‘NCIS’ season 11: New Orleans spin-off in the works from Mark Harmon, Gary Glasberg

You can’t keep a good franchise down. Even though “NCIS: Red,” the potential spin-off series that aired a backdoor pilot during the Los Angeles series this past season, never saw the light of day, CBS Studios is now looking to try and take the show to a different city that has become a bit of a hot setting as of late for various storylines: New Orleans.

According to Deadline, current “NCIS” showrunner Gary Glasberg and star Mark Harmon are set to executive-producer a potential project together that is set around the NCIS New Orleans office, which handles cases stretching from the Texas panhandle all the way out to parts of Florida. The reason for this setting is due in part to a military population in the south, and also the nature of the setting as a common party town. Let’s face it: Even if you are not in the Navy, there are some pretty terrible things that go down on Bourbon Street.

As for whether or not the viewing public would embrace another “NCIS” show, we don’t know. Our biggest concern is simply that it may be a little late in the game to try something like this. The “NCIS” audience is aging, and this is not the sort of program that is going to draw a ton of new, young viewers unless you cast it right.

On a random note, has anyone ever taken note of how under-represented some of these cold-weather cities are right now? You’re not seeing an “NCIS: Minnesota” show out there, are you? There’s certainly a good reason for that, but in between “The Originals,” the next “Top Chef,” and “American Horror Story: Coven,” we are starting to wonder if the Big Easy is going to be played out.

What do you think about this idea? Of course, be sure to share your thoughts below! Meanwhile, click here if you want to watch a sneak peek for the “NCIS” premiere airing Tuesday night.

Photo: CBS