Fall TV Preview: ‘NCIS’ Season 11 Premiere: Burning Questions Answered . . . . .. . . . There’s a whole lot of shake up going on “NCIS” when CBS’ No. 1 drama returns for its 11th season, what with the departure of Cote de Pablo, who plays Ziva, after the first two episodes, and figuring out how to reinstate Tony (Michael Weatherly) and McGee (Sean Murray), who resigned in the finale in an attempt to save Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) career. “We are going to come out swinging and give everyone the best television we can, and hope that everyone enjoys what they see,” executive producer/showrunner Gary Glasberg told xfinityTV in an exclusive interview. “Part of what I want to continue and deliver to our fans is helping them deal with the shakeup of just feeling and remembering why we watch ‘NCIS.’” Truth be told, Glasberg gave us the inside scoop on what is happening storywise up until the holidays, who will replace Ziva, and what guest stars will be dropping by — some familiar faces and some new ones. So check out his answers to the burning questions of what lies ahead for Gibbs and company: You earlier confirmed that Ziva would not die as part of her exit. What else can you reveal about her departure? I can tell you that what was originally a one-part season opener for us, became two parts. That Ziva’s story, along with everything we are dealing with with Gibbs, starts in the first one and continues all the way through to the second one. There are some really lovely fantastic moments between Tony and Ziva that I hope pay off for all the Tiva fans and provide the closure that they are looking for. They’re funny and heart-wrenching and give us a little bit of what people have been waiting for between them. I am going to tell people to watch. They should watch and see where we go with it and, hopefully, they will be satisfied with what they get. With Ziva having been the love interest that fans want to see Tony with, is there some point in this season that he will be able to have a new woman in his life? Or is it too soon? That is a big gaping hole that is going to be left. I think we have to give Tony time to figure out what he wants from life, let him heal, let him move on and let change happen. Then we will see what Tony wants next. That is something that Michael is very involved with. There is a lot of talk and communication going on. It is actually an interesting process for us to think what the next step is for the character and how we are going to move forward Is the door being left open for Cote so there a chance in the future that she could return to the show — either as a guest star or rejoin the team? I am not going to say the door is closed. We have lots of things planned for the future, lots of things planned for this season. So we will have to see where everyone is. I don’t know where the show will be. I don’t know where our cast will be. I don’t know where Cote will be. This is a huge shift for us, a big change. It has taken a tremendous amount of work and emotion to get to the place where we are moving on. We are going to see what comes as these episodes unfold. How will you go about finding her replacement? Will there be a lot of people in and out, or will you find someone right away? Are you looking for a fresh face, or an actress we might recognize, or a character we have met before? We are going to have fun for some episodes and let some guests come in and fill that space. I don’t necessarily mean literally the space in the squad room, but have some fun with the dynamic of the team and, in Ziva’s absence, who can help us out? We have a terrific role coming up right away with an agent who is on the verge of retirement, a woman who comes in and helps us out, named Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia). That was a blast. We had a lot of fun with that episode. We’ve got agent Abigail Borin (Diane Neal) from the Coast Guard coming back in. It is certainly with the idea floated out there: Could she be the one? We are going to play with this idea of a rotation of characters coming through. We want to remind people that after going through this very difficult period at the beginning of the season, there is still fun and lightness and some smiles to be had with the dynamic of this group. Hopefully, when people least expect it, someone will walk through the door and surprise us.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:52:06 +0000
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