NCIS Franchise Speculation

I didn’t know when to do this blog post at first. I basically only thought of it to go with the post that I did on the CSI franchise. Now that Gary Glasberg has died, this might be something worth writing about to people who read this blog. I doubt that this franchise is doomed as of this writing, but you’ll never know what might happen. Here's my random thoughts about this.

Now you might be wondering: who is Gary Glasberg? What importance does he have to the NCIS universe? Well, he actually created the show- NCIS: New Orleans and was the third head writer of NCIS. When actors die during the shows they work on, there are always changes. The loss of the head writer for two of the shows could be interesting in terms of how it would affect the shows. You’d think that since he was writing for two different shows that he might have two different replacements on each show. For instance, you’d have to wonder why the same person would start writing for both shows especially considering how they are filmed in two different locations anyways.

There are numerous different things to speculate regarding the shows part of the NCIS universe. I don’t know if Gary’s death will ultimately affect either NCIS or NCIS: New Orleans in such a negative way that either would be in danger of cancellation in the future. Now the syndication gods will give NCIS: New Orleans a fourth season for sure and NCIS was already renewed for another season beyond what is currently airing. This means that only NCIS: Los Angeles might be in danger this season and we honestly don’t know if it will just yet. But that has a different showrunner named Shane Brennan, up until the most recently airing season, that is.

Shane Brennan might come back, for a moment at least, to be the showrunner of NCIS again. He might be the best choice as a transition person, if nothing else. I did notice that Brad Kern was the writer of a recent episode of NCIS: New Orleans. I know him from the show Charmed as he wrote a lot of its episodes and was its showrunner from seasons 3-8. He would make a good replacement for Gary Glasberg on NCIS: New Orleans. Who knows, if he stays long enough and is good enough, he could wind up creating a new series in the franchise. I just hope that this franchise doesn’t get done to death like the Chicago franchise on NBC. That has to be overcompensating for something.

Now I might as well get into less grim parts of this blog. What’s interesting about a connection between the shows is that the main director (or boss) of NCIS works on the main show. But what if the main show ended? Then where would the director be? What if the director needs replaced for one reason? Well, on NCIS: Los Angeles, there is an assistant director who works at the agency. Both are main characters on each of their shows. Does this mean that if the director dies in universe or is replaced for whatever reason that the assistant director from LA would then transfer to Washington where NCIS is set as the new main director? If NCIS: Los Angeles ended, would this mean that the assistant would help the team in New Orleans? Would the director move to New Orleans if the main show is to end? There could be a lot of different potential transfers in the unlikely event that any of these shows end. Well, any of them could end, but it just doesn’t seem likely for any right now or ever before now.

Some may wonder if franchises can actually end. Well, they probably can. Look at the CSI franchise. None of their shows are left and I’m not sure if any new one will ever be made. The franchise is going well for now, but it only takes one scheduling change to mess with the format and cause the ratings to fail for any of the shows. That’s what happened to the CSI franchise and why it is no longer on the air. But I doubt that anything could ruin the whole franchise for quite some time. It is a strong part of CBS and I just don’t think that they’d want to ruin it unless something else comes along. Most shows end, although a lot of shows last a long time, seemingly forever. Will this still be as strong as it was three years from now? Will all of these shows still be on?

Honestly, there is a lot more to wonder about Gary’s death affecting the franchise. At least NCIS: Los Angeles is certain to be unaffected by it. Mark Harmon is an executive producer for NCIS: New Orleans so you’ll have to wonder if that could affect him on the main NCIS for a while. At the very least, it might set up for an episode where Gibbs is in New Orleans. You might also wonder if they would do a new character on any show in memory of Gary. I’m also wondering what will happen to When Pigs Fly, the production company that Gary created. Surely someone else would continue using it, right? Or will it end and there be some other production company for future episodes? Would the production company just end?

Doing more research into the franchise, I learned that the original showrunner of NCIS: Los Angeles, Shane Brennan, has left the show (as showrunner at least) and has been replaced by R Scott Gemmill. I don’t know if that person has any link to the rest of the franchise or not. Will he help with either of the other shows? Meanwhile, Gary would have had it good if he had lived as he would have remained the showrunner of both NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans until around 2019. Granted, it’s possible that neither show would have lasted that long, but we do have to wonder who the new showrunner of each show will be. I may not post this until I find out for sure. Suggestions I have for new showrunners are James Whitmore Jr., Avery Drewe, Patricia H O’Hara, Jesse Stern, Mark Horowitz, Tony Wharmby, Chas. Floyd Johnson, John C Kelley, Terrence O’Hara, Arvin Brown, and Brad Kern, although I might like any of them. I honestly don’t know who of them all are still with at least the main show or if all of these people are in fact writers. I’d have to do more research. What will be weird is that by May, all of the shows in the franchise will have a new showrunner. His wife, Mimi Schmir, is also a screenwriter, but I’m not sure if she ever worked for the show or could have.

I’ve seem to have lost focus on this blog post. Honestly, though, I’m not sure what the original point or purpose of this post was. One can wonder if this franchise will continue lasting strong or not. I mean, some people didn’t actually like the direction of NCIS under Gary Glasberg. Some may wonder if the show will improve now. I personally wonder if any of the new showrunners will end up creating a new show in the franchise. I doubt that there will be a new installment as long as one of the current shows remains on the air. I mean, CBS doesn’t overcompensate with this franchise the way NBC does with the Chicago franchise. Well, they don’t know. In 2019, will all three shows still be on the air? It wouldn’t surprise me if only one of them were still on.

To wrap up this practically pointless blog post, I will say that the franchise will be changing for the rest of this season and we’ll see how this affects future seasons. I doubt that the franchise is doomed yet, but we’ll never know what the future might bring. Who knows? If there’s enough of a ratings drop this season, next season could be the last one for NCIS. But I still see the franchise going strong for a while more and I think that it’s likely we could still see new shows in it.