NCIS showrunner teases the possibility of an NCIS crossover with Tiva

Could NCIS and NCIS: Tony & Ziva cross over? That's certainly a possibility according to co-showrunner Steven D. Binder.

"Extreme Prejudice" -- Harper Dearing’s latest act of terrorism ripped through NCIS headquarters in last season’s cliffhanger finale, sparking a cross-agency manhunt for the criminal mastermind on the 10th season premiere of NCIS, Tuesday, Sept. 25 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured left to right: Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS 
©2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"Extreme Prejudice" -- Harper Dearing’s latest act of terrorism ripped through NCIS headquarters in last season’s cliffhanger finale, sparking a cross-agency manhunt for the criminal mastermind on the 10th season premiere of NCIS, Tuesday, Sept. 25 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured left to right: Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

When you get a new show in a familiar franchise, there are always questions about crossovers. So, it only seems natural that NCIS: Tony & Ziva fans want to know if there will be a crossover with the flagship series.

NCIS: Tony & Ziva is going to be set around Europe. Filming will happen in Budapest this summer, but that doesn’t mean the series has to stay in this one location. What we will likely see, though, is the two remaining on this particular continent, which could make a crossover with NCIS tricky.

It’s not impossible, though. We may want to get ready for at least one crossover.

Steven D. Binder is open to a crossover between the two NCIS shows

According to TVLine, we may want to get ready for an event in NCIS Season 22 to lead into the spin-off series. It would make sense as these types of backdoor pilots have been used to tee up other spin-offs. In fact, the only show not to land a backdoor pilot in the franchise was NCIS: Hawaii—and that pilot episode stood out on its own in a great way!

It would make sense for Tony and Ziva to appear in some way in the flagship series. After all, they both originally came from that series. Michael Weatherly’s DiNozzo was in the JAG backdoor pilot that set up the series, while Cote de Pablo’s Ziva turned up in the third season and quickly became a fan-favorite.

It’s all about whether there will be a storyline and whether there will be time. It probably won’t take much convincing for Weatherly to come back to the show. He already turned up at the end of the tribute episode for Ducky. Binder is optimistic that Weatherly is up for another return. Binder would love to do it, and now it’s up to someone to pitch the story to him so he can make it work.

"Let’s put it this way: I would love to do that, and I have a feeling Michael [Weatherly] would be up for anything like that. I’m open to any ideas anybody has. They are totally welcome to throw them at me."