Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo probably thought their “NCIS” spin off would be a hit.
But “Tony and Ziva,” airing on Paramount Plus, was canceled after one season.
So what to do? Well, Weatherly is returning to the home ship of “NCIS” as Tony. Cote de Pablo? So far, Ziva — and their TV child — are absent.
What happened?
It’s possible CBS owed Weatherly a season of his show. In that case it was either pay or play.
Or maybe the network wanted to goose the ratings for “NCIS” for its 24th season. But it doesn’t seem like it since “NCIS” finished the season slightly higher than last, and 10% lower in the key demo. It averages around 5.3 million viewers a week, which isn’t bad for a show that debuted the year Teddy Roosevelt was elected.
Either way, Tony DiNozzo is back fighting crime.
It may be a little weird for Weatherly. Except for Sean Maguire, all the original cast he worked with are gone including Mark Harmon. He’ll have all new people with whom to establish rapports.
But it’s better than being out of work.
After”NCIS,” Weatherly got his own show, “Bull.” But then he had HR problems with actress Eliza Dushku. CBS wound up paying her $9.5 million in a settlement that covered Weatherly’s alleged sexual malfeasance. According to documents from the official mediation, Weatherly was recorded on video making comments about spanking Dushku over his knee, soliciting a threesome, alluding to sexual assault in his “rape van,” and other harassing statements.
Well, despite that Weatherly has been fully restored to his career. Dushku hasn’t worked since then.
It’s a little
