“NCIS” has produced several spin-offs since its premiere in 2003, but one planned entry never moved forward. In 2013, “NCIS: Red” was slated to become the franchise’s next spin-off after “NCIS: Los Angeles” aired the backdoor pilot episodes “Red” and “Red 2.” Focusing on the traveling agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Red Team, the series was set to star John Corbett as Roy Haines, Kim Raver as Paris Summerskill, and Scott Grimes as Dave Flynn — all of whom were introduced on “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
However, the proposed series never received a full order from CBS. After the news broke, then-CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler addressed the situation and stood by the decision to reject the series. “Sometimes [spin-offs] work and sometimes they don’t,” she told Digital Spy. “Protecting [the franchise] was really important.”
At the time, the outlet reported that CBS would consider re-doing the “NCIS: Red” pilot with a new cast. Yet that never happened, and CBS ultimately shifted its focus to other “NCIS” spin-offs.
NCIS moved on quickly after NCIS: Red failed
The failure of “NCIS: Red” was hardly a sign of the police procedural franchise’s decline. Following its cancellation, the “NCIS” universe continued expanding with five additional spin-offs, and a sixth remains on the way as of this writing.
“NCIS: New Orleans” premiered in 2014 and ended in 2021, immediately followed by “NCIS: Hawai’i,” which aired its final episode in 2024. Still running alongside “NCIS” are the spin-offs “NCIS: Sydney” and “NCIS: Origins,” which debuted in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Even though 2025’s “NCIS: Tony & Ziva” was canceled after one season, the franchise still has “NCIS: New York” waiting in the wings. The next “NCIS” TV series is slated to premiere later in 2026.
As Tassler suggested in 2013, CBS has remained selective about which “NCIS” spin-offs it develops. While “NCIS: Red” never moved forward, the franchise has continued expanding in the years since.