NCIS: Hawai’i Series 01 Overview (2021-2022)

Introduction

NCIS: Hawaiʻi is an American action crime drama and police procedural television series that debuted on CBS on 20 September 2021.

It is a spin-off of the long-running series NCIS and the fourth series in the NCIS franchise. The series was created by Christopher Silber, Jan Nash, and Matt Bosack who are also serving as writers and executive producers alongside Larry Teng who directed the pilot.

Vanessa Lachey, Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Tori Anderson and Kian Talan were cast in starring roles.

Outline

The series follows a fictional team of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents who work out of the Pearl Harbor Field Office which is led by Special Agent Jane Tennant. The team Investigates crimes related to the military and national security.

Cast

Main:
- Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant: The first female Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS: Pearl.
- Alex Tarrant as Kai Holman: A new NCIS agent on the team who recently returned home to care for his father.
- Noah Mills as Jesse Boone: Tennant’s confidant and second-in-command, Boone is a former homicide detective in Washington, DC, who knows the islands’ hiking trails well.
- Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara: The junior field agent of NCIS: Pearl.
- Jason Antoon as Ernie Malik: NCIS: Pearl cyber intelligence specialist.
- Tori Anderson as Kate Whistler: a Special Agent from the Defence Intelligence Agency.
- Kian Talan as Alex Tennant: Jane’s eldest child.
Recurring
- Enver Gjokaj as Joe Milius: a high-ranking Navy Captain and Deputy Chief-of-Staff to Commander, Pacific Fleet.
- Mahina Napoleon as Julie Tennant: Jane’s youngest child.

Production

Development

On 16 February 2021, anonymous sources told The Hollywood Reporter that deals were being finalized on a potential fourth series in the NCIS franchise, titled NCIS: Hawaii, as it neared a straight-to-series order from CBS. They also said that series would be created and executive-produced by Christopher Silber, Jan Nash, and Matt Bosack, with Silber and Nash also serving as co-showrunners. Unlike the other series in the franchise, it is not planned to start with a backdoor pilot within another series. The series location would also create potential crossover opportunities with CBS’s other Hawaii-based drama, Magnum P.I. NCIS: Los Angeles previously crossed over with Magnum P.I.’s now concluded sister series, Hawaii Five-0, in 2012. The sources also said that the producers had already started looking for a director for a pilot and were working on hiring writers.

In early April 2021, it was reported that the series was expected to be picked up for the 2021-2022 television season. On 23 April 2021, CBS officially ordered NCIS: Hawaii to series. Larry Teng was also announced to be executive producing the pilot episode. Bosack, Nash, and Silber wrote the pilot episode for the series. The series name was also officially changed to NCIS: Hawaiʻi, adding an ʻokina in an effort to reflect the official spelling used in the Hawaiian language.

Casting

On 07 April 2021, it was reported that CBS was looking to cast a female lead for the NCIS: Hawaii making it the first series in the franchise to do so. The character for the female lead was tentatively named Jane Tennant and casting for the role as well as other principal characters began around the same time. On 30 April 2021, it was announced that Vanessa Lachey was the first to be cast as a series regular in the role of Jane Tennant. Meanwhile, Yasmine Al-Bustami and Jason Antoon were also cast as series regulars to portray Lucy and Ernie, respectively. It was later announced that Noah Mills had joined the cast as Jesse. Tori Anderson and Kian Talan were cast as series regulars in the roles of Kate Whistler and Alex. On 08 July 2021, Alex Tarrant joined the main cast as Kai and Enver Gjokaj was announced to be recurring as Joe Milius.

Filming

The series is planned to use the production facilities built for Hawaii Five-0, which concluded in 2020. For the pilot episode, Larry Teng served as the director while and Yasu Tanida provided cinematography work. Filming for the series began at an undisclosed location on the North Shore of Oahu with a traditional Hawaiian blessing on 16 June 2021. Two days later on 18 June, filming took place at Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam. Both the first and second episodes had concluded filming by 22 July.

Release

CBS announced its fall broadcast schedule on 19 May 2021, for the 2021-2022 television season, with the new series on Mondays at 10:00 pm ET, immediately following parent series NCIS. The first teaser trailer was released on the same date featuring Lachey speaking about the premise and her role on the series. On 12 July 2021, CBS announced a series premiere date of 20 September 2021. TVLine released exclusive first look promotional photos from the series three days later on 15 July. A second teaser trailer was released in August 2021, featuring a joint promo with NCIS.