Published Sep 10, 2026, 8:01 PM EDT
My career in journalism got kicked off after eight years as an active duty Naval Aviator, starting with covering college sports for Inside Lacrosse and SB Nation. After joining the staff at USA Today’s For The Win, I started dabbling in pop culture coverage and fell in love with it. I’m happy to talk movies and television any time, and I’m usually listening to music (or an audiobook) in my free time.
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LL Cool J is back, and the NCIS Universe is expanding again.
The new spin-off series NCIS: New York is premiering on CBS on Tuesday, October 6, with the NCIS: Los Angeles star reprising his role as Special Agent Sam Hanna. This time around, Special Agent Hanna returns to his home city to try to figure out what happened to his friend Jack Halloway, a Navy reservist who died under suspicious circumstances.
Hanna teams up with fellow NCIS agent Nick Schaeffer (Scott Caan), working under Assistant Special Agent-In-Charge Robyn Wells (Jennifer Beals). NCIS: New York also brings on Jacqueline Byers, Shane Harper, and Devin Druid to round out the rest of the recurring cast.
LL Cool J serves as an Executive Producer for the series, working alongside showrunner Byron Balasco. NCIS: New York brings The Pitt’s Scott Gemmill back into the mix as he helped Balasco develop the new spin-off. Gemmill previously worked as a showrunner and executive producer on NCIS: Los Angeles.
“New York is totally different; it’s a lot grittier, it’s more character-driven. New York is the main character and the star. Sam hasn’t been in New York in many, many years. So he has to get re-acclimated to that,” LL Cool J said of the new series in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “Plus, he’s a man looking for redemption in many ways because of different things that he’s been through over the course of his career in law enforcement. It’s pretty special and a great contribution to the NCIS Universe in general.”
NCIS: New York is the eighth in the NCIS Universe, and it will be the fifth active series in the franchise. The original series, NCIS, debuted in 2003 with Mark Harmon as the lead actor. It’s still on, wrapping up its 23rd season earlier this year. NCIS: Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawaii have wrapped up, but Sydney, Origins, and Tony & Ziva are still active.
That means there are a lot of opportunities for crossover episodes, and it’s something that LL Cool J is looking forward to. “There might be,” the former rapper said when asked about the potential. “I’ll put it to you like this: I welcome crossovers. I think crossovers are great, and they’re fun.”
That blanket welcome to a crossover does include former Los Angeles co-stars Chris O’Donnell and Eric Christian-Olson. ”
All things are possible. We’re still in the** **beginning of our journey here,” Balasco told Deadline.
The star power in the NCIS Universe is strong, with options existing for O’Donnell, Christian-Olson, Gary Cole (NCIS), Wilmer Valderrama (NCIS), Scott Bakula (New Orleans), Cote de Pablo (Tony & Ziva), Michael Weatherly (Tony & Ziva), and more.
NCIS also returns to CBS on October 6, with its 24th season premiering at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the season three premiere of NCIS: Origins. NCIS: New York rounds out the investigative triple-header at 10 p.m. ET.
Eagle Egilsson, Adam Davidson