NCIS: SYDNEY Showrunner Promises ‘Easter Eggs’ For Franchise Fans
By Movieguide® Contributor
NCIS: SYDNEY’s showrunner is promising plenty of easter eggs for franchise fans in the upcoming episodes.
“The show is an entirely Australian show,” Morgan O’Neill, head of NCIS: SYDNEY, told TV Line. “But when you work on a show that’s as big as NCIS, which is is 200 territories, in 60 different languages, with trillions of hours of this show watched, the great relief from a showrunner’s point of view is that I don’t really have to go out and find ‘stars.’ The show is already the star; I just get to cast the greatest actors on the planet! So we were able to cast really wide, really broadly, to find the best actors to slide into these pretty unique roles.”
O’Neill explained that the show will still connect to NCIS’ naval roots despite being set in Australia.
“It’s effectively the first ‘blended family’ where NCIS has to form a team with the Australian Federal Police and operate in conjunction with them,” he said. “It’s Australians and Americans working not always in concert, but certainly together, and working through cultural differences, working through the clashes that would naturally exist when you bring two disparate organizations together.”
When asked if there would be any sneaky nods to other beloved NCIS characters, O’Neill answered in the affirmative.
“There are a couple of little Easter eggs there,” he promised. “I won’t spoil them, but they’re definitely there.”
O’Neill continued, “One of the things that I think audiences love about this show is the fact that it feels like a universe, not individual shows. And while they each have their own DNA, I think that’s what was really clever about the way CBS developed this franchise is they didn’t go out to make the same show twice.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, NCIS: SYDNEY “is part of an effort from Paramount+ to expand local offerings in markets outside the United States as it attempts to scale up the streamer internationally.”
“NCIS is one of the most popular series in the world and we’re thrilled to expand this franchise with a uniquely Australian twist,” Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement about the new show. “With the addition of NCIS: SYDNEY, our studio and Network footprint continues to grow in this fascinating world that has been a proven winner with viewers on both linear and streaming platforms. Featuring the stunning backdrop of Australia, the new series will incorporate the high-stakes intrigue, humor and camaraderie that have kept fans captivated by the NCIS teams for over two decades.”
NCIS: SYDNEY will debut on Paramount+ on November 10 in Australia and on November 13 on CBS in America.
Movieguide® previously reported:
With TV show production at a standstill due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, CBS is swapping an American favorite for Australia’s NCIS: SYDNEY.
“CBS had previously announced a Monday night schedule for fall that included NCIS repeat at 9 p.m. ET, followed by an unspecified ‘Paramount+ Original’ at 10 p.m., which has now been confirmed to be NCIS: SYDNEY,” Variety reported.
Season 21 of NCIS was set to arrive this fall, but the strikes put it on hold. Now, the soonest fans can expect to see the 21st season will be in 2024.
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