If there’s one thing NCIS fans can unite on, Tony and Ziva’s love story felt like it left more to be desired. It is something fans have been asking for a while now and Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly have had their share of questions throughout the years. Fans have always been curious about what was happening in Tiva’s life post-NCIS, and these questions are the reasons the newly announced Tiva spinoff will see the light of day. In an interview with Deadline, CBS Entertainment President Amy Resinbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf talked about how fan love has been the driving force behind the spinoff and shared updates about the show’s progress.
Stapf said that Weatherly and de Pablo had been unable to leave their characters behind, and they’d been talking about a spinoff for years. They discussed the idea with John McNamara, who wrote the pilot episode and serves as the executive producer on the show. When they presented the idea to CBS, the network was excited to explore it. But all that started with the fans, as Stapf said below.
“They had started talking about it before, somewhere after they had both left NCIS . Put yourself in their [Weatherly and de Pablo] shoes. They’re constantly getting hit up by fans as to, oh my god, I miss you. When are you going to be back together, what happened to your child and all that stuff. And so, again, I keep saying it but there was an organic reason for this show to exist, it was almost like a fan demand for it.”
This is in tandem with what Weatherly and de Pablo had said before when the series was announced.
“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” they said. “The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter. We also want to acknowledge and thank the fans from around the world who supported the ‘TIVA’ movement for years. To this day, they say hello in grocery stores and on the street to tell us how much these characters mean to them and ask what Tony and Ziva are up to now. This is for you!”
The Tiva Spinoff Is Progressing Well
Resinbach and Stapf revealed that the spinoff was yet to get an official title, but they said the writers’ room had just begun. Filming is expected to begin sometime this year in Europe as Tony and Ziva try to protect their family after Tony’s security company is attacked.
The show will premiere on Paramount+ but no date has been set yet.
