Paramount+ shocked everyone when it announced that NCIS: Tony & Ziva would not return for Season 2. The show had reunited the two titular characters after their separation on the flagship series, NCIS.
However, there is a silver lining. Over six months after NCIS: Tony & Ziva‘s early cancellation, CBS will officially bring back Michael Weatherly, per Deadline. This time, he suits up again as Tony DiNozzo in the flagship series after his departure.
Tony Is Coming Back to NCIS After 10 Years
Weatherly departed NCIS in Season 13, despite being a fan favorite. The character exited the series after his longtime partner, Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) was believed to have died in a tragic fire. He left the show in Season 13, Episode 24, “Family First,” after more than 311 episodes.
While Tony is officially returning, the outlet clarifies that CBS declined to comment on whether de Pablo also reprises her role as Ziva in the flagship series alongside Weatherly, or if the events of the canceled one-season series will be retconned.
Weatherly was a longtime member of the NCIS franchise and first played the character on JAG’s Season 8 two-episode backdoor pilot for the show. He later became a main cast member since the show’s beginning. Following his departure in 2016, he stayed away from DiNozzo for almost a decade, making his way back into the canceled Paramount+ spinoff.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva picked up after Ziva’s supposed death when Tony left the NCIS team to go raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris.
The cancellation came as a shock to fans, who instantly kicked off several events across the world to save the series. They organized different displays around the world in an attempt to get Paramount+ to reconsider. That included petitions, but also a campaign in Times Square, and one overseas in Paris, France. While Paramount+ hasn’t changed its mind, the show’s cast did notice the efforts, and Weatherly said it was, “…beautiful, and I want to say a GIGANTIC thank you to any and all involved. I see you. I appreciate you.”
NCIS Is Bringing Many Beloved Characters Back
The flagship series featured Weatherly alongside Sean Murray’s Timothy McGee, David McCallum’s Donald Mallard, Brian Dietzen’s Jimmy Palmer, and Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The latter also exited NCIS in Season 19, leaving a big gap behind. However, he’s now finally coming back.
While Harmon will not reunite with Weatherly on the flagship series, he is officially joining the prequel spinoff NCIS: Origins Season 3. The actor has previously voiced the narrator in the show already, but he will make his physical debut, too.
In the new season, Harmon reprises his role as Gibbs for a season-long story arc. The new mystery will tie into the early ’90s timeline from the prequel to the present day. In the prequel, Austin Stowell plays the younger version of Gibbs.
Actor Eric Christian Olsen is officially returning to the franchise, too. However, the actor, who played Detective Mary Deeks in the spinoff NCIS: Los Angeles, returns as an executive producer on NCIS: Origins.
NCIS returns with new episodes this fall on CBS.
- Release Date
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September 23, 2003
- Showrunner
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Donald P. Bellisario
- Directors
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Dennis Smith, Terrence O’Hara, Tony Wharmby, James Whitmore Jr., Thomas J. Wright, Michael Zinberg, Arvin Brown, Rocky Carroll, Diana Valentine, Leslie Libman, Tawnia McKiernan, Colin Bucksey, William Webb, Bethany Rooney, Alrick Riley, Jeff Woolnough, Alan J. Levi, Lionel Coleman, Martha Mitchell, Peter Ellis, Michael Weatherly, Edward Ornelas, Stephen Cragg, Tom Wright
- Writers
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George Schenck, Frank Cardea, Jesse Stern, John C. Kelley, Jennifer Corbett, Christopher Silber, Reed Steiner, Nicole Mirante-Matthews, Jack Bernstein, Scott J. Jarrett, Matthew R. Jarrett, Kimberly-Rose Wolter, Don McGill, Gil Grant, Frank Military, Nell Scovell, Steven Kriozere, Brian Dietzen, Kate Torgovnick May, Jeff Vlaming, Sydney Mitchel, Katie White, Richard C. Arthur, Laurence Walsh
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Sean Murray
Timothy McGee
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david mccallum
Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard
