NCIS and prequel NCIS: Origins will share a storyline in a unique crossover event
TV show crossovers are hardly a new idea, particularly when it comes to spinoffs. Remember when Fonzie turned up on Laverne & Shirley? Or the multiple times that The Six Million Dollar Man joined forces with The Bionic Woman?
While producer Dick Wolf has liberally used crossovers in his Law & Order and Chicago series, another show that has not been immune to networks’ temptation to juice ratings by blending hit shows is NCIS. That was certainly evident back in 2023 when a single storyline played out in back-to-back episodes of NCIS, NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Los Angeles.
The franchise is doing it again this week, with a special crossover event — airing on Remembrance Day — that begins in NCIS: Origins and continues in NCIS. What makes this particular crossover so unique — and tricky to pull off — is that the latter is set in the present, while the former takes place 30 years earlier.
While details of the storyline — and how it will unfold within the two shows — are being kept under wraps, NCIS star Wilmer Valderrama (who plays special agent Nick Torres) appeared in a promotional video alongside Austin Stowell, who plays the 1990s iteration of Mark Harmon’s Gibbs.
“Get ready for a crossover event like no other,” Valderrama teased. “We’ll work a case that spans over decades.”
Stowell and Valderrama shared a few more details when they discussed the crossover in a spoiler-free interview with Parade.
“The writers came up with this really great idea that it was possible to deal with the same case, the same characters, the same evidence, and it’s all completely logical,” Stowell explained. “With this opportunity, you’re going to see the team on the mothership reviewing interrogation tapes from NCIS: Origins for the very first time. We’re going to start to see the two teams become more interconnected, and I can only see that this will grow for more opportunities in the future.”
“The best part about it is that you get to see our teams collaborate, like you would in a crossover, in a very fluid way,” Valderrama added. “They found a very clever way to almost have us talk to each other in a weird way, you know? But I think the fans are going to think it’s very clever, very fun, and you will see us coexisting. People are like, ‘Well, obviously if a cold case happens here, then you solve it there,’ but it’s more than that.”
Earlier this season, viewers of Origins received a special treat when Stowell’s character met young Ducky for the first time, with Adam Campbell playing the 1990s version of the beloved medical examiner portrayed by the late David McCallum in the original NCIS.
As Stowell pointed out, young Ducky may not be the only character variation viewers will encounter in future episodes of both shows. “Why wouldn’t there be more cases that the team that you see in present day would be opening with the technology that they have?” he said. “And it’s an opportunity to see different versions of characters who might be witnesses to the case, who might be perpetrators of the case, who might be behind bars when they shouldn’t be. There are lots of opportunities for drama, and really, it’s just kudos to our writers and creators who came up with this really fun idea.”
According to Valderrama, this latest crossover is the show’s way of thanking loyal fans who tune in each week. “I think it’s a very exciting opportunity to continue to expand on why the show is so special,” he added.
NCIS: Origins airs Tuesday, November 11, on Global & CBS; NCIS airs Tuesday, November 11, Global & CBS