The move was made in order to give Dick Wolf’s three FBI series–FBI, FBI: Most Wanted and the new series FBI: International–the entirety of the Tuesday night primetime schedule. “I look at it as a forward-looking move,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl told The Hollywood Reporter. “Putting franchises together as we’re doing with FBI is certainly one way people enjoy watching TV these days, especially linear TV. It works, and it’s not new to us because we’ve used our franchises to launch other franchises over the years. So, this move of NCIS to Monday lets us take a night that was doing OK but now kind of supercharge it. Dropping the No. 1 scripted show on TV in the middle of a Monday night makes it an extremely strong night, and it gives us a chance to launch another piece of the franchise in NCIS: Hawai’i.” It’s no secret that NCIS is on its last legs and was only renewed for the 19th season when series star Mark Harmon, who plays Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, agreed to return to keep the show from being canceled. But the rumor is that Harmon is ready to say goodbye to the role. So, using NCIS to launch NCIS: Hawai’i is a smart move to keep one of CBS’ strongest and longest-running franchises going. It still remains to be seen how much participation Harmon will have in Season 19, whether he will be in every episode or just a handful. It could be like what has happened at the end of this season, where he’s only briefly appearing. Gibbs has been on suspension these last several episodes of NCIS, so his team–McGee (Sean Murray), Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Bishop (Emily Wickersham)–have been working the cases on their own with McGee as the senior agent. Gibbs’ suspension is indefinite, so it remains to be seen if he’ll return in the series finale when Bishop is under investigation by the NSA, her former employer, when she’s implicated in an old NSA leak, to help clear her name. NCIS: Hawai’i will star Vanessa Lachey in the role of Jane Tennant, the Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl. It makes Lachey the first female to lead a show in the NCIS franchise. She will be joined by Yasmine Al-Bustami,Jason Antoon and Noah Mills, who was just announced to be added to the cast. According to Variety, Mills will play a former big-city homicide detective. Jesse is “an expert interrogator with a knack for good old-fashioned police work, but Jesse’s also a devoted family man who runs 4-H camping trips for his kid. He knows every nook and cranny of the island’s hiking trails. He’s worked with Tennant (Lachey) the longest and is her lieutenant and sometimes confidant.” NCIS will air its Season 18 finale next Tuesday at 9 p.m. on CBS. Next, find out which of your favorite shows have been canceled and renewed for fall 2021.
