When the spin-off seriesNCIS: Hawai’ipremiered on CBS in 2021, the show was notable for being the first series within theNCISfranchise 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 theshortest-lived series within the franchisefollowing theshow’s surprising cancelation.
Moreover, the abruptness of the cancelation decision meant thatNCIS: Hawai’iwas denied the opportunity to provide the same series-ending closure that was afforded to previous spin-off showsNCIS: Los AngelesandNCIS: New Orleans, which ran 14 and seven seasons, respectively, before their cancelations.
With the cancelation ofNCIS: Hawai’i, the lone existing spin-off series isNCIS: Sydney, the first series to be set outside the United States, which was recently renewed for a second season.The cancelation ofNCIS: Hawai’iresulted 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 seriesNCIS: Origins.
NCIS: Hawai’i Was on the Cancelation Bubble
NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team forced to work together in high-stress situations. Special Agent Alden Parker, a quirky former FBI agent who solves his cases with calm professionalism and sharp, sarcastic charm, leads the NCIS team.
Like what happened with the long-runningCBS showsBlue BloodsandS.W.A.T., for which the show’s cast and crew made meaningful sacrifices to avoid cancelation, the producers and stars ofNCIS: Hawai’iagreed to sizable budgetary cuts and other concessions to allow the show to at least survivethrough a fourth and presumably final season.
The cancelation ofNCIS: Hawai’i, which was a top 20-rated show throughout its run, owes partially to the sheer strength of the CBS schedule, in which the network has struggled to accommodate a glut of quality shows. The cancelation announcement forNCIS: Hawai’ifollowed the cancelation ofCSI: VegasandSo Help Me Todd, both of which were top 25-rated shows.
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In addition to being a casualty of a historically strong schedule, for which CBS has committed to airing five new series for next season,NCIS: Hawai’ialso fell victim to a cost-cutting drive by CBS and parent company Paramount Global, in advance of a potential sale of the company.This created an environment in which CBS was willing to cancel a show that any other network almost certainly would have been happy to renew.
The NCIS Franchise Is Overcrowded
Just five years ago, it seemed as if audience demand for the franchise, in whichNCISand thespin-off showsNCIS: Los AngelesandNCIS: New Orleansall aired alongside one another on the CBS prime-time schedule for several years, was inexhaustible. However, the cancelation ofNCIS: Hawai’i, following the demise ofLos AngelesandNew Orleans,and the tenuous presence of NCIS:Sydneyproves thatthefranchise has become over-saturated, to the point that the shows have begun to cannibalize one another in terms of viewership.
The 10 Most Loved Characters On NCIS, Ranked
With such a diverse history and enormous cast, some characters on NCIS have stood out over the years with their quirks, intelligence, and dedication.
Indeed, asNCIS: Hawai’iwas canceled partly to make room for a slate of new shows on CBS, including the upcoming prequel series, the recent renewal ofNCIS: Sydneyalso made the exotic-looking Hawaiian series seem redundant on the network’s schedule. Moreover,NCIS: OriginsandNCIS: Sydneywill 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.
NCIS: Hawai’i Ended Without a Proper Series Finale
Given that the third-season finale episode ofNCIS: Hawai’iwasn’t at all intended to be the series finale, which the show’s cast and crew envisioned for the end of an abbreviated fourth season, the series’s end leaves several unresolved character and plot developments. The most significantstory arc left forever unresolved by the show’s cancelation involves series lead Jane Tennant’s mother, who abandoned Jane when Jane was a child. The series instead ends with a two-part season finale in which Jane and her team, includingNCIS: Los Angelesalumnus Sam Hanna, played by LL Cool J, attempt to track down a deadly biological weapon called Compound X.
Prior to the cancelation announcement, the show’s producers had intense discussions with CBS regarding the possibility of a 13-episode fourth season. Following the cancelation, the only way forNCIS: Hawai’ito achieve finality through a proper series finale is for CBS to either reverse its cancelation decision, as thenetwork did withS.W.A.T., or give the show a fourth and final season on the Paramount+ streaming service. However, CBS has rejected either of these possibilities.
Indeed, the fact thatNCIS: Hawai’iconsistently generated stronger ratings than several renewed CBS shows, such asFBI: International,FBI: Wanted, andS.W.A.T., indicates thatthe cancelation ofNCIS: Hawai’iis primarily attributable to cost, for which the expense of filming a series on location in Hawaii is prohibitive regardless of steep budget cuts, and the fact that CBS has three other shows in the franchise attached to its prime-time schedule for next season. Ultimately, the series became expendable.NCIS: Hawai’iis streaming now onParamount+.
