When the spin-off series NCIS: Hawai’i premiered on CBS in 2021, the show was notable for being the first series within the NCIS franchise to have a female lead, with Vanessa Lachey’s NCIS Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, who leads a team of special agents at the field office in Hawaii. However, NCIS: Hawai’i, which is the fourth series in the franchise and spans three seasons, now has the dubious distinction of becoming the shortest-lived series within the franchise following the show’s surprising cancelation.
Moreover, the abruptness of the cancelation decision meant that NCIS: Hawai’i was denied the opportunity to provide the same series-ending closure that was afforded to previous spin-off shows NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans, which ran 14 and seven seasons, respectively, before their cancelations.
With the cancelation of NCIS: Hawai’i, the lone existing spin-off series is NCIS: Sydney, the first series to be set outside the United States, which was recently renewed for a second season. The cancelation of NCIS: Hawai’i resulted from a combination of factors, including flat ratings, high production costs, and the need for CBS to make room on its increasingly crowded and deep schedule, which includes the upcoming prequel series NCIS: Origins.
The NCIS Franchise Is Overcrowded
Just five years ago, it seemed as if audience demand for the franchise, in which NCIS and the spin-off shows NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans all aired alongside one another on the CBS prime-time schedule for several years, was inexhaustible. However, the cancelation of NCIS: Hawai’i, following the demise of Los Angeles and New Orleans, and the tenuous presence of NCIS: Sydney proves that the franchise has become over-saturated, to the point that the shows have begun to cannibalize one another in terms of viewership.
Indeed, as NCIS: Hawai’i was canceled partly to make room for a slate of new shows on CBS, including the upcoming prequel series, the recent renewal of NCIS: Sydney also made the exotic-looking Hawaiian series seem redundant on the network’s schedule. Moreover, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney will eventually be joined by the recently announced Tony & Ziva spin-off series, which will reunite beloved characters Tony DiNozzo and Ziva Davis, played by Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo.
