CBS has many long-running series. Like most of the big networks on basic broadcast TV, they thrive off of finding a formula and tweaking it ever so slightly to achieve, frankly, astonishing success. However, there are some interesting occasions where a supposed slam dunk doesn’t quite make it through the hoop. “NCIS” is one of the programs that helps keep the lights on for CBS, and the show has spawned so many successful spin-offs for the network. TV fan-favorite actor John Corbett, of “The Wonder Years” and “Sex and the City” fame, was shockingly close to starring in an “NCIS” reboot that won’t see the light of day. CBS opted not to pursue “NCIS: Red” back in 2013, as the company was worried that too many spinoffs might have diluted the brand.
Corbett’s character Roy Quaid appeared in “NCIS: Los Angeles” back in 2013, ahead of the proposed “NCIS: Red” spinoff. The Hollywood Reporter even profiled the episode of “NCIS: Los Angeles” that would have served as a backdoor pilot, but despite all that prep work, CBS still decided not to follow through with the spinoff despite the ravenous appetite for new procedurals on TV. (The fact that “NCIS: Los Angeles” ended up running for 14 seasons is staggering proof of that fact.) In a landscape dominated by procedurals on broadcast television, “NCIS” stands up to the best of them because of how repeatable the concept is across multiple cities and countries. We even had an “NCIS: Hawaii” for three seasons before it got sunsetted in 2024, but unfortunately, “NCIS: Red” was not quite ready for primetime.
What was the NCIS: Red spinoff?
“NCIS: Los Angeles” season 4 had an episode titled “Red,” and that’s where the kernel of this spinoff series was born. John Corbett, Kim Raver, and Scott Grimes were among the new actors brought on as a new team of Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents tasked with traveling across the United States rather than being locked into one location every week.
Corbett’s character, Roy Quaid, was a former NCIS special agent who stepped away from active duty before becoming an analyst for “Red Team.” Miguel Ferrer and Edwin Hodge were tabbed to join Corbett, Raver, and Grimes for “NCIS: Red” after the spinoff episode. Ferrer would come over from “NCIS: Los Angeles” as Owen Granger, the NCIS assistant director, and Hodge would have played Kai, a special agent and computer expert from South Central Los Angeles. As you can see, things were already pretty mapped out for “NCIS: Red” before CBS made the call not to pursue the spinoff.
Why didn’t NCIS: Red happen?
Sometimes, things just don’t come together in Hollywood, and a number of factors ended up stymying “NCIS: Red” before it even had a chance to air a single episode. The cost of making TV shows played a factor along with the genral anxiety networks carry into ever decision made for programming slots in modern TV era. Even a bulletproof property like “NCIS” doesn’t just get the full stamp of approval before hitting the runway.
CBS previously defended its decision to table “NCIS: Red” in the spring of 2013, in some comments from CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler. According to Digital Spy, she said, “Sometimes [spinoffs] work and sometimes they don’t. Protecting [the franchise] was really important.”
Back then, the network mentioned that they were still open to tinkering with the concept down the line, but nothing has materialized on that front. Another factor that deserves some close examination is the looming presence of “NCIS: New Orleans” as it got ready to premiere just one year later. “NCIS: New Orleans” proved to be another monster hit for the network throughout a seven-season run on CBS.
It’s interesting to consider the fact that CBS probably didn’t want to carry two high-profile spinoffs on their main network at the same time. (I feel confident that if this decision had happened in 2020, “NCIS: Red” would have been greenlit to Paramount+ as that would have given folks who really loved the main series something “new” to watch on Paramount’s rebranded streaming service.) Back in the previous decade, supporting, marketing, and producing both of these at the same time might have risked over-saturation, and clearly the move paid off as “NCIS: New Orleans” ran until 2021.
