“Starting Over” – NCIS investigates the apparent suicide of a retired Navy officer who was in Palmer and Knight’s grief group. Also, Torres gets a call from NCIS Special Agent Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) to come to Hawai’i when she gets a lead on a witness from a case they worked on together, on the CBS Original series NCIS, Monday, March. 28 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+*. The NCIS episode will be followed by a special episode of NCIS: HAWAI’I at 10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT as part of a crossover event. Joe Spano returns as Tobias Fornell.

Is the entire episode a crossover?
We wouldn’t expect that. The main story could very well be the Navy officer’s case. Since Vanessa Lachey is the only NCIS: Hawaii cast member listed as a guest star here, we’d guess that this episode is going to be more about setting the stage for the Hawaii episode, while also.

What do you most want to see when it comes to NCIS season 19 episode 17?
Where do you think this particular story is going to go? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! After you do just that, remember to come back — there are more updates coming and we don’t want you to miss them.

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Chris O’Donnell was on set at “NCIS: Los Angeles,” checking his emails, when co-star LL Cool J started looking over his shoulder. O’Donnell happened to be reading about a reality TV idea that his buddy Reinout Oerlemans had just pitched.

The concept is what would become “Come Dance With Me,” a new family-oriented dance competition that premieres April 15 on CBS. But at that moment, O’Donnell wasn’t quite sure he was up for working on a competition show.

“[LL] says, ‘What are you looking at?’” O’Donnell recalled. “I told him it was my friend’s idea for a new show. He goes, ‘I think that thing’s hot! You should do it. This is up your alley.’ And then he was like, ‘I’ll do it if you do it!’”

O’Donnell replied to Oerlemans: “So good news, not only will I do it, but my buddy Todd will do it too!”

That’s the quick explainer on how the two stars of “NCIS: LA” wound up partnering with 3 Ball Productions to create “Come Dance With Me,” which follows talented young dancers who partner with an untrained family member to perform together and compete for a prize.

Teams will learn different dance routines, including hip hop, ballroom, contemporary and theatrical, and receive scores from the judges that determine whether they’ll continue. Each episode ends with the two lowest-scoring teams in a freestyle dance-off, with one of those two groups eliminated. Parents partnering with their dance kids include a preschool teacher, a doctor, a social worker, an engineer… and the drummer for Limp Bizkit.

“I liked the idea of families getting together and the music,” LL Cool J said. “This idea of kids getting with the parent, the adult in their life who’s meaningful to them, and going on a show and having their dreams come true — especially with what we’ve been going through over these past couple of years.”

O’Donnell noted that the rise of TikTok dance challenges, especially with families during COVID, is an advantage to next month’s “Come Dance With Me” launch.

“Watching my daughter teach my sons how to do these TikTok dances, things just kind of lined up to where the moment was right for something like this,” he said. “And when you bring in the emotional element of these kids, who are all trained dancers, bringing in someone in their life with a meaningful relationship, who may not be experienced, it’s not just about the dancing. It’s more about the personal journey that these people have been on.”

“Come Dance With Me” adds another layer of a partnership between LL Cool J and O’Donnell that has now spanned 13 years — back to the launch of “NCIS: Los Angeles” in 2009.

“Every day, even though there are directors and people around, he and I always have a separate conversation between the two of us that only the two of us are privy to,” O’Donnell said. “Whether it be about the actual scene we’re working on, or stuff that’s coming down the pike or our careers in general and personal life. I feel like we’ve been in production on our lives for the past 13 years. And this is just another big conversation topic that we’re going through. There’s a shorthand that has evolved over 13 years and a trust, which goes a long way.”

LL Cool J isn’t a stranger to reality competitions, having hosted “Lip Sync Battle.” And O’Donnell is a fan of dancing competitions dating back to 1980s syndicated classic “Dance Fever.”

“I grew up on it,” he said. “It was like, 5:30 on Saturday nights. You’d come home and Deney Terrio would be on.” O’Donnell said he admired how the show’s judges would still find a way to compliment poor dancers before giving them a low score: “They’d say, ‘I wish I had that much confidence when I dance. And I love your costumes.’ And then give them a 58. It was great.”

Grammy-winning songwriter Philip Lawrence hosts “Come Dance with Me,” which features judges including dancer/actor Jenna Dewan, dancer Dexter Mayfield and hip-hop choreographer Tricia Miranda. LL Cool J and O’Donnell will stay behind the scenes for Season 1.

“Honestly, it’s not always about us in front of the camera,” LL Cool J said. “I think it’s cool to just create something and put something out there for people to enjoy. I don’t always have to be in front of the camera for it to be successful or for it to be meaningful to me. So I’m good with a background role in this one.”

It also was a logistical issue: Don’t forget, LL Cool J and O’Donnell still have their “NCIS: LA” day jobs. “We weren’t able to go even if we wanted to be on camera, because of all the quarantines,” O’Donnell said. “If the show continues to go and the audience receives it, maybe you’ll see us at some point. But for right now, we’re excited about what we’ve done. And looking forward to audiences getting to take a peek at it. We all know what a crapshoot these things are. The best intentions, the best product, that doesn’t always mean eyeballs are going to tune in. We both have been around the block long enough to realize that, and when something works, it’s very fortunate. We feel like we’ve put out a good product, we hope people tune in, I think families are going to really enjoy it.”

O’Donnell and LL Cool J are creators and executive producers of “Come Dance with Me,” along with 3 Ball Productions, part of 3BMG, in association with CBS Studios. Oerlemans, Ross Weintraub and Jeff Altrock are EPs for 3 Ball; Jeff Thacker, Nick Florez and RJ Durell also are executive producers.

But just because they’re now reality dancing TV producers doesn’t mean LL Cool J or O’Donnell have any plans to try out their stuff on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“My moves are pretty limited,” said O’Donnell. “I think I peaked in about eighth grade.” Added LL Cool J: “That might not go right for me. That could be a bad look for me, if I don’t have a mic in my hand, and I’m not rapping a song. I don’t know if you want to see me on ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ But you never know, right?”

Variety.com

“What’s going to wear against them is their past,” Olsen tells THR about Kensi and Deeks’ bumpy road ahead.

It’s the best of times and the worst of times for Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) on NCIS: Los Angeles.

In Monday’s crossover episode of the CBS procedural, NCIS’ Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) drops by and needs the team’s help in tracking down a missing suspect before Gibbs (Mark Harmon) gets wise to the situation.

Read more LL Cool J on ‘NCIS: Los Angeles” “Tough” Sam Storyline, Falling for On-Set Pranks

Olsen tells The Hollywood Reporter that Deeks may face a bit of competition from DiNozzo for Kensi’s affections.

“He partners up with Kensi and I, and he’s flirting with her, and she’s flirting with him and then he’s kind of flirting with Deeks,” Olsen says. “Of course, Kensi has a crush on DiNozzo, so it plays out well.”

The episode, which Olsen calls the series’ funniest yet, also involves a questionable sartorial choice from Deeks. “At one point, [DiNozzo] comes to our boathouse, and I’m dressed in the Bruce Lee yellow one-piece Kung-fu outfit,” Olsen says, which can be seen in the image above.

However, the good vibes won’t last long, as a different episode set to air in the near future will involve Deeks getting arrested by internal affairs. The episode will explain the full backstory of the situation, along with featuring key scenes between Deeks’ mom and Kensi.

“This is probably the biggest season so far for Kensi and Deeks because the relationship has really come to a place where it’s solidified between the two of them,” Olsen says. “Now, what’s going to wear against them is their past.”

“There’s tough moments [for Densi], but just like life, when the difficult obstacles are overcome, you have the best moments of that relationship,” he said, promising that the couple will experience some “amazing moments” as well.

NCIS: Los Angeles airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on CBS.

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“In the blink of any eye,” NCIS: Los Angeles showrunner Shane Brennan marvels, the NCIS offshoot has arrived at its seventh season, within which it will mark its 150th episode.

With the Season 7 premiere airing tonight (CBS, 10/9c), TVLine presents our complete Fall Preview Q&A with Brennan, who surveys Callen’s polarizing decision, “serious” matters for Kensi/Deeks, Eric’s brave new world and more.

TVLINE | If I’m Callen there at the close of the season finale, am I believing what Hetty has said about my father?
At this point, what Callen knows is that his mother’s dead and his father’s dead. That’s what he believes. But what the audience knows is… it looks like his dad is having some coffee at the shop there. [Laughs] That chapter in his life, while Callen thinks it may have concluded, the audience knows there’s a little more to come.

The first episode of the season isn’t a straight follow-up — three months have passed and Callen finds himself in a very difficult situation with Hetty and Sam, because he’s not telling them what he’s got himself caught up in. We discover that for the last couple of months, he’s been doing his own little investigation into something. When Hetty and Sam find out, he won’t tell them what it’s about and that creates a lot of tension. In fact, this will be as bad as it’s ever been for Callen and Hetty, and certainly as bad as it’s ever been for Callen and Sam. They’re both frustrated that he’s not telling them what he’s involved in. And for Hetty, who took this young man under her wing and has guided him through his entire adult life, it’s very painful.

TVLINE | Oh, I’m sure that once his motivation is revealed, they’ll all hug it out.
It’s revealed, but it’s not resolved. In the great tradition of this show we plant the seeds of something to come, and it has a fairly major impact halfway through the season, in a pretty large double episode. Look, this is going to be a really fascinating season. We’ve got it all mapped out and we have so much story [that] it is like two normal seasons — and that’s saying something, because this show doesn’t tend to dawdle, it doesn’t tend to go slow. We always have our foot on the accelerator, but this season is jam-packed.

TVLINE | And you have Episode 150 somewhere in there, right? Anything special planned?
It’s a normal episode, and actually a very funny episode. It puts Kensi and Deeks together in an undercover operation, as a kind of protection detail. It’s got some great guests in it, and it’s one of those shows that will be memorable.

Link to full article.

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The NCIS: Los Angeles season 6 finale saw the team assuming undercover identities to head to Moscow. The new season, premiering tonight, finds G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell) going rogue while the team scrambles to locate him. EW chatted with LL Cool J, who plays Sam Hanna, about challenges facing the team this season.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Between presenting at the Emmys last night and the seventh season of NCIS: LA premiering tonight, you’ve had a busy couple of days.
LL COOL J: I’m definitely running on adrenaline. I had a long night last night, as you can imagine. But I feel good. I’m excited about the premiere. I’m excited that we just celebrated our 150th episode. I’m excited about the story line: Chris O’Donnell, his character G. Callen, and my character, Sam Hanna, kind of playing this cat and mouse game because Callen’s decision to go rogue puts Sam in a position where he has to choose between loyalty and following orders and supporting his partner.

What’s that going to do to the dynamic of the team this season?
That remains to be seen. But it definitely derails things for this episode and for some more episodes to follow.

Sam is also facing big challenges that will stretch throughout this upcoming season. How will it affect him?
You know, we find out a lot of different things about Sam and his personal life. We find out his former partners are involved in shady deals. We just find out a lot of things. His integrity is put on the line, [there are] some near death experiences. I mean, it gets crazy.

It has been a lot of fun [to play]. It just feels good to do great character work after six seasons and now into the seventh. The writers are still exited and passionate and connected to the characters and connected to what they’re writing. No one’s phoning it in. We still all have a burning desire to do great work and to dig deep and to give people the excitement that they’ve come to expect from the show, and hopefully this year they’ll continue to watch us and enjoy.

Click to read full interview.

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NCIS: Los Angeles is rebooting itself as a family drama for Season 7. Sort of.

“The very heart of what this show is Callen’s search for his family and this whole identity theme that runs through his particular story,” creator Shane Brennan tells TVGuide.com. “So, thematically, everything we do this season, with all of the characters, at its heart it’s about family. And where we end up at the end of the season is a story that is right at the heart of what a family is and what a family will do together.”

Sounds… cryptic. But what we do know is that, like any family, the NCIS: LA crew will experience plenty of ups and downs this season – and quite a few turning points for individual characters in the process.

“We have a pretty exciting season,” Brennan promises. “We’ve got probably more in this season than we have in any other season, in terms of story arcs and revelations.”

Here are 5 things to look forward to on NCIS: LA this season:

1. Callen becomes a target Much of Season 7’s focus will be on Callen’s (Chris O’Donnell) search for answers regarding his family, after the reveal at the end of Season 6 that his father is actually alive. “Perhaps there’s opportunity to get closure on his life and his background,” Brennan says. “There’s still a chapter there to be written for Callen. And we will continue to write that chapter this season.”

But he’ll also have bigger problems to deal with. The premiere, which picks up three months after the end of Season 6, finds Callen at odds with the entire team after he goes rogue on an assignment and becomes entangled with both the CIA and a group of Russian criminals. Before long, his colleagues are tasked with targeting one of their own. “We’ve never seen Sam or Hetty in this position with Callen before. We’ve had situations where he’s gone off the grid, but there’s some pretty interesting conversations between Callen and Hetty and Callen and Sam about loyalty and being informed about what’s happening,” Brennan says. “It is tied into all of the things that the fans of the show know about Callen – and Hetty and Sam for that matter, too.” The information Callen uncovers that sends him off on his own also sets up a midseason event that will have major repercussions for the show going forward, Brennan teases.

2. Drama for Densi Now several months into their relationship, Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) are still as cute as can be – and take a big step in Episode 2, when Deeks introduces Kensi to his mother (Pamela Reed)! But there’s trouble ahead, Brennan warns, especially when Kensi starts to learn more about Deeks’ past as an undercover officer. “Going a little deeper into the season, hanging over Deeks’ head has been this internal affairs investigation that we talked about last season,” Brennan says. “Before we reach the halfway point, the whole internal affairs issue will be well and truly investigated. It’s going to put pressure on their relationship. The fact that he’s being investigated by internal affairs will cause a fairly dramatic reassessment of his life, of his career and what he wants to do with it. It impacts both his career at NCIS and his relationship with Kensi. When the internal affairs investigation reaches its conclusion and we find out what’s behind it, what it’s all about, it will be a catalyst for at some point Deeks making decisions about his future.” Gulp!

3. Hetty makes a tough call Callen’s actions in the premiere throw Hetty (Linda Hunt) for a serious loop and force her to make some decisions she may come to regret. “The season begins for her with a particularly challenging story line,” Brennan says. “The boy she took under her wing when he was 15, and she has nurtured him and cared for him and guided him through his entire adult life … they reach a point in this episode where he will not tell her what he’s doing, and she’s making demands on him to find out. It really is unsettling for Hetty when she doesn’t know what’s happening, because normally she knows everything and she knows what’s going on. She is at a total loss this episode to understand why Callen is doing what he’s doing, and why he won’t share that.”

4. Sam faces insurmountable odds An episode in the first half of the season has negative ripple effects for Sam (LL Cool J) that will play out through the finale, Brennan hints. “Towards the very end of the season, it becomes probably Sam’s greatest challenge, not only since joining NCIS, but in his whole life,” Brennan says. “He’s faced with the most challenging situation he’s ever encountered.”

5. An NCIS crossover! NCIS’ Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) heads to the West Coast for an October episode that Brennan says is in his Top 5 that the show’s ever done. “It’s not just a cameo. He is in virtually every scene,” Brennan promises. “It’s all about him. It’s hilarious. … It’s such an exciting, fun episode.”

NCIS: LA kicks off Season 7 on Monday at 10/9c on CBS.

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