Why it’s perfect timing for an NCIS three-part crossover

While we have three NCIS shows on the air at present, one of the biggest surprises remains the lack of real interaction between all of them. We’ve gotten some quality crossovers as of late between NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans; yet, there hasn’t been much of anything in ages when it comes to NCIS: Los Angeles. The most-prominent crossover in recent memory was when Michael Weatherly turned up over on that show as DiNozzo, and that is at least a couple of years old now.

So why isn’t CBS aiming more for an NCIS three-part crossover? The obvious justification you can come up with starts with just production challenges — while NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles film fairly close to each other, NCIS: New Orleans films in the Big Easy. It’s not easily to bring all of these characters together, especially in terms of working things out with the schedule. That is why when you tend to get a crossover between these shows, it typically only involves just a small handful of characters as opposed to full casts. Crossovers are tricky because you want to make sure that you keep the soul of the original show intact, while still adding something fun and exciting to the mix.

We know that there may be syndication concerns that also keep them from happening, given that repeats may be a little bit confusing for some other there. For example, if a network has NCIS syndication rights but not the other shows, they could only air one part of the crossover. That’s pretty tricky.

Ultimately, though, it does feel like now is the right time to make a big move like this and turn it into a three-hour Tuesday night event.

The scheduling makes some sense

Based on the amount of episodes that NCIS: Los Angeles has left in the season proportional to how many weeks are left with the show’s March 11 return, there are one or two things that will need to happen — either the CBS show makes fewer episodes this season than the standard 24, or they find a way to either double-up on a week or two or give us something special during the week. Making a three-part crossover, with NCIS: Los Angeles airing in the place of Bull for a week, makes a great deal of sense.

So do the ratings implications

Given that this is something that CBS has never really done with all three shows, don’t you think that there would be a lot of buzz and promotion around it? That feels like a given and a great way to reinvigorate all of the show’s fans.

The Pauley Perrette of it all

If there was a great way to honor the actress behind Abby before her exit, it seems to be finding a way for her to play her character across all three shows so she gets to really interact with everyone before she leaves. Sure, she’s already had scenes with many of these characters over time, but it’s really been a while since the character has been in the spotlight.

Do you think that now is the right time for an NCIS three-part crossover event? Share now in the comments and be sure to also like CarterMatt on Facebook for some more insight regarding the series. (Photo: CBS.)