“NCIS” had to go by a cumbersome, repetitive moniker for the first few seasons in order to keep its identity distinct from another forensic investigator-themed CBS drama.
Who would have guessed that one of the most watched and longest-running CBS series would be a JAG offshoot about investigating naval crimes? Since its September 2003 debut, NCIS has continued to grow and thrive. But over the years, the show has undergone some significant changes, such as a minor rebranding and a number of well-publicized cast departures. NCIS used to go by a slightly different name in order to distinguish itself from another well-liked program on the network.
‘NCIS’ was ‘pitched as ‘Law & Order’ in the Navy’
In the early 2000s, CBS decided to create a spinoff to the show, JAG, a legal drama about the navy’s judge advocates. The initial idea was to follow a format similar to NBC’s Law & Order. The first half of each episode would focus on the investigation of a crime. The second half would cover the legal resolution.
In a recent oral history of the program, JAG director and NCIS executive producer Mark Horowitz stated to The Hollywood Reporter, “The show was originally pitched as Law & Order in the Navy.” “First, there would be a crime, which the NCIS agents (Navy police) would look into. After that, the JAG team would enter and try the case.
The creators of the show experimented with the idea for a while. Ultimately, however, they and the network chose to focus on the first part of the calculation. They eschewed the JAG component in favor of a program that highlighted the officers of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
‘NCIS’ was originally called ‘Navy NCIS’
Calling the show NCIS seemed like a no-brainer, since the show revolved around NCIS operatives. However, there was a small issue. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a procedural with a similar name, was already broadcasting on CBS. (The two series shared more than just their names. An informant told The Hollywood Reporter that Pauley Perrette’s eccentric Abby Sciuoto character was modeled after CSI’s Greg Sanders.)
To prevent confusion – and to avoid stepping on the toes of the people at CSI – the new show got an unwieldy title: Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
“In that first year, understandably so, the CSI folks were not too happy about us bringing out a show called NCIS — a crime show with forensics,” JAG producer and NCIS co-creator Don McGill recalled. “So it was decided that, at least in that first year, to differentiate, it was called Navy NCIS, which is a little bit redundant. But it assuaged the concerns of the folks at CSI.”
With the Navy NCIS name, CBS also hoped to lure in JAG viewers interested in more military-focused stories, creator Don Bellisario told The New York Times in 2005. But he didn’t care for the name.
“I fought that idea all the way,” he said, adding that he “did not want the show to be just a stopgap for CBS. I foresaw CBS saying this is good for now and always looking for something better.”
Fortunately, the awkward name didn’t last long. By season 2, it had been shortened to NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Eventually, the show came to be known solely by the acronym NCIS.