Spoilers generali S11 #3

NCIS: MORE POST-FINALE SCOOP

Did you enjoy this week’s season finale? Did my post-mortem with Gary Glasberg leave you hungry for more? You’re in luck. Here are some outtakes!

Q: Are Palmer’s baby plans going to be a big part of his arc next season?
Glasberg: I think so. I’d like to get into it. It’s sort of a subject matter that I think is important to talk about and I’d like to do it properly and I’d like to see he and Breena go through the rigors that are involved and we’ll see where it takes them and how it ends up.

Q: What do you see as Tony and Ziva’s arc next season? I felt like there was closure on the matter of her one-night stand, some of Tony’s bitterness was let go.
Glasberg: There absolutely was [closure], and it’s just a matter of sort of where we’re going to take it next. That’s something I’m going to sit down with all the writers after we come back and talk about what the next step is and where we’re going to go.

Q: Are we going to see Colin Hanks again?
Glasberg: Yes, you’ll see him in the season opener. And I have to tell you, Mark Harmon just loves Colin Hanks and if — we’ll have to see how this story unfolds and where it goes and we can talk again as we get closer to the season premiere, but he’s a fun guy.

Q: How quickly are we going to address the issue of McGee’s new girlfriend? I know there might be some disappointed McAbby fans out there…
Glasberg: Tim’s had girlfriends before. A few seasons ago he dated this computer gamer who was out there. Things come up. I understand people are concerned but it’s part of the complexity that they all work together.

NCIS | To Inside Liners Nisha, Joyce and others, this is for you. With many “Tiva” fans fretting that the pair’s season-ending heart-to-heart essentially landed Tony in the dreaded Friend Zone, showrunner Gary Glasberg maintains that over the course of Season 10, “We made huge strides. Their relationship has evolved, has changed. They’re a little more open with each other and a little more emotionally connected, certainly more than where we were at the beginning of the season.” With that same passionate group of ‘shippers having been vested in “The Year of Tiva” (a mantra initiated by, I believe it was, Michael Weatherly), Glasberg admits the couple’s closeness “may not be the big leap that a lot of people would like it to be, but I also feel like we’re enjoying the pace at which this is happening. That’s not to say we’re not headed in the direction everyone would like to go, but I think we’re getting there.” As the EP explains, “It’s very complicated when two agents who are working together get into a relationship, and that’s something that [Tony and Ziva] would be very conscious of. So I think they would tread lightly, which is why, in theory, we’re treading lightly and being very careful about the steps that we take.” (As for Cote de Pablo’s contract status for Season 11, as of Wednesday night, Glasberg had no update to share: “I wish I had information for you, but I don’t.”)

Question: I’m curious about NCIS‘ four-month time jump in the finale — will the show flash back to those intervening months when it returns this fall? —Jacob
Ausiello: Not sure if we’ll get actual flashbacks, but exec producer Gary Glasberg promises that “everything that happened that led up to Gibbs looking through that rifle will be explained,” adding, “All the pieces will fit together.”

Got any NCIS scoops, particularly on McGee? –Marla
As revealed in the season finale, Tim’s got himself a new honey. And though show boss Gary Glasberg has yet to decide what “type” the mysterious Delilah is, viewers will eventually get to lay eyes on her. “I’m hoping to pick [that storyline] up and explain more — and hopefully, at some point, we’ll get to meet Delilah, as well,” Glasberg says.

I know Gary Glasberg has mentioned we will see the events that led up to the cliffhanger with Gibbs in the NCIS finale. But will we also get to see what McGee, Tony and Ziva have been doing in their four-month absence? I’m eager to see how they adapted to life outside NCIS and without Gibbs’s rules (particularly Rule No. 12). –Cheryl
If I’m any good at reading between Glasberg’s lines, viewers will be made privy to at least some of that when Season 11 arrives. “The season opener is going to take us from where we left off all the way up to the point where we’re seeing Gibbs,” he says, As for Tony, Ziva and McGee in particular, “There will be a portion in which they’re still resigned, and then it’ll develop from there. I don’t want to give too much away about the opener yet, but we’ll learn what happened with Tony and Ziva and McGee, I promise.”

I’m curious as to your thoughts on NCIS‘ baiting of “Tiva” fans without delivering. This season, especially, saw the showrunner pushing the notion of the couple becoming a reality, yet once again it did not happen. Even worse, [the finale] found them calling each other “friends,” the same label they applied to each other in Season 9′s “A Desperate Man.” Do you as a reporter find it difficult to see these things teased, when they never come fruition? Or do you think it’s just part of the game and “business as usual”? In addition, do you feel that at some point this bait-and-switch will impact viewership? –Dee
A very sound question, because as you note, I have long witnessed this to-and-fro as well. Quite honestly, I think NCIS and show boss Gary Glasberg face a tremendously difficult juggling act with this (would-be) couple because it is TV’s most watched program, and like a game of Jenga, you can’t be quite sure which slight move could send things toppling. Is NCIS No. 1 because it metes out exactly 25 milligrams of romance every third episode, and never a bit more? Is there a fear that going all-in with Tiva will soap up the show too much? Look at the comments sure to populate below; if one out of three is against the coupling, does that confirm the show would risk disenfranchising some 5 million viewers? (And if you do put them together, will the outcry nonetheless continue if “not enough” intimacy is displayed, a la Castle, presenting a no-win scenario?) All I can do on my end is press for some semblance of concrete evidence behind any loaded quotes (about any topic), then trust the show will follow through to some degree.

Does NCIS plan on continuing the storyline regarding McGee’s father having Stage 4 cancer? –Jeannie
Show boss Gary Glasberg was “really pleased” with that March episode, “Squall,” and how it built to “an understanding — and a resolution — between the two characters.” That said, and though it’s too soon to tease Season 11, he says the storyline “is certainly something that we’ve left open and that we’d like to revisit, not only dealing with the admiral’s health issues, but in terms of what their relationship is moving forward.”

“NCIS” Star Wanted Pay Parity With Other Actors, May Have Talked Herself off Show

And now to Cote de Pablo, the beautiful Chilean actress who’s played beautiful, mysterious Ziva on “NCIS” for eight of the show’s 10 years. Who isn’t a fan of Cote de Pablo? No one more than Mark Harmon, star and executive producer of the number 1 blockbuster CBS series. Harmon and Cote are very tight, I am told. He was encouraging her to sign a new contract after all the other deals on “NCIS” had been achieved. But Cote, sources say, wanted pay parity with scene partner and on air love interest Michael Weatherly.

And now Cote de Pablo is gone from “NCIS.”

“She was asking for $225,000, closer to what Michael is making per episode,” says a source. “And the show wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t going to happen. She was being offered about $200,000, which is pretty good, and was up from what she had been making.” Indeed, that would come to over $4 million a season. You can’t beat that with a stick.

“Mark Harmon was urging her to take it,” says my source. “And she waited and waited, figuring they’d cave in.” But it didn’t happen. “NCIS” is a show with a big cast. Harmon gets the big money, Weatherly follows, then Cote de Pablo. Pauley Perrette and the rest of the cast follow including David McCallum, formerly but always Illya Kuryakin.

A rep for Cote de Pablo would only say, “So far this has been handled in a very business like way. Your numbers sound wrong to me.” As for Harmon and Cote falling out on this issue: “They remain best of friends.”

Well, it won”t be the same “NCIS” without Zima, that’s for sure. I am told that Weatherly, who started on the ABC soaps 20 years ago, is very popular at CBS. “Les Moonves loves him,” says a source. “And they’re thinking of new things for him.”

"We offered Cote de Pablo a lot of money and then we offered her even more money. We really didn't want to lose her," he said. "She didn't want to do the show. It was purely her decision. 'NCIS' is our highest-rated show and we don't like losing anybody. We did everything humanly possible. We feel like we exhausted every possible opportunity and ultimately she decided she didn't want to do the show."

CBS Boss Addresses Cote de Pablo's NCIS Exit: 'We Offered Her a Lot of Money'

CBS didn’t let Cote de Pablo go without a fight.

“I really want to clarify: We offered Cote de Pabloa lot of money — and then we offerered her even more money,” CBS Corp. president and CEO Les Moonves shared Monday morning at the Television Critics Assoc. summer press tour in Beverly Hills. “We really didn’t want to lose her, we love her. We think she’s terrific. We obviously were in discussions… and ultimately she decided she didn’t want to do the show. It was her decision. We don’t like losing anybody. We did everything humanly possible [and] exhausted every opportunity, and she just decided she didn’t want to do the show.”

News of de Pablo’s imminent exit from TV’s most watched drama came on July 10, barely a week before NCIS began production on its upcoming season and two months after Criminal Minds actresses Kirsten Vangsness and A.J. Cook endured their own protracted contract talks, as they sought greater pay parity with their male costars

At the time de Pablo tendered her decision, she issued a statement saying, “I’ve had eight great years with NCIS and Ziva David. I have huge respect and affection for Mark [Harmon], Gary [Glasberg], Michael [Weatherly], David [McCallum], Rocky [Carroll], Pauley [Perrette], Brian [Dietzen], Sean [Murray], all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva’s story.”

NCIS opens Season 11 on Tuesday, Sept. 24, where its new time slot rivals include ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The CW’s Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals.

NEW SEASON: Former Mossad agent turned NCIS Special Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) leaves the team in an emotional episode. Several unexpected twists will occur related to the personal lives of Palmer, McGee and Vance, and the team will face one of the most dangerous adversaries they’ve ever encountered. Also, this season the series will mark its 250th episode.

As caught off-guard as he was byCote de Pablo‘s decision to walk away from NCIS after eight seasons as Ziva David, showrunner Gary Glasbergrecognizes the seriousness of the situation as as such hopes he will do the character justice during her swan song.

On Monday night at CBS’ Television Critics Assoc. summer press tour party, Glasberg spoke with TVLine about the “very surprising” news, how he reacted to it and what “Tiva” fans can expect when Season 11 gets underway Sept. 24.

TVLINE| How surprised were you by Cote’s decision?
I was very, very surprised. I think it was you that I told at some point, that I was “very confident” that this was going to work out. And I was very confident. This is not what I was planning on. As [CBS Corp. CEO Les] Moonves said earlier [Monday], everyone really wanted this to work. She’s a part of this family and a part of this team, and the efforts were being made by everyone.

TVLINE | Was it a matter of Cote wanting to re-up for just one year versus multiple years?
It wasn’t even the specifics. It was clear at the end of the day that this was her decision. And we have to respect it. Someone asked me if I was planning for this, but I really wasn’t, so basically the minute that this became real, I had to throw out a lot of what I was planning to do and start from scratch. But what came out of it is a really terrific [season-opening] two-parter that I think people are going to be really blown away by.

TVLINE | You previously said that we would find out what Ziva and the others were up to during the four-month time jump. Will Ziva’s story now be different?
Basically, the Ziva story sort of intertwines with where we left Gibbs off at the end of the season, with the sniper rifle. That whole story arc unfolds through the first episode, and then Cote/Ziva plays very prominently in the second one. There’s a really significant Tony/Ziva payoff — everything I hope the Tiva fans have been waiting for.

TVLINE | Oh, but I can’t imagine it’s much better than heartbreak for those fans and for Tony.
It informs her in ways that I think the fans will enjoy. It gives us some insight into this decision that she’s going to make. It’s exciting. And it’s romantic.

TVLINE | Is Tony the first person she shares her decision with?
Oh yeah. Look, it’s a storyline that I took very, very seriously — I felt like I had to, for the fans. I recognize what this means to them, and I recognize what her absence is going to mean. Someone asked me what I plan beyond this, and I can’t replace her. I can’t even use the word “replacement” for Ziva and what she means to this team. The only thing I can try and do down the road is come up with another character who feels organic and fills a void of some kind.

TVLINE | Because at the end of the day, Gibbs’ team will be down a man.
Exactly. That desk, at the end of the day, is going to be empty.

TVLINE | So, what are we talking as far as the timeframe for filling that void? November sweeps? February…?
It’s going to be a little while, and I really don’t know who that character is yet. But that’s something we’re talking about right now.

NCIS’s Thanksgiving episode will address the sadness surrounding Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll), who is spending his first holiday season without his murdered spouse, Jackie. “We’ll be casting the father of Vance’s wife," says executive producer Gary Glasberg. “We think it will really have some resonance."

Question: Any other hints on Ziva’s exit on NCIS? —Cheryl
Ausiello: Her send-off will be a love letter to Tiva ‘shippers. “We’re going to deliver everything the Tiva fans would want,” assures exec producer Gary Glasberg of Cote de Pablo’s two-episode swan song. “There’s tremendous romance and tremendous heart and pathos, and I hope fans enjoy it. We’re going to do our best.”

NCIS Boss: Why We're Not Killing Off Ziva

NCIS fans dreading the looming departure of leading lady Cote de Pablo, we present you with some blow-cushioning good news: The show isn’t shipping Ziva off in a body bag.

Executive producer Gary Glasberg confirms to TVLine that the actress’ two-episode swan song (kicking off in the Sept. 24 season premiere) will not culminate with her alter ego’s death.

“It’s not what this character deserves,” Glasberg shares. “Also, [we killed off] Sasha Alexander’s Kate character [back in Season 2] and I like the idea of doing this one a little different and respecting who [Ziva] is.”

To that end, Glasberg promises viewers will get a rare peek at “what makes Ziva tick” in the two-part swan song, adding, “In the second episode we learn why she’s going to make the decision she’s going to make… We put a lot into that storyline, so I hope it works for people.”

Michael Weatherly on Ziva's Exit: NCIS Has a 'Remarkable Core DNA' That Withstands Change

When Cote de Pablo wraps her eight-year run as Ziva David, it will by no means be the first, but rather the latest, of several major shifts that CBS’ NCIS has sustained since debuting almost 10 years ago.

As original cast member Michael Weatherly prepared to film his final scenes with scene partner de Pablo, he shared with TVLine his reflections on all that NCIS and Gibbs’ team have been through.

“I remember being with Cote at the end of Season 5, walking through the Mojave desert and into a diner and seeing Lauren Holly’s wax dummy in a pool of blood,” after Jenny Shepard had been killed by Russian hitmen. “I thought, ‘This is crazy!’” he says. “I didn’t see this coming at all. I mean, she’s the director of NCIS!

“And Mike Franks [killed by the Port-to-Port Killer in Season 8]…. Those were major changes,” the actor continues. “[Series creator] Don Bellisario leaving [after Season 4]? A major change. Again and again.”

And yet despite every shake-up NCIS has served up or survived, it stands as the most watched scripted program on TV today.

“We have great writers and a remarkable core DNA that Bellasario created,” Weatherly observes, “and somehow it’s so sturdy that it withstands all of these changes.”

As for how exactly NCIS will write out Ziva, Weatherly is mum — “I can’t give away all the pinpoints,” he hedges with a smile — “but I found the first two episodes immensely satisfying. I was very surprised by the things I read in those scripts,” he shares.

Might those surprising elements involve some degree of payoff, if not closure, for the forever percolating Tony/Ziva romance? All signs point to yes.

“I think that for DiNozzo and for me as an actor, that holding pattern has been incredibly fun to play — I love working with Cote, she’s awesome — but also it’s been eight years, and we haven’t dealt with it. It will be dealt with.” And with a resulting storyline for Tony that his portrayer has hailed as “the most exciting thing I’ve heard in a long time…. I’m looking forward to seeing what the far greater geniuses have in store.”

PREVIOUSLY ON… | In the wake of the deadly manhunt for Ilan Bodnar, DoD investigator Parsons went after Gibbs hard, citing a pattern of rule-bending behavior — while it was revealed to Vance that the CIA had in fact killed Arash Kazmi. Tony, Ziva and McGee tendered their resignations, while Gibbs got pulled into a top-secret op; in a four-month flash-forward, he was seen training a rifle on FBI agent Fornell!

COMING UP NEXT | The season picks up right where the finale left off, and over the first two episodes fills in the “missing” months, sheds light on Gibbs’ mysterious gig (“If he takes this mission, the slate for NCIS will be wiped clean,” hints show boss Gary Glasberg) and also paves the way for Cote de Pablo’s exit. (“I hope it’s as cathartic for the fans as it was for me shooting it,” says Michael Weatherly; read more about Ziva’s farewell story.) All of that “sets up the season, which has the thematic aspect of ‘unlocking demons’” both figurative and literal, says Glasberg, by introducing a “pretty interesting adversary that will carry through the season.” On the lighter side of things, giving a face to McGee’s new girlfriend Delilah (Big Bang Theory's Margo Harshman) will tee up “terrific triangle stuff with Abby,” Palmer's plan to adopt delivers some “twists and turns” and Glasberg has a cryptic “something fun” on tap for David McCallum's Ducky later in the season, “But I'm going to hold off a bit before I say more about that.”

TVLINE BONUS SPOILER | Around midseason, NCIS will celebrate its 250th episode with “something that the show definitely hasn’t done before,” Glasberg teases. “It’ll be unique, I promise you that!”

NCIS Exclusive: Sopranos Alum Eyed as Ziva's Successor, Debut Set For November



Beware of NCIS‘ newest agent — she’s got mob ties.

TVLine has learned exclusively that Sopranos grad Emily Wickersham — she played A.J.’s girlfriend Rhiannon during the HBO drama’s sixth and final season — is joining the CBS smash as a potential successor to Cote de Pablo’s Ziva.

Wickersham, whose three-episode deal with the show contains a series regular option, will play Bishop, a bright, educated, athletic, attractive, fresh-faced, focused and somewhat socially awkward new agent. She has a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance, fierce determination and idealism. She’s traveled extensively, but only feels comfortable at home.” (CBS tends to do these trial runs to ensure the actor/actress in question is a good fit. See also: The Mentalist.)

Currently recurring on FX’s The Bridge as the stepdaughter of Annabeth Gish’s character, Wickersham will make her NCIS debut during November sweeps.

Prior to that, the show will “rotate some fun people” through the agency’s doors. “The first two episodes are all about Ziva’s departure,” EP Gary Glasberg recently told TVLine. “And then in the third episode we [begin to] introduce some different characters. And then, hopefully, when people are comfortable enough, one will walk in and be The One.”

CBS Prepping Planted ‘NCIS’ Spinoff Produced By Mark Harmon & Gary Glasberg

EXCLUSIVE: CBS is looking to further expand its lucrative NCIS franchise. I’ve learned that the network is working on a planted NCIS spinoff series, which will be introduced in a two-part NCIS episode slated to shoot in February and air in the spring. Set in New Orleans, the potential spinoff is executive produced by NCIS star/executive producer Mark Harmon and executive producer/showrunner Gary Glasberg. The character-driven project, written by Glasberg and produced by CBS Studios, centers on the the NCIS New Orleans office which handles cases from Pensacola through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle. New Orleans was picked as a backdrop for the show because of its pedigree of a rich setting of music, fun and debauchery that makes it a magnet for military personnel on-leave. And with fun comes trouble. This would mark the second spinoff from veteran NCIS, which also spawned hit NCIS: Los Angeles. The LL Cool J-Chris O’Donnell starrer also started off as a backdoor pilot, airing as a two-part episode of NCIS. In expanding the NCIS franchise, CBS and CBS Studios are taking a page from their CSI playbook by setting every new series in a new town (Las Vegas, Miami and New York for CSI; Washington, Los Angeles and New Orleans for NCIS). With NCIS and NCIS: LA showing no signs of slowing down, CBS may very well have three NCIS series on the air next season, just like it did with the CSI franchise for almost a decade. Season 11 of NCIS kicks off tomorrow night. Glasberg is repped by CAA, Harmon by Paradigm.

Exclusive: Cote de Pablo Talks About Her Decision to Leave NCIS

by Chris Willman

[Spoiler Alert: Don't read this story if you don't want to know Ziva's fate!]

NCIS fans have long memories. They fondly recall the scene back in Season 4 when Ziva David, then still a visiting Mossad agent, announced to Tony DiNozzo, "I will kill you 18 different ways with this paper clip." So when the woman who so engagingly played Ziva for eight seasons, Cote de Pablo, announced she was leaving the series, grief-stricken devotees sent paper clips to CBS in protest. But even that couldn't keep Ziva attached.

"On a September day in New York, I'm looking out my balcony, and I still miss my family," says de Pablo, thinking about not being on the Los Angeles set in the fall for the first time since 2005. "But they're with me all the time, every day, and that won't change." De Pablo is speaking with TV Guide Magazine exclusively after her abrupt decision not to renew her contract just prior to the start of production on Season 11 (which kicks off Tuesday at 8/7c on CBS).

As for the fan outpouring, she says, "I was incredibly moved by the blind support people had without ever getting reasons as to why I left. People trusted that what I was doing was what I needed to do, and that's unconditional love from people who don't even know me. That's been the most beautiful thing out of this process."

The love de Pablo felt from fans is being returned in a farewell hour that airs Oct. 1 and is easily the most anticipated episode in the history of TV's top-rated drama. It will finally provide some clarity to the long-simmering feelings between Ziva and Michael Weatherly's Tony DiNozzo. "As far as the 'Tiva' fans, they'll get a resolution they've awaited for years," she says. "There is a level of confession. And if it takes a big change like this to stir things up, it's all for the better. I'm a fan of the show!"

Such mixed feelings may only deepen the mystery of why de Pablo left. Clearly, there was a last-minute impasse no one wants to discuss, beyond the network's insistence that money wasn't a factor. "As far as my decision to leave, that's a personal thing, and I'd rather leave it at that," she says. "The idea of leaving was not something I toyed around with for a long time. It was an overwhelmingly hard thing — at times terrifying."

She has no grand scheme for doing a sitcom or movies. "Leaving NCIS was not planned, so there is no plan. If I were panicking now, it would defeat the purpose. I need to get really excited about something, because for eight years I was really excited about this character. I don't want to start anything unless it's like that."

Bittersweet is the word she inevitably uses to describe how it felt to wrap up her storyline at the -beginning of Season 11. "Did I want to leave under those circumstances? That's another story," she says. "But I'm not of the belief that you just take off and leave fans hanging. A lot of people don't get the privilege of going back to a set and being able to say goodbye to people. I left under my terms, and that was wonderful."

The final shoot was "a beautiful day — a quiet, intimate set," she says. "I'm horrible at saying goodbyes, because I've been saying goodbyes ever since I left my country [Chile] when I was 10, so even though I did not utter the word goodbye, I was able to hug them and let them know how much I loved them. And that's all that matters."

"We wanted to give her the most graceful, emotional payoff we could," says exec producer Gary Glasberg. "It was a pretty magical moment. Cote took it and ran with it, and the emotion you'll see on screen is very real."

Ziva's most intimate moments were with Tony, and de Pablo enthuses over "getting to close things off with my partner in crime, Michael. My first scene ever in the bullpen was with Michael, and my goodbye scene was with Michael. I feel like that was a beautiful way of ending — for now, certainly — a beautiful chapter between these two."

Did she say "for now"? Although you get the feeling any reprise would be years in the future, de Pablo has a surprisingly hopeful, never-say-never answer when asked if she could ever return for a cameo or something bigger. "The greatest thing about this last episode is that Ziva doesn't die," she says. "As long as a character doesn't die, the character can always come back. Not that it would actually matter, because we bring back characters from the dead all the time on NCIS!"

Notice her use of the present tense and the word we. De Pablo may be almost as reluctant to let go of Ziva as all those paper-clip wielders are.

‘NCIS’: MICHAEL WEATHERLY ON HOW TONY COPES WITH ZIVA’S DEPARTURE

NCIS fans may be waiting eagerly/nervously/anxiously for next week’s farewell to Ziva episode, but while the wound of Ziva’s departure is going to be very fresh after next Tuesday, over at the set, they’ve had a few episodes to deal with the shock and are looking toward the future with high hopes. Especially Michael Weatherly, who opened up to me about the upcoming addition of Emily Wickersham as a new agent named Bishop. “We’re excited about is having Emily join us on these little adventures we do every week and seeing how she is in the world that we create together,” he says. “I hope the audience likes her as much as we did right away.”

But to those who are worried about a possible romance between the two, Weatherly assures that’s probably the last thing on Tony’s mind. “I don’t think there’s any chance of Bishop being involved in that in any way. If anything, she would be deeply, deeply off-limits for him,” he says with a chuckle. “It won’t even enter his brain — and that’s another thing. I think she’s going to be very attractive, but I just don’t think DiNozzo will see her like that for even a heartbeat. I think there’s a level of maturity for him. He’s averse to anyone who would sit at that desk, I think.“

Weatherly sees Tony’s maturity shining through in other ways, too, he says, particularly when it comes to the character’s attention-seeking ways. “Here’s a funny thing I’ve discovered: when it’s just McGee, DiNozzo and Gibbs in the squad room, DiNozzo doesn’t really have anyone to perform for,” he says. “Tony just kind of calms down and does his job.” That said, there’s still fun to be had. Proof? There’s a headslap coming. And while Weatherly wouldn’t elaborate, he did call it “a classic moment.”

USA Today: ‘NCIS’ says farewell to Ziva

NCIS fans may have mixed feelings after Tuesday’s episode.

Many will get what they have long wanted — a passionate kiss between agents Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo – but it will come at a price, as last season’s most-watched series (CBS, 8 p.m. ET/PT) says goodbye to the former Mossad operative and the actress who’s played her for eight seasons, Cote de Pablo.

Michael Weatherly, who plays DiNozzo, says he and de Pablo didn’t need to stretch too far to convey the feelings of their characters, as they parted on an airport tarmac halfway around the world, echoing the final scene of the classic film Casablanca.

"Her eyes were filled with emotion and tears, as were mine, for the whole evening," Weatherly says. "It was cathartic, to say the least."

Executive producer Gary Glasberg reconfigured the season’s start into a two-parter after de Pablo’s summer decision not to return. (De Pablo declined an interview request.) He wove Ziva’s farewell, after Tony travels to Israel to find her, into the aftermath of a Season 10 cliffhanger that ended with NCIS team leader Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) aiming a sniper’s rifle at friend and FBI agent Tobias Fornell (Henry Spano).

"I couldn’t do it in one episode," Glasberg says, explaining why the character was absent in last week’s season premiere. Tuesday’s episode "delivers what you want from Gibbs and then you have this enormous story line of Tony and Ziva … that hopefully leaves people having an understanding of what’s driven Ziva, gets to the crux of their relationship and leaves them in an interesting place as well."

There are no plans for de Pablo to come back, but Glasberg doesn’t rule out a return. “Ziva’s not dead.”

With Ziva gone, Tony, Gibbs and the other members of the NCIS investigative team, including McGee (Sean Murray), Abby (Pauley Perrette) and Ducky (David McCallum), will adjust as NCIS gets back to some more traditional episodes that feature the team using Twitter to help solve a case (Oct. 8); an emotional story involving Gibbs’ mentor Mike Franks (Muse Watson) on Oct. 15; and a flashback look at Tony before he was a Baltimore detective (Oct. 22).

Ralph Waite and Robert Wagner will return as Gibbs’ and Tony’s fathers, respectively, and the search for the terrorist ringleader Parsa will continue, too.

Weatherly is interested in how Tony will respond to a squad room without Ziva and the corresponding emotional push-and-pull. (The characters kissed to maintain their undercover identity as a couple in an earlier episode.).

"What the departure of Ziva has done to this team is that it has strengthened the connections between all of us," Weatherly says. "Tony and McGee become much closer, and Tony and Gibbs have had some pretty deep discussions about moving on and moving ahead."

NCIS in November will introduce Bishop (Emily Wickersham), an NSA analyst who could become a regular character.

"My intention is not to replace Ziva, but I can introduce a character who is unique and quirky and fun, and hopefully people will embrace her and feel like she is a new element to this group and a new part of moving it forward," Glasberg says.

There could be plenty of time for a new character to develop, since the 11th-season crime drama, known for its heavy helping of humor, is still going strong, averaging 21.6 million viewers last season and topping 20 million with last week’s premiere. The franchise, which also includes the popular NCIS: Los Angeles, might grow, too, with Glasberg and Harmon working on two spring NCIS episodes that could become the basis for a spinoff series set in New Orleans.

"New Orleans is basically a magnet for military personnel to come and blow off steam on leave. With having a good time comes trouble," Glasberg says. "It’s a wonderful, colorful, quirky backdrop."

What can you tell me about Ziva’s replacement on NCIS? — Julie
ADAM: There will be a bit of a revolving-door situation at Ziva’s old desk for the next few weeks, and viewers won’t get a look at who will most likely be the permanent new team member until November. Fortunately, when Emily Wickersham’s NSA Analyst Ellie Bishop finally does report for duty, she will make a strong first impression during the NCIS team’s hunt for terrorist Benham Parsa. “He is a new face that we haven’t seen before and has a new approach to things,” executive producer Gary Glasberg says of the season-long villain. “Bishop will actually have a strong view and position on [Parsa]. She’ll be bringing something extra to the table.”

Mark Harmon and Michael Weatherly Preview an NCIS Flashback


On a nearly 100-degree day in Los Angeles, drought-stricken Griffith Park stands in for Baltimore in the fall. The NCIS cast members on hand are sweating it, since they're all wearing their agency jackets. Michael Weatherly (aka Tony DiNozzo) has it the worst, since he has to sprint up and down hills after a suspect.

In the next setup, he's standing over a corpse, trying not to drip sweat on the poor actor who's playing dead. "Can a dead body get a sunburn?" he ad-libs. The line stays in. After the cameras stop, Weatherly compliments his other scene partner on his deadpan reaction. "I love it when I say that and look up at you," he tells Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs). "Nobody does that slow burn like you."

Gibbs will be absent from some of this episode, "Once a Crook" (airing Oct. 22), because much of it consists of a flashback to DiNozzo's days as a Baltimore street cop. (Their characters first collided in a previous time-warp episode, "Baltimore"; the 1998 flashbacks in this installment predate that.) Yet the story should shed light on the relationship these two have now and further solve the mystery of why a stoic man like Gibbs picked a cutup like DiNozzo to be his No. 1 son on the NCIS team.

A few weeks later, we caught up with Harmon, Weatherly and executive producer Gary Glasberg in the much less humid writers' room.

TV Guide Magazine: Fans are never more excited than when they hear NCIS is doing a flashback. Will this episode provide psychological insight into Tony?
Weatherly: For me, the most interesting part of this episode was how I didn't realize until we were shooting the flashback scenes that Tony used to be quite earnest, focused and almost without any defense mechanisms. I'm like, "Oh, this is before. He was a movie buff, but it hadn't become [a major] part of his personality yet."
Glasberg: You get to see some formative moments for Tony that got him to the point where he is now. Clearly something started to shift with his interests in law enforcement, taking it from the cop stage to the detective stage to ultimately what drew him to NCIS. Maybe there's still a piece missing that we'll get to later on.
Weatherly: There's a reason Gibbs picked Tony to be in his world. We saw part of that in the "Baltimore" episode, but what this episode shows is more how these guys have a shared understanding of the job. There's a photo behind Gibbs's desk, which is actually of a character Mark played a long time ago in [the short-lived series] 240-Robert. As we were getting ready to do this episode, I was looking at this picture of Mark. I stole his haircut from 240-Robert. [To Harmon] I hope you don't mind! I didn't look quite as good as you looked back then in the tight shirt.
Harmon: By the time we started doing flashbacks, which was a number of years in, we'd earned it. Certainly as an actor you have more to grip on to. It's interesting to hear Michael talk about how, when he played this guy in this episode, he learned he was earnest, traditional and calm in the heat of action — a lot like the guy who plays him. But those are choices he can make 11 years in that he couldn't have made in Year 1. There's still a ton of mystery to the characters, and still a lot of growth, too.

TV Guide Magazine: When we interviewed Cote de Pablo about leaving the show, she said that, speaking as a fan herself, if her sudden departure created opportunities to do shocking things or create new casting opportunities, that was great.
Harmon: Aw, gee, that's nice of her! [Laughs]
Glasberg: This is a staff and cast that respond to being thrown something they weren't expecting. I couldn't be more enthusiastic, honestly, with where we're headed this season. I'm really excited about Emily Wickersham [who will play Bishop, an NSA intelligence analyst, starting in November]. I almost used the word reenergized. It's not that we weren't energized before, but it's good when somebody lights a fire that you weren't expecting.
Weatherly: It's been an incredible experience to feel everybody lock into a newish rhythm that feels surprisingly comfortable and classic NCIS. I'm elated by the energy that comes out of this place, and every guest star who comes through is like solid gold.

TV Guide Magazine: Every possible twosome on the show carries a certain intrigue, but maybe none more so than the mentor-mentee dynamic between Gibbs and DiNozzo. Do you agree?
Weatherly: It's why I come to work. The great gift of "Baltimore" was that I got to tackle Mark — given his real-life history [as a star UCLA quarterback]. Then I turned him over to cuff him and he punched me in the face! And yet it wasn't antagonistic. Those characters are both only children, I believe, and there's a loneliness to Gibbs. He's a sniper. He's somebody who's in his own world. And that's something with Tony, too. They line up a little bit, even though they're wildly, photonegatively different — you would think.
Glasberg: The more years that go by, the stronger the understanding between these two fantastic actors. There are little things I pick up on in the editing room — I'll see a response that works with just a look, where maybe earlier it may have required a line. That nuance is fun for me.
Weatherly: I remember the first time I ever said "Thank you" after a head slap. Which was an instinctive, unscripted moment of silliness that got a laugh in rehearsal, so it stayed in. And then, as I thought about it, I was like, "You know what? That's really true!" DiNozzo is like, "Thank you for reminding me to get my head back in the game." He needs Gibbs that way.

For more on NCIS, pick up this week's issue of TV Guide Magazine, on newsstands Thursday, Oct. 17!

Any plans for Abby to get a new love interest or for her to have a large storyline this season on NCIS? — Laura
“I’m certainly open to it,” says exec producer Gary Glasberg. “I can’t say that we’ve been talking about it right now, but I’m not going to say no. Pauley Perrette is fantastic and can handle anything that’s thrown at her and if the time is right and the opportunity is right and the character is right then we’ll consider it, sure!”

Can you give me any scoop on Palmer’s baby adoption on NCIS? He seemed to be having a hard time in the last episode. Is it going to fall apart? — Gracie
That’s an arc that will continue to play out throughout the season, says Glasberg. “We’ll step away from it from time to time and it’ll resurface, but people should be prepared for a bit of an emotional roller coaster when it comes to that,” he says.

"This is a huge shift for us, a big change. It has taken a tremendous amount of work and emotion to get to the place where we are moving on. We are going to see what comes as these episodes unfold. “

Michael Weatherly on Ziva's Exit: NCIS Has a 'Remarkable Core DNA' That Withstands Change

When Cote de Pablo wraps her eight-year run as Ziva David, it will by no means be the first, but rather the latest, of several major shifts that CBS’ NCIS has sustained since debuting almost 10 years ago.

As original cast member Michael Weatherly prepared to film his final scenes with scene partner de Pablo, he shared with TVLine his reflections on all that NCIS and Gibbs’ team have been through.

“I remember being with Cote at the end of Season 5, walking through the Mojave desert and into a diner and seeing Lauren Holly’s wax dummy in a pool of blood,” after Jenny Shepard had been killed by Russian hitmen. “I thought, ‘This is crazy!’” he says. “I didn’t see this coming at all. I mean, she’s the director of NCIS!

“And Mike Franks [killed by the Port-to-Port Killer in Season 8]…. Those were major changes,” the actor continues. “[Series creator] Don Bellisario leaving [after Season 4]? A major change. Again and again.”

And yet despite every shake-up NCIS has served up or survived, it stands as the most watched scripted program on TV today.

“We have great writers and a remarkable core DNA that Bellasario created,” Weatherly observes, “and somehow it’s so sturdy that it withstands all of these changes.”

As for how exactly NCIS will write out Ziva, Weatherly is mum — “I can’t give away all the pinpoints,” he hedges with a smile — “but I found the first two episodes immensely satisfying. I was very surprised by the things I read in those scripts,” he shares.

Might those surprising elements involve some degree of payoff, if not closure, for the forever percolating Tony/Ziva romance? All signs point to yes.

“I think that for DiNozzo and for me as an actor, that holding pattern has been incredibly fun to play — I love working with Cote, she’s awesome — but also it’s been eight years, and we haven’t dealt with it. It will be dealt with.” And with a resulting storyline for Tony that his portrayer has hailed as “the most exciting thing I’ve heard in a long time…. I’m looking forward to seeing what the far greater geniuses have in store.”

PREVIOUSLY ON… | In the wake of the deadly manhunt for Ilan Bodnar, DoD investigator Parsons went after Gibbs hard, citing a pattern of rule-bending behavior — while it was revealed to Vance that the CIA had in fact killed Arash Kazmi. Tony, Ziva and McGee tendered their resignations, while Gibbs got pulled into a top-secret op; in a four-month flash-forward, he was seen training a rifle on FBI agent Fornell!

COMING UP NEXT | The season picks up right where the finale left off, and over the first two episodes fills in the “missing” months, sheds light on Gibbs’ mysterious gig (“If he takes this mission, the slate for NCIS will be wiped clean,” hints show boss Gary Glasberg) and also paves the way for Cote de Pablo’s exit. (“I hope it’s as cathartic for the fans as it was for me shooting it,” says Michael Weatherly; read more about Ziva’s farewell story.) All of that “sets up the season, which has the thematic aspect of ‘unlocking demons’” both figurative and literal, says Glasberg, by introducing a “pretty interesting adversary that will carry through the season.” On the lighter side of things, giving a face to McGee’s new girlfriend Delilah (Big Bang Theory's Margo Harshman) will tee up “terrific triangle stuff with Abby,” Palmer's plan to adopt delivers some “twists and turns” and Glasberg has a cryptic “something fun” on tap for David McCallum's Ducky later in the season, “But I'm going to hold off a bit before I say more about that.”

TVLINE BONUS SPOILER | Around midseason, NCIS will celebrate its 250th episode with “something that the show definitely hasn’t done before,” Glasberg teases. “It’ll be unique, I promise you that!”

Cosa ci manca ancora che non è mai stato fatto? mmh

Hanno cancellato la parte Tiva.
Me lo aspettavo ma non riesco a negare quanto mi faccia terribilmente male.

dolore


(xò potevano anche tenerla alla fine fino a questi anni quel lato lì era una cs che ha portato cmq lo show ad essere il numero uno, ormai siamo consapevoli che ci sarà una chiusura e poi tutto da quella parte è finito per sempre)

Colpa loro che potevano farlo prima il Tiva. Ma se pensano poi di fare come se nulla fosse e sosituire Ziva, sen e accorgeranno quanti ascolti perderanno.

spero che gli autori non facciano come la cbs,cancelliamo e facciamo finta che nn ci sia mai stato,sono sempre piu convinto che il contentino che ha promesso Gary farà solo incavolare tutti

Nel senso che nella puntata non ci sará piu la loro scena non ho capito...