LL Cool J’s NCIS Return Repeats the Franchise’s Backdoor Pilot Trend

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LL Cool J is back for Season 23, reprising his role as Sam Hanna and ushering in a fresh chapter for NCIS. The show, a long-running CBS drama about the Navy, has been on television for over 20 years – a remarkable achievement for a network series. NCIS originally started in 2003, beginning as an episode within the legal show JAG.

Over the years, NCIS has seen a lot of evolution. Several spin-off shows have come and gone, and the original series has faced big changes, like Mark Harmon leaving his role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in Season 19 and the passing of Rocky Carroll’s character, Director Leon Vance, in Season 23. Now, with another shift in the TV landscape, NCIS is launching NCIS: New York, hoping to repeat its past success.

NCIS Season 23 Revives Its Backdoor Pilot Trend With NCIS: New York

April 15th saw a major turning point for the show, introducing a new story arc at a crucial moment and featuring a significant character’s death on NCIS. Then, on April 21st, LL Cool J returned to the original series, and his appearance is expected to lay the groundwork for a potential spin-off called NCIS: New York.

A new NCIS series, titled NCIS: New York, is in the works and will feature LL Cool J reprising his role as Sam Hanna. He’s previously played the character in NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: Hawai’i, and several episodes of the original NCIS. Scott Caan, known for his role as Danny “Danno” Williams, will co-star. The show is expected to premiere on Tuesday nights in the fall of 2026.

The upcoming episode of NCIS Season 23, titled “Reboot,” is expected to introduce NCIS: New York and bring back Sam Hanna. This marks a return to a familiar strategy for the NCIS franchise, which has often used its original series to launch new spinoffs – a method employed with its first two spinoffs and NCIS: New Orleans.

The original NCIS show introduced the characters who would star in NCIS: Los Angeles in a two-part episode called “Legend” (Episodes 22 and 23). This episode featured G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell), Sam Hanna, Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), and Nate Getz (Peter Cambor). NCIS: Los Angeles then premiered as its own series in 2009.

The show also cleverly used an existing episode, specifically NCIS Season 11 episodes 18 and 19, titled “Crescent City,” to introduce the character Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) and the New Orleans team, allowing viewers to see Gibbs working with the new field office. This ‘backdoor pilot’ approach – introducing a spinoff within an existing show – has proven very successful for NCIS, as both the Los Angeles and New Orleans spinoffs have become long-running series.

Why NCIS: New York Needs A Backdoor Pilot

The “backdoor pilot” technique has proven successful for launching popular spin-offs of the NCIS franchise. This method involves introducing new characters within the original NCIS show, establishing their roles and backstories within the existing universe before they get their own separate series. This gives viewers a chance to connect with the characters and understand their place within the NCIS world before they move into a spin-off. For example,…

Both NCIS: Hawai’i, which began in 2021, and NCIS: Sydney, launched in 2023, started as independent shows. However, their lack of connection to the original NCIS series might be a problem, as NCIS: Sydney is now struggling in its fourth season.

NCIS: Sydney hasn’t quite found its footing within the larger NCIS universe. Despite being renewed, the show seems to be facing challenges, as CBS has delayed its return to mid-season to prioritize NCIS: New York. Still, the franchise’s history of successful ‘backdoor pilots’ – introducing new teams within existing shows – offers a potential path to revitalize the spinoff and avoid repeating the pattern of quickly cancelled series.

So, CBS is still moving forward with NCIS: Origins. Unlike the other spinoff, this one didn’t start with a ‘backdoor pilot’ episode on the original NCIS. Instead, they cleverly connected it to the main show’s storyline. It’s a prequel set in the 90s, showing how Gibbs got his start with NIS. And get this – Mark Harmon is coming back as Gibbs! He’s narrating the whole thing, and even pops up as the older Gibbs from time to time. Pretty cool, right?

Although other recent NCIS spinoffs haven’t been as successful as NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans, the original NCIS show has a good chance of improving things by going back to its familiar style. It’s likely that NCIS‘s return will pave the way for a new series, NCIS: New York, which will probably be announced shortly after Sam’s two-part appearance.

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2026-04-19 01:24