NCIS Spinoff Pilot airs tonight...don't miss it.

[Mr. Television]

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition...e28_st.art.htm

Two-parter lets fans meet new NCIS team
Things also heating up for Tony, Ziva
By Bill Keveney
USA TODAY

As an NCIS fan, LL Cool J knows what needs to be retained for a spinoff to succeed.

"The chemistry between the characters is incredible: the banter, the way they've developed over the years," says the rapper/actor. "That is probably the best thing about the show."

Chris O'Donnell, LL Cool J and the rest of the NCIS Office of Special Projects (OSP) team will get their chance to impress viewers in two episodes (CBS, tonight and May 5, 8 p.m. ET/PT) that could result in a new series.

LL Cool J says it was great to work with Harmon, and he appreciates this opportunity. "I let him know I respect the franchise and want to do it justice. I don't want to be the one to wreck it."

The spinoff, whose title will be revealed if and when CBS announces a fall pickup next month, also features a tight-knit NCIS team, but it spends more time undercover on national security, including terrorism.

The episodes highlight the units' differences: The murder of a Marine, the kind of case the original investigates, evolves into an attempt to thwart a security threat, the specialty of the OSP.

NCIS's Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and McGee (Sean Murray) head to Los Angeles to team with OSP's G. Callen (O'Donnell) and Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) to investigate.

Callen, a loose cannon with a mysterious past, was fired by other agencies before finding a home at NCIS, while Hanna, a former Navy SEAL, is a family man with four kids, executive producer Shane Brennan says.

Callen "moved around to a lot of foster homes as a kid, had a lot of different influences," O'Donnell says. "That's part of what makes him unique; (he can) slip into so many different roles."

The two report to special agent Lara Macy (Louise Lombard), with another agent (Daniela Ruah) and a psychologist (Peter Cambor) rounding out the team. "Gibbs isn't particularly happy to be working with Macy. They have some history," Brennan says. "People will find out something new about Gibbs."

The two hours, besides introducing the new team, figure significantly in the season's conclusion, Brennan says.

Fans will see the return of Michael Rivkin (Merik Tadros), a mysterious Mossad agent with ties to Ziva (Cote de Pablo), and they need to watch the episodes "if they want to see what happens to Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva." Their relationship, which has been heating up this season, is at the core of the final episodes, Brennan says. Rivkin's return "causes friction between Tony and Ziva. He has an integral part in the last four episodes."

[MikeLutton]

will abby guest star