On Tuesday, Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly surprised the crowd at MIPCOM in Cannes when they appeared at the annual trade show alongside Dan Cohen, head of Paramount Global distribution and Republic Pictures, to promote the NCIS spin-off, NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
Those in the room were treated to a first look at the series and a short discussion of how the show planned on handling NCIS‘ most beloved characters.
“We haven’t seen these characters since 2013 and I think the fans have always wanted to see what happened between them,” De Pablo told the audience. “In our first season, they’re going to get a fix of what has happened.”
Throughout the series the pair’s characters, Ziva David (de Pablo) and Tony DiNozzo (Weatherly), had a “cat-and-mouse” relationship, which often drove fans crazy. Once they finally get together, things become extremely complicated.
After having worked with Weatherly on the series for 10 years, de Pablo announced her departure as a series regular, while Weatherly remained on the show.
With Ziva gone, the series saw Tony searching high and low for his love. Despite his efforts to get Ziva to stay with him, she makes the decision to return to Israel and leaves him in the US. Eventually, the NCIS agent learned of Ziva’s death after a bomb struck her house in Israel.
Tony was introduced to the couple’s two-year-old daughter, and after a long talk with Gibbs, Tony decided it was time he moved on from NCIS.
The NCIS: Tony & Ziva clip, which has yet to be made public, shows the couple raising their child “who is almost a teenager, fantastic little Tali, and they are trying to make their relationship work.”
Weatherly added that the series will have an “international, global feel,” and some fans have even speculated that it will look slightly different than the original series and other spin-offs, citing a previous comment from Weatherly.
“Michael has said on the podcast that it’s not gonna be a procedural ‘body of the week’ show…I’m looking forward to the difference.”
“What a luxury it is to revisit a character after such a long time,” de Pablo said.
I don’t know about you, but I’m very excited for NCIS: Tony & Ziva!