‘NCIS’ BOSS: ‘EVERYONE HAS TO WATCH THE FIRST TWO EPISODES’
I hear ya, NCIS fans. The departure of Cote de Pablo is an unfortunate turn of events, to say the least. NCIS EP Gary Glasberg was “saddened” by the situation, too, telling me earlier this week during CBS’ annual bash for television critics that “it’s the last thing we planned on.” That said, he promised, ”At the end of the day, I’m really happy with what we came up with. Everyone has to watch the first two episodes.”

Why? Well, for one, he teased, the episodes were completely reworked in order to accommodate this curve ball. ”I literally had to lock myself away and everything I was planning on had to be blown out and I had to start all over again,” he says of the news, which came after plans for the season had already begun. “Again, it’s not what we had hoped for. This family — this NCIS family that exists between [the characters] — is so special and so unique, and this was Cote’s decision and we have to respect that … but some really fantastic work is going to come out of what occurred. We have some really terrific stuff planned for the year.”

So what ARE those plans? For one, Ziva will be “prominent” in the second episode of the season and “it’s a really touching, emotional story and I promise the viewers will not be disappointed — especially the Tiva fans, as we say. I hope it’s everything they want it to be.”

He adds: “I want some of it to be a surprise, but I think people will be pleased at the end of the day with where it’s left both emotionally and psychologically — and not only for Tony, but Gibbs, Abby, and everybody. That’s a big part of what I was taking into consideration — really understanding how the people and the fans are so connected to our characters. You really have to honor that.”

Who’s already crying?

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So, how will NCIS actually write Ziva’s exit from the show? — Samantha
ADAM: Given that Ziva was one of three agents who resigned to protect Gibbs, it actually won’t be that far-fetched. The season will open with a two-parter that features Colin Hanks returning to threaten Gibbs, prompting a team reunion. “Ziva is out in the ether and Tony has to go off and find her,” executive producer Gary Glasbgerg says. “The second episode is really all about Tony and Ziva, and, I hope, delivers all the things the Tiva fans are going to want.” Adds Michael Weatherly: “The will they/won’t they is answered. Tony’s going to be forced to face this Sword of Damocles that’s been hanging over him since Season 3.” That’s Greek for “they’re totally gonna do it,” right?

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Question: Any news on a replacement for Ziva on NCIS? —Cathy
Ausiello: Yep, and pretty big news at that. As exec producer Gary Glasberg revealed to Matt Mitovich Monday night, it’s going to be “a little while” before a full-time agent is brought in to fill the void left by Cote de Pablo. But in the meantime, the show — taking a page from Bones‘ squintern playbook — will “rotate some fun people” through the agency’s doors. “The first two episodes are all about Ziva’s departure,” Glasberg notes. “And then in the third episode we introduce, for instance, a woman in her 50s who is a few days away from retirement and just needs to fill the desk time. She, in theory, knew Gibbs all the way back to the days of Mike Franks. So we’re going to bring in people like that and have some fun with different characters. And then, hopefully, when people are comfortable enough, one will walk in and be The One.”

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Yesterday at his Television Critics Association press tour panel, CBS President Leslie Moonves talked about Cote de Pablo’s exit from NCIS and how the network did all it could to keep her on board.

Soon afterward, meanwhile, I grabbed some one-on-one time with showrunner Gary Glasberg to talk specifics about the surprise departure.

Exactly how many episodes will the beloved de Pablo appear in? Will Tiva fans be satisfied? And what happens to the NCIS team after Ziva David leaves the show? Read on for all the answers…

Cote de Pablo as Ziva

TV Fanatic: You probably heard what Les said this morning about basically giving de Pablo a truck full of money to stay but she’s still leaving…
Gary Glasberg: That is absolutely true. I think I was quoted many times months ago saying that I was positive that this was going to work out and I really was. To get to the point where we were a few days before prep and to suddenly be thrown what happened, I had to gut everything and start all over again.

The storyline where we left Gibbs [in the season finale] still plays but basically the first two episodes are this interwoven storyline of the Gibbs story and now the Ziva story and the second episode she plays very prominently in and then that’s her last episode.

So I locked myself away and I came up with this storyline and I’m pleased with it. I think it will be satisfied for all the fans but the Tony-Ziva fans especially. Look, she’s a part of this group and a part of this family and team but everybody respects this decision and we’ve got to move on.

She’s in the first two [episodes] and then…I feel like there’s a mourning period that has to happen. I can’t just put somebody else in there. As I’ve said to many people, I can’t replace her, I can’t replace Ziva David but what I can do at some point I can find someone who fills a new void and something new that adds to the group.

I think we’re going to take a nice long break, basically, and let the team in the show as well as the cast adjust to what’s happened but eventually Vance is going to look at that desk and say ‘it’s empty and we have to fill it.’ And then we’ll find somebody.

Honestly, I think people are excited about it, I know the writers are. I think they’re excited about having something new to play and it opens up all kinds of doors. I think Michael Weatherly would say the same thing. He’s basically, in the second episode, he goes and finds her and they end up spending real time together. I genuinely wanted to deliver everything I wanted to the fans knowing that this is kind of it.

TVF: Is the door left open?
GG: I don’t want to specifically say what happens to her but I’ll tell you I think that people will be very satisfied where it’s left. And all the Tiva chemistry, I think it will all deliver. There are some lovely, fantastic scenes in that episode.

And then we’ll pick up Episode 3 with Gibbs saying to Tony, “We’ve got a job to do,” in his usual Gibbs way and then we’ll get back into it. But then there’s going to be this fun…I wanted to keep it entertaining for people and there’s going to be this fun rotation of people of women coming and going. Everyone from an older agent about to retire…this curmudgeonly woman who literally is three days away from retirement and just needs to burn some time up at a desk. We’ll play it lightly like that and eventually when people will least expect it something will happen and hopefully someone will walk in and that will be the one.

NCIS Season 11 premiere September 24th on CBS.

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Leonard Hofstadter’s loss is NCIS agent Timothy McGee’s gain.

Recent Big Bang Theory player Margo Harshman (aka Sheldon’s assistant Alex) has been cast in the potentially recurring role of McGee’s new girlfriend Delilah, who was alluded to at the end of Season 10.

Playing a smart and eccentric computer specialist in the cyber division at the Department of Defense, Harshman not only has scenes with Sean Murray’s McGee in the season opener, but “there is some terrific triangle stuff that goes on with Abby,” show boss Gary Glasberg tells TVLine. “It’s a lot of fun, and we’ll see what comes of it.”

Harshman’s other recent TV credits include NBC’s tragically short-lived Bent and guest spots on House and Modern Family.

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SEASON FINALE: In response to the Department of Defense’s investigation of Gibbs, agents DiNozzo, McGee and Ziva David turned in their badges and took full responsibility for the team’s questionable actions. Also, the team uncovered that the murders of Ziva’s father and NCIS Director Vance’s wife were part of a CIA distraction from an unknown domestic threat. The final scene found Gibbs four months in the future, armed with a sniper rifle aimed at FBI Agent Tobias Fornell and the mysterious figure he was guarding.

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 adversary’s they’ve ever encountered. Also, this season the series will mark its 250th episode. @NCIS_CBS

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Cote de Pablo is invoking Gibbs’ Rule No. 11 — “When the job is done, walk away” — and has decided to leave CBS’ NCIS.

The actress — whose contract expired at the end of Season 10 — will appear at the start of Season 11 (premiering Sept. 24) to conclude Ziva’s story.

“I’ve had eight great years with NCIS and Ziva David,” the actress shares. “I have huge respect and affection for Mark, Gary, Michael, David, Rocky, Pauley, Brian, Sean, all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva’s story.”

In a statement, CBS said, “We respect Cote’s decision, thank her for being an important part of the NCIS team, and for eight terrific years playing Ziva David. Cote and CBS share a great respect for the NCIS audience, and we look forward to working with her and the producers on appropriate closure in this chapter of Ziva’s story.”

News of De Pablo’s departure comes at the proverbial 11th hour, since NCIS is due to resume production next week. Her future with the show has been conspicuously in question since the spring, when her character of Ziva was steered into a dangerous mission of vengeance, at one point winding up in a (seemingly) brutal car crash.

After emerging from that episode-ending cliffhanger surprisingly unscathed, by season’s end Ziva and others had resigned from NCIS — and then the season ended with a four-month time jump, the disenfranchised agents thus far unaccounted for.
Show boss Gary Glasberg maintained back in April, when de Pablo stood as the only cast member unsigned for Season 11, “I’m confident that things will work out, and we’ll present the best finale that we can and go from there.”

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Question: Any NCIS tidbits to share on the new season? —Cheryl
Ausiello: There’s some serious WTF?! buzz surrounding the CBS smash’s Sept. 24 premiere, and here’s why: The episode is titled “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.” (Trend alert: This is the third instance in recent memory of an hour-long drama using this expression as an episode title, following Scandal and The Good Wife.) Maybe the title is a nod to the insane workload dropped on the desk of the I.T. department’s newest hire Ozzy, a towering figure who’s tasked with digging up information on an intruder and tracking down a potential hacker.

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NCIS devotees who can’t wait until September to get their next Brian Dietzen fix, you’re in luck. The fan favorite, who plays junior medical examiner Jimmy Palmer on the hit CBS drama, has co-written and stars in a new indie romantic dramedy, Congratulations (available July 30 on Video on Demand).

The role is a bit of a departure from the recently wed Jimmy: Dietzen plays a lovesick schlub whose longtime girlfriend (Justified’s Abby Miller, who also co-wrote the film) rejects his marriage proposal. “The character is very different,” Dietzen says, “although the marketing-slash-producer part of me wants to say, ‘It’s just like Jimmy Palmer in a movie! Let’s see if we can get 22 million people to watch this!'”

As for what’s coming up on NCIS’s new season, Dietzen pleads ignorance. “I was live-tweeting the finale with [executive producer] Gary Glasberg, and I looked at him and said, ‘What the hell just happened?'” remembers Dietzen of the puzzling cliffhanger that depicted Gibbs (Mark Harmon) as a sniper. “And he said, ‘You’ll figure it out next season.’ I said, ‘Come on, I’m in the cast — I’m not gonna tell anybody!'”

This much Dietzen can say: “There’s a baby in the future for Jimmy and his wife, Breena [Michelle Pierce]. We’re going to try to adopt. But outside of that, Gary hasn’t told me anything. I’m gonna take him golfing and pry him for answers.”

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