FBI’s latest spinoff now has the working title of just CIA, and it’s coming together rapidly. In fact, a big Chicago P.D., Law & Order and even FBI director is going to be directing the big, splashy first episode for the new show, and he’s one network TV OGs might recognize for a major acting role that came early in his career. It’s a role that subsequently led to a strong pipeline of work for the now actor, producer and director.
Fans who have been in the network TV game for a long time probably know showbiz veteran Eriq La Salle from his major role on ER over the years. Regardless, since the time he played Peter Benton, he’s expanded his repertoire greatly as a producer and director in the TV game. For the last decade or so he’s been heavily involved in the Dick Wolf Universe shows like Law & Order and Chicago P.D., and now he’s expanding his repertoire to include the new FBI spinoff.
Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped. La Salle has been hugely instrumental in making Chicago P.D.’s vibe as memorable as it is. He’s directed 21 episodes of the series, which is itself a spinoff of the other One Chicago show, Chicago Fire. It’s not the only spinoff he’s done work for either, also directing episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime, CSI: Cyber and Chicago Med, so his directing pedigree speaks for him here.
The Timing Couldn’t Have Been More Perfect
La Salle’s got a little more free time on his plate now that his last acting gig On Call was canceled. That procedural was also from Dick Wolf and was the prolific producer’s first to stream only. (In fact it’s still available for those with an Amazon Prime subscription.) However, it was also notably his big acting role in years. The thing about working with Wolf is he often works with many of the same people for years and years, so getting to direct the pilot for CIA might not come as a surprise, but it is a welcome turn of events.
I’ve been to One Chicago Day before, where the casts and some of the creative team come to talk about the upcoming seasons of the NBC shows, and I’ve been impressed by La Salle’s investment in those series. For CIA the timing is interesting, as the show itself was initially expected to premiere as a backdoor pilot on one of the now-canceled FBI shows. Instead, now it’s going straight to series and La Salle has availability at just the right time.
Who knows if things would have been different if it had been a backdoor pilot instead? Timing, per usual, is everything.
CIA’s already been dealing with a bit of an uphill battle, frankly, as two of the other FBI offshoots just got canceled by CBS, including the highly touted FBI Most Wanted led by Dylan McDermott. It was touch and go if the new Tom Ellis-led series would even officially get the greenlight for the 2025-2026 TV schedule, but as bad as the cancelation news was, at least the newest spinoff has a strong lead and a strong director helming the pilot.
