Feeling a tad green with envy because Paramount+ snagged the exclusive rights to the new NCIS spinoff featuring Tony and Ziva? You’re not alone. Even the big boss over at CBS Entertainment shares your sentiment.
On February 28, it was announced as a Paramount+ original. This project reunites Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo on-screen for the first time since October 2013. The spinoff, still without a title, will follow Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David. They’re darting across Europe, trying to puzzle out who’s after them. All so they, along with daughter Tali, can snag their “happily ever after.”
Filming kicks off this summer. They’ll be shooting on location across Europe, which sounds absolutely thrilling, doesn’t it?
Now, this long-awaited “Tiva” reunion heading to Paramount+ and not airing on CBS has ruffled some feathers among the primetime super-couple’s fans. Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, totally gets where they’re coming from. She’s feeling a bit of that sting herself.
When quizzed about her feelings on the #Tiva series making its home on Paramount+ rather than CBS, Reisenbach confessed to Deadline, “Yeah, a little bit, I’m not going to lie, sure. I’m a Tiva fan like everyone else.” But, she quickly pointed out that it’s all one big happy family. “We are all one ecosystem,” she added, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between CBS and Paramount+. She believes that the CBS prequel spinoff NCIS: Origins and the NCIS shows on the network will help drive viewers to Paramount+, and vice versa. “And that’s what matters most, that people are watching it…. It’s such a treat for the fans no matter wherever it airs.”
David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, chimed in with his take. Speaking to Deadline, he stated unequivocally, “No,” there was never any discussion about the #Tiva spinoff airing on CBS. “It was always designed to be a streaming show,” he stressed. Stapf highlighted the global appeal of Tony and Ziva’s story, aiming to reunite them with a worldwide audience through Paramount+.
As for the possibility of CBS airing at least the first episode of the Tony/Ziva spinoff, as it has sometimes done with other Paramount+ originals, Stapf called it “a good question.” However, he noted it’s too early to say, especially since filming doesn’t start until this summer. “We haven’t dealt with it yet,” he admitted.
