Even Michael Weatherly Thinks The Title Of The NCIS: Tony And Ziva Spinoff Isn't Quite Right

As the 2024 TV schedule has progressed, we’ve learned a bit more about what’s coming next, and fans have had a couple of months to get used to the idea that the Tony and Ziva NCIS spinoff will, in fact, be called NCIS: Tony & Ziva. At the time series lead Michael Weatherly made the announcement, some fans liked the title, but others felt like it could use some work. As it turns out, Weatherly himself seems to be in that latter camp.

Truly, the most popular comment on a Reddit thread about the naming of the show is literally and f-bomb and then this statement: “I hope the writers are better at storytelling than they are at naming.” Others recommended renaming the series after a location, like the other iterations, with Europe being a frequently bandied about option. (This would make sense given the show is filming in Budapest.) Finally, some wanted more of a cool bent to the subtitle, suggesting less obvious titles like NCIS: Trust No One and NCIS: D&D (Dinozzo and David).

Weatherly and his partner in crime-solving Cote De Pablo were on hand to talk about the upcoming show when the cast united at the Monte Carlo TV festival. Speaking at the event (Via La Gazette de Monaco), Weatherly admitted the show is coming along but that he may already have some regrets about the title that was announced.

We’ve just completed the casting process. The series should really be called NCIS: Tony, Ziva and Tali, because their child is at the center of their preoccupations. In NCIS, our characters didn’t have one. So, they acted in a very personal way, according to their desires. When you have a child, you have to work out what’s best for them. At the same time, Tony and Ziva also have to save the world. Tali is the perfect character to introduce new sources of trouble.

Personally I like this addition. Weatherly had said Tali is so important to the NCIS spinoff, so this squares with other comments made about the TV series, which should be quite a bit different than what came before for their characters. Not only is there the previously-announced international NCIS location, but the show will be available to those with a Paramount+ subscription and it will have some of the benefits of being a streaming series. Namely, it was mentioned the series doesn’t have to plan for 20+ episodes or stick with the procedural format.

Cote de Pablo also clarified exactly what that will mean at the festival, and it sounds like the cast is bull-ish (or should I say Bull-ish) about how the new series will be different.

There won’t be a flash image with a dead body at the beginning. We won’t have to solve a crime and then in the end everything works out and everyone goes back to their dysfunctional families! (laughs) We wanted to take our two characters away from the agency and have them develop internationally. The other main difference is the format, since we’re making ten episodes instead of 24. And we’re shooting ten hours a day!

It could still be a while before this makes its way onto TV screens, as there are a lot of NCIS projects including the highly-anticipate prequel Origins cooking right now. Weatherly and co. said filming had yet to begin during the festival, though that’s happening this summer. Because of this, we may not get Tony & Ziva until later in 2024, if not 2025. But that could be good news for haters of its title. I’m just saying, if you aren’t that far into marketing yet, there’s still time to change your minds, y’all.

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