Casting Update on “NCIS” Prequel Series

“What’re you lookin’ at, probie?!” — Special Agent Mike Franks, “NCIS”

It was just this past February that I wrote (in one-third of a newsy post) about an in development, CBS prequel series in the “NCIS” franchise: “NCIS: Origins”. Since then, a few casting announcements have come out, so I wanted to get caught up on them. I considered waiting until they cast a young Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, but then I discovered that he didn’t join NIS/NCIS until Dec. 1992. Since the new show will be set in the 1991/1992 timeframe to begin, Ducky may not appear in the beginning or at all in Season 1.

So…

Stowell

Austin Stowell (Whiplash, Bridge of Spies) will take the lead as new NIS agent — the agency doesn’t become ‘NCIS’ until 1993 — ‘Leroy Jethro Gibbs’, Gunnery Sergeant (USMC), assigned to a new team based out of Camp Pendleton. Stowell is pushing 40, as was Gibbs at this point in his career. As far as I can tell, Stowell seems like a pretty good choice. Btw, he already has experience with the franchise, having played a Marine corporal in the second season of “NCIS: Los Angeles” (2010).
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Molino

Mariel Molino (The Shade, “The Watchful Eye”) will play a new character, ‘Special Agent Lala Dominguez’. She is “a former Marine who navigates her 1990s male-dominated field with a steely resolve and a dark sense of humor. When a tormented Leroy Jethro Gibbs joins her team, the ensuing story between these two enigmatic outsiders is filled with sparks and turns that will keep the audience guessing.” (Note: The series begins after Gibbs’ first wife and their daughter were murdered, which longtime viewers of the original show are familiar with.)
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Schmid

Kyle Schmid (“Six”, “Being Human”) has signed on to play NIS team leader (and mentor to Gibbs) ‘Special Agent Mike Franks’, a recurring character played by Muse Watson in “NCIS”. Franks is a proud Texan, thick-skinned, and “a born leader with an unwavering moral compass who’s determined to find justice by any means necessary.” I can see Schmid as a younger version of Watson, and early 40s is the right age. Schmid has played tough characters, even Navy characters, before, and I expect this will turn out to be a good piece of casting.
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Most recently, casting for a couple more new characters were announced. Diany Rodriguez (“The Blacklist”, “Twisted Metal”) once played ‘DHS Agent Garcia’ in an episode of “NCIS: New Orleans” a few years back. Now, she will have the role of “‘Special Agent Vera Strickland’, a no-nonsense, sharp-witted Brooklynite who’s tough as nails and never minces words. She’s spent her entire career being underestimated by misogynistic morons (as she calls them), but if it’s a fight those good ol’ boys are looking for, then it’s a fight they’re going to get.”

Abercrumbie & Rodriguez

Tyla Abercrumbie (“The Chi”, “Low Winter Sun”) will be ‘Field Operation Support Officer Mary Jo’. In a nod to government acronym-mania, she calls herself the “HSIC” (Head Secretary in Charge). She is the lifeblood of the Camp Pendleton office, and she knows “where the bodies are buried.” Sounds like a fun character!

As long as the writers don’t overdo the womyn-fighting-for-respect-amongst-a-bunch-of-sexist-jerks angle, I think I may enjoy this show, which is scheduled for the 2024-2025 season. First, though, I really need to check out the last two NCIS spinoffs…

Retreads, part 1: Recent TV Reboots

You probably noticed this, too, but…

Several years ago, Hollywood began pumping out films that were essentially remakes of old TV shows. There may have been a few in prior years, e.g., Dragnet (1987), based on the iconic detective series from the 1950s-60s, though it was technically a “next generation” sequel with different characters in a later time period. But, as the millennium began to approach, they started churning out reboots, which have included:

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Lost in Space (1998)

Charlie’s Angels (2001) and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)

S.W.A.T. (2003)

Starsky & Hutch (2004)

The Dukes of Hazard (2005)

Miami Vice (2006)

The A-Team (2010)

The Equalizer (2014) and The Equalizer 2 (2018)

Baywatch (2017)

CHIPS (2017)

Charlie’s Angels (2019) (yes, another attempted reboot)

Spenser Confidential (2020)

It bugged me that a few of them (e.g., Dragnet, Starsky & Hutch, and CHIPS) had much more emphasis on “humor” than the originals. Not being a fan of much of what passes for humor in Hollywood these days, and also not wanting to see good shows “cheapened” for laughs, I didn’t bother to watch them. I did, however, watch the first two Charlie’s Angels, S.W.A.T., Miami Vice, and The A-Team, all of which were good, but not great. I also watched and quite enjoyed the Equalizer films with Denzel Washington, despite the differences from the original TV series. I might eventually give Spenser a shot, but the rest just don’t appeal. I note, however, that the ones that did appeal to me also ended up being the ones that were more highly rated by general audiences.

It also occurs to me that most of the original shows in question came from the 1970s and 1980s. (The exceptions are “Lost in Space”, the original series having aired 1965-1968, and “Baywatch”, which started in 1989 but is usually considered a ’90s show.)

As if that weren’t enough, let’s take a look at the spate of reboots/remakes that have seen new life — some much longer than others — as new TV series in the past 20 years. In this case, the source material has a wider date range (“Dragnet” (1951-1959) / “Dragnet 1967” (1967-1970) to “The 4400” (2004-2007)). The new versions are/were:

“Dragnet” (2003-2004)

“Battlestar Galactica” (mini-series 2003; reg. series 2004-2009)

“Bionic Woman” (2007)

“Hawaii Five-O” (2010-2020)

“Charlie’s Angels” (2011)

“Ironside” (2013)

“MacGyver” (2016-2021)

“S.W.A.T.” (2017-)

Cagney and Lacey (2018; TV movie pilot only)

“Magnum P.I.” (2018-)

“Charmed” (2018-)

“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” (2018-2020)

“Lost in Space” (2018-2021)

“Perry Mason” (2020-)

“Walker” (2021-)

“The Equalizer” (2021-)

“4400” (2021-)

“Bel-Air” (2022-)

There have also been TV series based on popular films….

“Rush Hour” (2016)

“Lethal Weapon” (2016-2019)

“Westworld” (2016-)

“Training Day” (2017)

“Taken” (2017-2018)

Several of these reboots didn’t get very far, lasting only a few episodes (if that). Others have obviously been much more popular, which can be chalked up to 1) the appeal of the premise, which may or may not have been reworked for the reboot; 2) the cast; 3) the stories and direction; 4) the F/X and other production elements. I have watched the “Battlestar Galactica”, “Hawaii Five-O”, “S.W.A.T.”, and “Lost in Space” reboot series and enjoyed them all. These shows all had/have great casts and excel(led) in the other areas, as well.

I can’t say much about the rest of the series above. I have read or heard at least a little about most of them, and a few do appeal to me. So, at some point, I hope to find time in my viewing schedule to try “Dragnet”, “MacGyver”, “Magnum P.I.” (for my Hawaii fix, since I recently finished season 10 of “Hawaii Five-O”), maybe “The Equalizer” or “Taken”. While I never watched the old “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” sitcom, I am intrigued with the recent re-imagining of it into an hour-long drama, so that’s another possibility.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to make of this 20+ year “surge” of remakes/reboots. On the one hand, there were a lot of good shows, especially from the 1970s-1980s, so I can see the appeal of resurrecting one, especially if the studio or associated production company already owns the IP rights to it. And, as I have said in some of my fan-casting posts, there are a few properties I wouldn’t mind seeing get resurrected. On the other hand, in most cases I would rather see more effort put into making original films and TV series with original characters and premises. We know it can be done (e.g., John Wick, Tenet, Avatar, “The Blacklist”, “Ozark”, “Stranger Things”). Also, we need more good adaptations of books and comic series (e.g., “Justified”, “The Walking Dead”, “Invincible”).

P.S. If you come up with any that I forgot, feel free to mention them in the comments below. Thx!