NCIS: Los Angeles

NCIS: Los Angeles

NCIS: Los Angeles logo
Also known as NCIS: OSP
NCIS: Undercover
NCIS: Legend
NCIS: LA
Genre Police procedural
Military
Action
Drama
Created by Shane Brennan
Starring Chris O'Donnell
Peter Cambor
Daniela Ruah
Eric Christian Olsen
Adam Jamal Craig
Barrett Foa
Renée Felice Smith
Linda Hunt
LL Cool J
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 60 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Shane Brennan[1]
Location(s) Los Angeles, California
Production company(s) Shane Brennan Productions
CBS Television Studios[2]
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Picture format 480i (SDTV),
1080i (HDTV)
Original run September 22, 2009 – present
Chronology
Related shows NCIS
JAG
External links
Official website

NCIS: Los Angeles (Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Los Angeles) is an American television series combining elements of the military drama and police procedural genres, which premiered on the CBS network on September 22, 2009.[3] In the USA, the series airs following NCIS on Tuesdays.[4] In Canada, the show is simulcast on the Global Television Network.[5]

NCIS: Los Angeles is the first spin-off of the successful NCIS,[6][7][8][9][10] which itself was a spinoff of another CBS series, JAG. On October 7, 2009, CBS gave the series a full-season pickup, extending the first season to 22 episodes.[11][12][13] The season was extended again on November 4, 2009, when CBS announced its order for an additional two episodes.[14]

The second season began airing on September 21, 2010.[15] On May 18, 2011, CBS renewed the series for a third season.[16] On August 18, 2011, CBS announced that the series would cross over with Hawaii Five-0 by having Daniela Ruah guest star as Kensi Blye on the latter series.[17]

Contents

Premise

The series follows the exploits of the Los Angeles–based Office of Special Projects, an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments.

Production

The show was known as NCIS: Legend while in production (referring to the episodes of NCIS in which the spin-off was introduced), and other names considered included NCIS: OSP (Office of Special Projects) and NCIS: Undercover.[10] 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.[10][18] This episode served as a backdoor pilot for the series, in a manner similar to the introduction of NCIS, which was introduced by way of a two-part episode of JAG.

Chris O'Donnell plays the lead character, G. Callen, a lead agent whose natural talent for undercover work is legendary.[19] LL Cool J plays the role of Special Agent Sam Hanna, a former Navy SEAL, who is fluent in Arabic and an expert on Middle Eastern culture.[9] Daniela Ruah plays an agent named Kensi Blye. Adam Jamal Craig playing rookie field agent Dominic Vail was credited as a regular through the first dozen episodes of season one, but was subsequently written out of the show,[20] and the character was killed off in episode 21. Eric Christian Olsen plays Marty Deeks, the team's liaison with the Los Angeles Police Department. Olsen appears in two episodes of the first season as a guest star, and joins the cast full time in season two as Craig/Vail's replacement.

Peter Cambor plays Nate Getz, the team's operational psychologist, who supports their missions through surveillance and profiling of targets and ongoing monitoring of the OSP team members' mental health. Cambor was listed as a main cast member throughout the first season, but was downgraded to recurring status at the start of season 2 appearing in four second season episodes to-date: the first, third, fourteenth, and eighteenth episodes.

The cast is rounded out by Linda Hunt playing the OSP's operations manager Hetty Lange, a former agent with a mysterious past, and Barrett Foa as Eric Beale, the team's technical analyst and resident geek.

Louise Lombard, who had originated the role of NCIS operations manager Lara Macy in the back-door pilot, was not picked up as a regular in the new series, and the character was killed off during an episode of NCIS.[21][22][23]

Rocky Carroll, who plays Director Leon Vance on NCIS, appeared in six of the first 13 episodes.[24][25] He made a seventh appearance in "Hunted". Vance appeared in the season 2 finale and season 3 premiere.

Cast

Regular

Actor Role Occupation Status Notes
O'Donnell, ChrisChris O'Donnell G. Callen OSP Supervisory Special Agent Regular Season 1–presenta[›]
Cambor, PeterPeter Cambor Nate "Doc" Getz OSP Operational Psychologist Regular Season 1a[›]
Recurring Season 2–presentb[›]
Ruah, DanielaDaniela Ruah Kensi Blye OSP Junior Field Agent Regular Season 1–presenta[›]
Christian Olsen, EricEric Christian Olsen Marty Deeks NCIS / LAPD Liaison Officer Recurring Season 1
Regular Season 2–present
Craig, Adam JamalAdam Jamal Craig Dominic "Dom" Vail OSP Junior Field Agent Regular Season 1c[›]
Foa, BarrettBarrett Foa Eric Beale[26] OSP Tech Operator Recurring Season 1a[›]
Regular Season 1–presentd[›]
Renée Felice Smith Nell Jones OSP Intelligence Analyst Recurring Season 2
Regular Season 2–presente[›]
Hunt, LindaLinda Hunt Henrietta "Hetty" Lange OSP Operations Manager
OSP Special Agent in Charge
Regular Season 1–present
LL Cool J Samuel "Sam" Hanna[27] OSP Senior Field Agent Regular Season 1–presenta[›]

Other

Actor Role Occupation Notes
Lombard, LouiseLouise Lombard Lara Macy OSP Operations Manager Character transferred before series start; found dead in NCIS episode "Patriot Down"a[›]

Guest

Actor Role Occupation Status Notes
Carroll, RockyRocky Carroll Leon Vance NCIS Director Recurring special guest star Season 1-presenta[›]
Perrette, PauleyPauley Perrette Abby Sciuto NCIS Forensic Specialist Special guest star Season 1a[›]
Avers, BrianBrian Avers Mike Renko NCIS Special Agent Recurring Season 1a[›]
Dayan Fisher, DavidDavid Dayan Fisher Trent Kort CIA Field Officer Guest star Season 1
Rose Perkins, KathleenKathleen Rose Perkins Rose Shwartz LA Coroner Recurring guest star Season 1-present
Auguste, RonaldRonald Auguste Moe Dusa N/A Recurring guest star Season 1-2f[›]
Forlani, ClaireClaire Forlani Lauren Hunter OSP Operations Manager Recurring special guest star Season 2-3

Reception

"Identity", the show's first episode, garnered 18.73 million viewers with a 4.4/11 share in the 18–49 year old demographic and therefore won its timeslot. It was the second most watched show of the week, behind only the original NCIS.[28]

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."[29] 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."[30]

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."[31] 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."[32] 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."[33] 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.[34]

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
Season Episodes Timeslot (EST) Original airing Rank Viewers
(in millions)
Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season
1st 24 Tuesday 9:00pm/8c September 22, 2009 May 25, 2010[35] 2009–10 #9 16.08[36]
2nd 24 Tuesday 9:00pm/8c September 21, 2010 May 17, 2011 2010–11 #7 16.54[37]
3rd TBD Tuesday 9:00pm/8c September 20, 2011 Spring 2012 2011–12 #5 17.01[38]

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired DVD release date
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Introductory 2 April 28, 2009 May 5, 2009 August 31, 2010
(includes introductory episodes)
August 2, 2010
(includes introductory episodes)
August 19, 2010
(includes introductory episodes)
1 24 September 22, 2009 May 25, 2010
2 24 September 21, 2010 May 17, 2011 August 23, 2011 August 22, 2011 September 1, 2011
3 N/A September 20, 2011 Spring 2012 N/A N/A N/A

References

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  2. ^ Episode end credits.
  3. ^ Mitovich, Matt (June 24, 2009). "Fall TV: CBS Schedules Fall Premiere Dates". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/FallTV-CBS-premieres-1007227.aspx. Retrieved August 27, 2009. 
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  6. ^ Fixmer, Andy; Rabil, Sarah (May 20, 2009). "CBS Adds 'NCIS' Spinoff, Takes 'Medium' Away From NBC (Update2)". Bloomberg.com. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a4yVariEpalo&refer=muse. Retrieved May 20, 2009. 
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  20. ^ "Exclusive: 'NCIS: LA' star goes AWOL". Entertainment Weekly. January 27, 2010. http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/01/27/exclusive-ncis-la-star-goes-awol/. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
  21. ^ Staff (May 28, 2009). "Recasting hits CBS' 'Three Rivers,' ABC's 'Forgotten'". Hitfix.com. http://www.hitfix.com/articles/2009-5-28-recasting-hits-cbs-three-rivers-abc-s-forgotten. Retrieved May 28, 2009. 
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External links