Entertainment

CBS Clears The Path To Continue NCIS: Tony & Ziva's Legacy

Nairavoice · Nov 7, 2026 · 6 min read

Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV.

While the cancellation of NCIS: Tony & Ziva was a tough blow to longtime viewers who were ready to see Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) back, the show’s end doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the franchise’s more character-driven spinoff shows. For many longtime NCIS viewers, getting the chance to see Tony and Ziva anchor their own spinoff series was like a dream come true. After seeing the story between the former partners sprawl out over more than a decade, ending with Tony and Ziva alive and well, co-parenting their daughter in Paris, getting the chance to revisit them in a new context was a gift.

Even so NCIS: Tony & Ziva, the Paramount+ spinoff series that brought Weatherly and de Pablo back into the franchise’s fold, didn’t come without its own set of problems. The character-driven spinoff was part romance, part drama, and part thriller, but it felt more like an encapsulated story than a series that could go on forever. With the addition of Tony and Ziva’s nearly-teenage daughter, Tali, the series could take on qualities of a family drama on top of everything else, which left it struggling to maintain the type of edge it wanted. Despite fans enjoying the series, it ended after a single season.

Though NCIS season 24 chose to bring Tony back into the mix as the new NCIS director, which effectively separated him from Ziva and Tali for the time being, the franchise isn’t necessarily giving up on character-driven spinoffs all together. Between NCIS serving up a dark Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) story and NCIS: Origins bringing Emily Wickersham’s Ellie Bishop back, there’s potential for a series that finally brings a long-awaited relationship to the franchise’s forefront.

Torres & Bishop’s Ongoing NCIS Arcs Set Up Their Perfect Spinoff

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While Torres and Bishop have always felt like more of a long shot than Tony and Ziva in terms of their relationship working out, NCIS is creating the perfect conditions to forge ahead with a spinoff series to explore the characters’ bond. Nick, who spent a recent episode of NCIS season 24 revisiting his dark past as undercover operative Dante Navarro, has seemingly reengaged with that edgier side of himself. At the same time, Ellie’s departure from the series at the end of NCIS season 18 saw her accept a life undercover over the work she’d long been doing with the MCRT, exposing a darker side to the character.

After Ellie’s return to NCIS last season, wherein she and Torres shared a brief kiss and made it clear their relationship wasn’t just professional and platonic, it was clear that there was unfinished business between the former colleagues. Returning to NCIS: Origins season 3, Ellie’s closer than ever to Nick’s world, and both are facing an underlying sense of darkness that wasn’t there the last time they worked together. With Nick’s storyline pushing him back into the dark past he left behind, while Ellie’s work on NCIS: Origins sees her enlisted by Tony to help Gibbs (Mark Harmon), the pair are still intertwined.

Knowing that the former partners share more than a professional history, it’s possible, with their storylines closer than ever in the scope of the franchise, that Nick and Ellie could cross paths. Moreover, seeing each other again may open the door to a dark, undercover story that NCIS could explore in a Tony & Ziva style spinoff.

How Torres & Bishop’s Proposed Spinoff Is The Best Way To Replace NCIS: Tony & Ziva

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With both character steeped in undercover work that’s shifted their world views, Nick and Ellie anchoring a Tony & Ziva style spinoff would be a great way for the NCIS franchise to explore their connection while deepening their lore. While NCIS: Tony & Ziva offered a different kind of story from the flagship series, the draw of the spinoff was getting an update on the characters viewers know and love. Though NCIS viewers have had the chance to see both Nick and Ellie more recently, learning more about their past and understanding their future would be a massive draw for longtime fans of the pair.

A Torres and Bishop spinoff would preserve the strongest elements of Tony & Ziva while creating space for a series that feels more aligned with the scope of the NCIS franchise. Diving into the pair’s undercover work at its core, a spinoff would have the ability to establish parts of Torres and Bishop’s relationship that viewers have never had the chance to see on screen before. Though there have been allusions to what’s happened between them in the past, getting the chance to truly dig into Torres and Bishop’s connection while establishing what’s happening in their present, as well, would be tremendous.

While Tony & Ziva had to contend with the fact that the central characters were dealing with co-parenting and international threats, a Torres and Bishop spinoff could take a darker, more detached tone. Their lack of foundation and family would make for the perfect avenue to pursue something craggier for the characters.

Why The NCIS Franchise Can Benefit From Torres & Bishop’s Spinoff

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While NCIS has long been a franchise that’s thrived on its spinoffs, the past few years have seen some struggle with making things work. After the cancellation of shows like NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Tony & Ziva, the spinoffs have largely been rejigged, and the franchise is now on better footing with NCIS: New York and NCIS: Origins taking up their own space within the wider scope of the universe. Still, knowing that there’s a niche that NCIS isn’t tackling with two characters, Torres and Bishop, ready to jump into the undercover space leaves a gap that NCIS could easily fill.

Though Valderrama recently made it clear that there likely isn’t a Torres-centric project currently in the works, he’s been open about the fact that NCIS season 24 is leaving Nick open for big changes, and didn’t immediately rebuff the idea of a spinoff. While that’s not confirmation, it’s not a complete denial or rebuttal, either, which allows for a path forward. With Valderrama open to the idea and, in other interviews, open about the fact that he feels Nick and Ellie’s connection is a strong one, the idea that the characters could converge in a show of their own doesn’t feel like it’s off the table.

Instead, seeing the characters realign in a space that’s all their own seems like the best possible move for the NCIS franchise. Allowing Nick to explore a darker side of his skill set while reuniting him with Ellie, who has elite abilities of her own, could be a great way for NCIS to finally deliver the type of story the characters have always deserved.

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