Rabu, 16 Februari 2022

NCIS is getting a Sydney-set spin-off. Wait, which one is NCIS? - Sydney Morning Herald

One of US TV’s most successful dramas is coming to Sydney.

Paramount+ Australia, the local streaming arm of ViacomCBS which owns Network Ten, today announced NCIS: Sydney, a local spin-off of the hit US crime drama.

It will be the first installment of the hit franchise to be set and filmed outside the US, following spin-offs NCIS: New Orleans and NCIS: Los Angeles, which was created by Aussie screenwriter and producer Shane Brennan, who will lead the Sydney iteration.

Mark Harmon and Pauley Perrette in NCIS. The hit US crime drama is getting a Sydney-set spin-off.

Mark Harmon and Pauley Perrette in NCIS. The hit US crime drama is getting a Sydney-set spin-off.

Beverley McGarvey, chief content officer and executive vice president of ViacomCBS Australia, said the series will “incorporate the superior NCIS storytelling while introducing new Australian characters and locations.”

Production on the series is set to commence in Sydney later this year, and the show is slated for release in 2023.

That such a high-profile TV franchise is expanding to Sydney is exciting news, but leads to just one question: which one is NCIS?

First things first, it’s not the gritty one with Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson and the “dun-dun!” sound in the introduction theme - that’s SVU, which, obviously, is the best of the letter-led TV crime dramas, even though most of its storylines involve horrifyingly depressing sex crimes that have been ripped from real-life headlines.

The cast of Law & Order: SVU.

The cast of Law & Order: SVU.

SVU - better known as Law & Order to those who like avoiding confusion, and whose Dick Wolf-led universe also includes Law & Order: Criminal Intent with Vincent D’Onofrio and the new Elliot Stabler-focused Law & Order: Organised Crime - is the longest-running primetime US series in the history of television and currently in its 23rd season; NCIS is just the second-longest, currently in its 19th season.

NCIS is also not CSI, the forensics franchise featuring wacky lead turns from the likes of Ted Danson, David Caruso, Gary Sinise, Elisabeth Shue and Patricia Arquette, and whose theme song is the worst song by The Who.

You can differentiate CSI from the others by its green graphics aesthetics (a sort of ’90s computer code), and by its endless character-dialogue about “blood splatters”. Even though CSI still broadcasts on free-to-air about 15 times a day, it apparently aired its finale in 2015 after 15 seasons, which is news to me. Its most recent spinoff, set in Las Vegas, was launched last October.

Ted Danson and Jorja Fox in CSI.

Ted Danson and Jorja Fox in CSI.

NCIS is also not QI, which is a British panel show once led by Stephen Fry but now hosted by Sandi Toksvig. If you’re hoping to spot Alan Davies in Sydney once production on NCIS begins or be in the studio audience to hear that alarm blare whenever someone mentions an obvious answer, I’m sorry to inform you that you are severely mistaken.

NCIS is also not RBT, which is a local showcase for obnoxious cops and nervous drunks; SNL, which is an American sketch comedy series; or MAFS, which is a local showcase for lovelorn racists. I know there are a lot of letters on TV but please, you’re swerving way off-track here.

This finally brings us to what NCIS is: in short, it’s the navy one, which explains a) why no one can ever remember what it is (a navy show? *switches channel*) and b) why an offshoot based in Sydney Harbour makes sense (I expect whoever stars in it - probably Rebecca Gibney - to regularly order lunch at Woolloomooloo’s Harry’s Cafe de Wheels).

It’s also perhaps better known as the one with Mark Harmon, or the one with LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell (in its Los Angeles iteration), or the one with Quantum Leap’s Scott Bakula (in its New Orleans iteration), and the one with Pauley Perette as forensic specialist Abby Sciuto, perhaps the only memorable character in any of these letter shows not named Benson and Stabler.

Somehow in the US, NCIS was the most-watched series on television last year, and has continued that run during its current 19th season, which highlights the stakes involved with this unlikely Aussie spin-off.

In a statement on Wednesday, Brennan called the announcement
“a massive vote of confidence in the Australian industry” and lauded the opportunity for local writers, directors and actors “to showcase their talent producing an Australian version of a
franchise that is recognised around the world”.

So will our version be the one that takes the MIA out of NCIS, or will it be DOA? OK sure, I will GTFO.

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2022-02-16 02:36:01Z
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