NCIS: Los Angeles
NCIS: Los Angeles is an American action television series combining elements of the military drama and police procedural genres, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009. The series follows the exploits of the Los Angeles–based Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments. "NCIS: Los Angeles" is the first spin-off of the successful series "NCIS" and the second series in the "NCIS" franchise. The series originally starred Chris O'Donnell, Daniela Ruah, LL Cool J, Peter Cambor, Adam Jamal Craig, Linda Hunt and Barrett  Foa. Cambor and Craig were respectively demoted to recurring status and killed off at the end of season 1, while Foa was written out at the end of season 12 and Hunt was demoted to "special guest star" status at the beginning of season 13. Other stars have included Eric Christian Olsen, Renée Felice Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Nia Long, Medalion Rahimi, Caleb Castille, and Gerald McRaney. The show has received mixed reviews from critics, but has been a solid rating hit for CBS. On April 23, 2021, CBS renewed the series for a thirteenth season which premiered on October 10 , 2021. On March 31, 2022, CBS renewed the series for a fourteenth season. Premise. "NCIS: Los Angeles" follows Special Agents Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) and G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell), undercover operatives assigned to the Office of Special Projects, a special branch of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Sam is a former member of SEAL Team Six and dedicated family man. Callen is a former foster child who became a "legend" under the watchful eye of Operations Manager Henrietta "Hetty" Lange (Linda Hunt). At the start of the series, Sam, Callen, and Hetty are supported by Special Agent Kensi Blye  (Daniela Ruah), a hand-to-hand combat specialist, trained sniper and forensic whiz, rookie agent Dominic Vail (Adam Jamal Craig), Operational Psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) and Technical Operator Eric Beale (Barrett Foa). Vail is abducted by terrorists halfway through season 1 and, following a period of being held hostage, is killed during his rescue mission near the end of the season. Getz, meanwhile, enters training to become an agent in the back-half of the season, and is reassigned during season 2, returning for occasional guest appearances afterwards. In season 2, LAPD detective Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), after  helping on several cases late in the prior season, joins the OSP team as a liaison between LAPD and NCIS, replacing Vail as Kensi's partner. He holds this position until departmental reforms in season 12 end up terminating it, after which he completes FLETC training and officially joins NCIS as an Investigator. Over the course of the series, Deeks and Kensi slowly evolve from partners to lovers, with the two marrying in season 10. Also joining the team in season 2 is Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones (Renee Felice Smith), a brilliant agent whom Hetty hopes to have take her  place eventually, and who forms a close relationship with Beale. During season 3, Assistant Director Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer), an old friend of Hetty's, is assigned to the team as oversight with her, and manages to develop a cordial relationship with the team despite a frosty start. In season 8, Granger falls ill with cancer, coinciding with Ferrer's real-life battle with the disease; following Ferrer's death, Granger is written to have fled the hospital while in recovery from a failed assassination attempt, and is later confirmed to have died from his illness during the following season . In season 9, Executive Assistant Director Pacific (EADPAC) Shay Mosley (Nia Long) is assigned to the OSP after Hetty leaves on a personal mission to free an old colleague in Vietnam; the team later rescues her when the mission goes wrong. Mosley, meanwhile, sends the team on an unsanctioned mission to Mexico to rescue her son from her criminal ex-husband at the end of the season; while successful in its goals, the mission results in the death of Mosley's trusted assistant, the wounding of most of the rest of team, and the OSP being put under the microscope  during the beginning of season 10; Mosley later accepts full responsibility, resigns and goes into hiding with her son to escape a cartel allied with her ex (whom she had killed during the mission). During seasons 11 and 12, rookie agents Fatima Nazami (Medalion Rahimi) and Devin Roundtree (Caleb Castille) are recruited to the OSP, while Beale and Jones depart for the private sector at the end of the latter season. With Hetty leaving to do damage control from a prior mission, Admiral Hollace Kilbride (Gerald McRaney), who has assisted the OSP in multiple cases, is assigned in her place  as interim Operations Manager in season 13. Production. In November 2008, it was reported that a first spin-off series set in Los Angeles would be introduced with a two-part backdoor pilot during the sixth season of "NCIS". Special Agent G. Callen was initially a CIA operative created by Shane Brennan for a series that was never produced. After taking over show runner duties previously held by Donald P. Bellisario on "NCIS", he used the potential of a spin-off to bring his story to fruition. Brennan intended for the series to hold a "Miami Vice"-esque vibe through its  two co-leads, Callen and Agent Sam Hanna. However, the character of Lara Macy was written to serve as a parallel for Gibbs, the lead of the original NCIS team. Macy was portrayed by Louise Lombard in the backdoor pilot, but she was not featured in the actual spin-off, and Brennan was able to produce the show as he originally envisioned it. The show was known as "NCIS: Legend" while in production ( in which the spin-off was introduced), and other names considered included "OSP: Office of Special Projects", "NCIS: OSP" and "NCIS: Undercover". Filming started in February 2009 , with the characters being introduced in the two-part "NCIS" episode titled "Legend", the first part of which aired on April 28, 2009. This episode served as a backdoor pilot for the series, in a manner similar to the way "NCIS" was introduced by way of a two-part episode of "JAG". In May 2009, CBS picked up the series. Broadcast. In Asia, the series airs on AXN, ARY Zindagi and ARY Digital. In the UK the series premieres its latest season first on Sky 1, with subsequent runs and repeats then also broadcast on Channel Five. In the Netherlands  the series airs on NET5 ."NCIS: Los Angeles" airs on Network Ten, ONE and TVH!TS (formerly TV1) As of December 2019, it airs on Fox Crime after TV H!TS was rebranded as Fox One in Australia. In Israel it airs on Hot zone and yes HBO In Portugal the series airs on Fox. M6 in France, 13th Street in Denmark, Germany, and Bulgaria, and Universal Channel in Italy. Home media. The first nine seasons have been released on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4, and Season 1 was released on Blu-ray Disc in Region A. The first season  DVD release includes the two-part pilot episode that aired as part of the sixth season of "NCIS", which were also included on the Season 6 DVD of "NCIS". All releases are distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment. Reception. Critical reception. "", the series' first episode, garnered 18.73 million viewers with a 4.4/11 share in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and therefore won its timeslot. It was the second-most-watched show of the week, behind only the original "NCIS". Reviews for the show have been mixed. It has a score of 59/100 on Metacritic. According to Mary McNamara of  the "Los Angeles Times", "The crime is intriguing and multifaceted, its resolution requiring a nice balance of street smarts and lots of gunfire. But as with the original 'NCIS', the emphasis is on the characters of the team... Los Angeles, meanwhile, looks fabulous, a pleasing mixture of noir and gridlock, and there's an air of stability that's comforting in these uncertain times." The New York "Daily News" reviewer, David Hinckley, was more critical of the show saying that although "It all adds up to an hour of decent entertainment, and there's room for enough character development to  give 'NCIS: Los Angeles' a personality of its own, ... a premiere episode shouldn't feel even a little like something we've already seen." Tom Shales of "The Washington Post" felt that, "NCIS: Los Angeles gets the job done ... It's a procedural that follows strictly the established procedure, but it has likable characters, dislikable bad guys and the occasional flabbergasting shot of L.A." Robert Bianco of "USA Today" summarized it as a "serviceable hour that takes the NCIS formula—a light tone and a lot of banter wrapped around a fairly rudimentary investigatory plot—and transfers it to a  special, undercover NCIS division in Los Angeles. Nothing more, but also nothing less." "The Hollywood Reporter" compared the show to "The A-Team" with "the same lighthearted approach to life-or-death situations. Maybe the biggest change is that 'NCIS: L.A.' achieves its inevitably favorable outcomes with a little more intellect and a little less testosterone." "IGN" stated that although ""NCIS: Los Angeles" doesn't exactly reinvent the police procedural... it's another above-average entry, aided by the fact that the people behind the show know what they're doing" and ultimately gave the episode a 7.7/10. Ratings. Seasonal  rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of "NCIS: Los Angeles" on CBS. Potential spin-off. On November 5, 2012, Deadline Hollywood reported the first news about a spin-off of "NCIS: Los Angeles" titled "NCIS: Red". The new characters were introduced during a of "NCIS: Los Angeles". The spin-off was to feature a team of mobile agents, who travel around the country to solve crimes. This would have been the second successive spin-off in the "NCIS" franchise. However, on May 15, 2013, CBS confirmed that "NCIS: Red" was officially passed on and would not be moving  forward. Scott Grimes reprised his potential spin-off role as NCIS: Red Agent Dave Flynn during the eighth season of "NCIS: Los Angeles". Adaptations. In August 2016, Titan Books published "NCIS Los Angeles: Extremis", a novel by Jerome Preisler. Three months later, it was followed by "NCIS Los Angeles: Bolthole", written by Jeff Mariotte. Both books contain original stories featuring the characters from the show.