The Tony/Ziva NCIS Spinoff: New Details Surface About Tali, European Filming Location
Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David are now the proud parents of a tweenager.
Michael Weatherly, who with fellow NCIS vet Cote de Pablo will headline the recently announced spinoff about Tony and Ziva, shares that Tali update and one other new tidbit during an appearance on Entertainment Tonight‘s NCIS-Verse: The First 1,000 special, airing tonight at 9/8c on CBS.
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The end of the special, which tees up the NCIS franchise’s 1,000th episode (airing next Monday, April 15, as an episode of NCIS), spends a moment previewing the two upcoming offshoots: NCIS: Origins (a prequel series about a younger Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell) and the yet-to-be-titled Tony/Ziva spinoff.
On the latter front, Weatherly says that he will heading to Budapest to begin filming the Europe-set series, which finds Tony and Ziva “trying to raise their tween daughter and save the world.
“What could go wrong!” the actor quips.
Tali was first introduced, as a toddler, in the May 2016 NCIS episode “Family First,” in which Tony learned that Ziva had years prior — in early 2014, per the show’s timeline — quietly given birth to their daughter. As such, the “tween” designation seems apt, if maybe a year on the high side by the time the spinoff premieres.
As for what else Weatherly shares in the NCISVerse: The First 1,000 special, TVLine hears that while the #Tiva spinoff will be filming later this year in Budapest, that is not necessarily the only European location to which the show will travel. (After all, as Weatherly notes, the action picks up with Tony and Ziva raising their daughter “in Paris,” until they “go on the run.”)
John McNamara, whose past TV credits include co-creating Profit, Fastlane and The Magicians, penned the new series’ premiere and will serve as showrunner. Weatherly and de Pablo said in a previous statement, “We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready. The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter.”
What all do we know about the #Tiva spinoff at this early stage? A good amount….
Remind Me, Where Did #Tiva Leave Off…?
As NCIS Season 11 opened, it was revealed that at the start of the four-month time jump that ended Season 10, DiNozzo had made tracks for Israel to find a disappeared Ziva. Eventually, he came to realize that Ziva was inflicting on herself a penance of sorts, for killing a childhood friend’s half-brother (and other trespasses).
As the hour closed, we found Tony and Ziva at a small airport, at night, with the former set to head back home. Alone. “What will I tell people?” he asked. “That you were right,” Ziva answered. “That I have to start over.”
Before parting ways, Ziva started, “Tony, you are so….” “Handsome? Funny?” Loved. They shared a long, warm kiss, after which Tony walked away, shaking his head: “This is not easy… The hardest 180 of my life.” Tears streamed down Ziva’s cheeks, followed by a smile acknowledging a bittersweet affection, as Tony waved goodbye from the plane. (Read full recap.)
And Where Did Tony and Ziva Each Leave Off?
Ziva was reported dead toward the end of Season 13, killed in a bombing of the David family farmhouse in Israel. Tony understandably spiraled, to a degree that Gibbs sent him home. When DiNozzo returned to work the next day, a pint-sized bombshell awaited him, introduced by Mossad director Orli Elbaz: Tali, a daughter that Ziva had given birth to years prior, with Tony the “only biological possibility” as dad.
Tony in turn left Gibbs’ team at the end of Season 13, to go raise his and “dearly departed” Ziva’s daughter. “I’m everything to that little girl now, and I’ve never been anybody’s everything before,” he explained to Gibbs. “You gotta do whatcha gotta do,” Gibbs nodded, before delivering a rare hug. DiNozzo said his next stop was Israel, to get some answers, and then a visit to the Paris that Ziva “loves” (present tense, hmm).
Fun fact: Weatherly and de Pablo watched that finale/sendoff together:
Thank you and I love you all- Cote is here with me now! pic.twitter.com/RsmWInjMSl
— Michael Weatherly (@M_Weatherly) May 18, 2016
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Three years later, de Pablo made a surprise appearance in the Season 16 finale, when Ziva showed up in Gibbs basement, saying, “No time for pleasantries — you’re in danger.” When Season 17 rolled around, it was revealed by a CIA operative named Odette that the late Eli David’s files were never the target of the years-ago farmhouse explosion in Israel; Ziva was. Ziva suspected as much, and thus went deep undercover to “sift through evil in every form” and find the perpetrator. Now, Ziva explained to Gibbs, a woman named Sahar wanted her dead — and Gibbs was in the crosshairs, too!
Ziva, GIbbs et al quickly neutralized that threat, and Ziva departed again. Midway through Season 17, she resurfaced to complete one final mission before she could reunite with Tony and Tali in Paris (albeit off-camera).
Tony recently resurfaced via a surprise cameo in NCIS‘ Ducky/David McCallum tribute episode — seemingly solo, though Ziva and/or Tali could have simply been off-screen, also ready to head to the funeral.
What Is This Spinoff About?
As the Paramount+ series opens, Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter Tali, together, in Paris. But when Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, trying to figure out who is after them — and maybe even learn to trust each other again? — so that they can finally have their unconventional “happily ever after.”
Who Has Been Cast in the Tony/Ziva Spinoff?
Well, Weatherly and de Pablo, of course — both of whom will also serve as executive producers on the spinoff.
Other casting has yet to be announced, at this very early stage, though a tweenage Tali surely will be cast, plus any support system/”Guy in the Chair” that Tony and Ziva need.
After exiting NCIS at the end of Season 13, Weatherly went on to headline CBS’ Bull, which ran for six seasons.
De Pablo, since her original NCIS exit, has co-starred in the Chilean miners biopic The 33 and headlined the 2015 CBS miniseries The Dovekeepers; she then returned to NCIS for five total episodes, sprinkled between the Season 16 finale and the first half of Season 17.
Could Other NCIS Characters Appear?
Even via FaceTime, or a phone call? “In all honesty, as it’s designed now, no,” CBS Studios president David Stapf told Deadline, “but never say never.”
What Is This Spinoff’s Title?
Though it is floating around out there that “NCIS: Europe” is at the very least a “nickname” for this new spinoff, TVLine hears that is not the title. Showrunner John McNamara meanwhile is mum, teasing, “if I told you what it is, I’d be violating the Espionage Act.”
Will the Spinoff Air on CBS?
Nope.
Though NCIS spinoffs such as NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawai’i and the in-the-works NCIS: Origins/Young Gibbs prequel series were ordered by CBS to air on CBS, the Tony/Ziva spinoff was greenlit by, and will stream on, the Paramount+ streaming service.
(NCIS: Sydney was originally developed to premiere on Paramount+ internationally, but when the dual Hollywood strikes found CBS in desperate need of fresh content for fall 2023, the franchise’s first international offshoot was given a Stateside home on the Eye network this past fall.)
When Will the Tony/Ziva Spinoff Premiere?
You have been patient this far, #Tiva fans. You can be patient a little longer.
Production on the Tony/Ziva spinoff will begin in summer 2024 — in Budapest and possibly other locations in Europe. And though no episode count or release pattern has been announced yet, that timetable would point to a laaaaaate 2024 premiere at soonest, but possibly not until 2025. TVLine will of course keep you posted!
Will NCIS Season 21 Set Up This Tony/Ziva Spinoff?
Though NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans both started with “planted”backdoor pilots”/episodes of the NCIS mothership, TVLine hears that NCIS‘ 10-episode Season 21 (currently airings Mondays at 9/8c) will not similarly tee up the Tony/Ziva-centric offshoot.
Besides, as the recaps of each character’s exit above suggest, NCIS has pretty much already laid the foundation for the next chapter in Tony and Ziva’s story.
Wait, I Thought the New NCIS Spinoff Was About a Young Gibbs…?
Your confusion is understandable, as there has been much NCIS spinoff news and whispers over the past eight months or so.
The “Young Gibbs” prequel spinoff you are thinking of is titled NCIS: Origins, and was announced in January, to eventually air on CBS. Set in the early ’90s, it will follow a young version of Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs as a new agent at the NCIS Camp Pendleton office, chronicling Gibbs’ early career as he forges his own path on a team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks. (Get full details on NCIS: Origins.)
Want scoop on any NCIS show ? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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