NCIS: New York trailer, premiere date and cast: LL Cool J's Sam Hanna gets a Hawaii Five-0 partner
Fourteen seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles. Ten seasons of Hawaii Five-0. CBS finally did the procedural math and fused its two most beloved sunshine cops into one show — then, in a twist, took away the sunshine.
The premise, for those joining late: Sam Hanna, LL Cool J's indestructible ex-SEAL, is leaving the West Coast behind and coming home. NCIS: New York premieres Tuesday, October 6 at 9 p.m. on CBS, wedged snugly between NCIS and NCIS: Origins like the middle layer of a Tuesday-night lasagna.
His new partner is the reason this pairing feels like fan fiction that escaped containment: Scott Caan, who spent a decade being Danno on Hawaii Five-0, plays Nick Schaeffer, a "roguish" agent — TV-speak for "will cause one insurance incident per episode."
The trailer delivers exactly what it should: instant bickering between the two leads, raids, a port-of-New-York mission statement, a team dog Sam refuses to bond with ("allergies," sure, buddy), and Sam telling a worried mother, "I'm not gonna stop until I find out what happened." He will find out what happened. It's in the DNA of the franchise.
Who killed the Frog in NCIS? The body opened season 5 — the name waited until episode 14
The full squad:
- LL COOL J as Sam Hanna, legend, returning New Yorker;
- Scott Caan as Nick Schaeffer, agent of chaos;
- Jennifer Beals as Robyn Wells, the boss;
- Jacqueline Byers as Addy Ross and Shane Harper as Wyatt Sellers, field agents;
- Devin Druid as Sean Sullivan, the tech guy who immediately comments on Sam's size, as one does.
Behind the camera it's NCIS: LA showrunner R. Scott Gemmill with Byron Balasco — and LL Cool J executive-producing his own homecoming.
"A lot of sarcasm, lot of banter, lot of witty repartees, lot of New York."
That's LL Cool J's own summary of the show's flavor, and he's not hiding what this move means for him personally: "I get to go back home. I'm from New York, born and raised." As for the character, he insists the relocation changes the scenery, not the man: "Sam Hanna is Sam Hanna, but the thing that's different is the context."
Two franchise icons, one city that will absolutely not let them park the Challenger anywhere. October 6. Bring the whole precinct.
Previously we wrote: What year is NCIS: Origins set in? Early enough that the agency isn't even called NCIS yet
