In case you haven’t heard, CBS is working on another NCIS spinoff, this one set in New Orleans. Now we can reveal the pilot has found its star: Scott Bakula.
The Golden Globe-winning Quantum Leap actor will play NCIS Special Agent Pride, a man who “embodies New Orleans.” The role description states Pride is driven — not by pride — but by the “need to do what’s right and does it all with warmth, passion, strength and humor. He’s a unique federal agent working in one of this country’s most unique cities.”
More details from CBS on the pilot: “The NCIS New Orleans office handles cases from Pensacola through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle. New Orleans with its rich setting of music, fun and debauchery is a magnet for military personnel on-leave. And with fun comes trouble. It is a natural backdrop for a unique character driven spin-off.” The spinoff pilot will air as part of a two-part NCIS episode this spring.
Bakula is currently appearing in HBO’s dramedy Looking and was nominated for an Emmy for his work in HBO’s Liberace biopic Behind The Candlelabra. His previous series regular role was on TNT’s Men of A Certain Age.
CBS previously attempted to expand the popular NCIS and NCIS: LA franchise last season with the creation of NCIS: Red. Like New Orleans, the other pilot aired as an implanted episode in the spring, except CBS ultimately decided not to green light the show to series.