
Or course, given the way this franchise names things, we’re almost definitely in store for something akin to NCIS: Europe, but I’d even go for some of these other wonderfully hokey ideas that fans shared.
@RStudard: NCIS: WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR 8 YEARS!
Michael Weatherly: Too long
A commenter beneath this offered up the truncated revision of just NCIS: Finally, which has a weird ring to it, even if it doesn't quite mean anything. Same for the idea below:
@mrbojanglez70: NCIS Beyond
Michael Weatherly: That might be my daughters fave
Would there be some confusion for anyone with Paramount+ subscriptions between NCIS: Beyond and the sci-fi sequel Star Trek: Beyond? I mean, one can hope we're all smarter than that. The same way I'd hope that no one mixed the below suggestion up with the 1987 film of a similar name.
@PaolaCalcaterra: NCIS: No Way Out
Michael Weatherly: Kevin Costner references do not get old in my house.
Considering Kevin Costner's Yellowstone had its run on CBS during the 2023 strikes, wouldn't it be wild if the actor's next big connection with Paramount would be a starring role in Tony and Ziva's new show? After his upcoming feature Horizon: An American Saga, of course.
If Tiva is too indirect as a title, this one could fix that issue quite easily, even if it may not necessarily imply the most serious tone.
@shayeraholz: NCIS: THE DINOZZOS
Michael Weatherly: That's the sitcom title
And though Michael Weatherly didn't share any responses to the idea below, it fits in nicely with the TGIF vibe of the above suggestion.
@LollieEEliza: NCIS: Family Matters
Get this: Tony and Ziva adopt a new kid who just happens to be the long-lost child of Steve Urkel, and....no wait, this is a terrible idea.
Hopefully Weatherly's post is a sign that fans can expect the new series to unveil its official title in the near future, so that we can see whose picks were closest. I'm throwing my hat in the ring now for NCIS: NCIS Spinoff.
