NCIS: Hawai'i Showrunners Talk Crossovers, The Importance of Representation, & More!
NCIS Hawai'i burst onto the screen last fall and charted a fresh and exciting direction for the franchise.
TV Fanatic got the chance to speak to showrunners Chris Silber and Jan Nash ahead of Season 2 about what's head.
At the beginning of our conversation, I noted that the show is much lighter than some other offerings.
Silber said it was important for the show to have humor and fun, despite some dark cases.
"We want to try to make it fun for everyone," Silber tells TV Fanatic.
Jan and Chris are no strangers to the NCIS universe, having worked on the other shows in the universe.
Silber recalls the origins of NCIS: Hawai'i back to when they planned to introduce a new character to NCIS: New Orleans.
"We sort of randomly thought, 'well, where is this character gonna come from? What's a cool NCIS location they could come from?"
"We both realized that there was an NCIS office in Hawaii. And I think a life bulb went off for both of us there," Silber recalls, adding that they both felt there was the possibility to tell rich stories for this NCIS office in Hawaii.
The series was praised for being the most inclusive entry in the franchise. NCIS Hawai'i features the franchise's first LGBT1 series regular.
Jan says it was important to the creatives that the series reflects "the world we all live in."
"That is true of the other characters in the show as well. Having a character from the LGBTQ community just seemed like a natural thing to do as you're expanding the [NCIS] universe," Jan adds.
"You have to be more representative of the world and the points of view that exist in the world."
Many new shows typically take a handful of episodes for the cast to gel together, but the NCIS Hawai'i cast all seemed like they'd genuinely worked together for years.
Silber says that they had hopes for what the characters would be like, but they didn't know exactly who they were looking for.
The showrunner says the actors who presented themselves for their respective roles were perfect.
"Once we saw their reads, it was as if it was a foregone conclusion that these actors were those characters," Silber tellls TV Fanatic.
Jan says that the actors are such nice people and that they instantly gelled because they are genuinely kind to each other.
"I think it's easier to create that sense of connection and community if you actually are feeling that community," Nash shares.
"They're just really terrific people and I think that's what the audience sees."
NCIS: Hawai'i Season 2 Episode 1 will be part of a crossover with NCIS Season 20 Episode 1.
"We had such a successful first outing with our crossover last season, that the idea of starting again and premiering with a two part crossover with the mothership was a no brainer," Silber shares, adding that the NCIS showrunners had a great storyline planned with Parker.
"That ended on a cliffhanger and we had this great opportunity to help them with that cliffhanger and help them with wrapping up this five-episode arc and bringing that story to a conclusion in Hawaii, and that was great," Silber adds.
He says that the two teams join forces to save Parker and the island of Hawaii.
NCIS: Hawai'i Season 1 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment is out now on DVD.
The six-disc collection features over 45 minutes of bonus content, including featurettes, deleted scenes, extended scenes, and a gag reel.
NCIS: Hawai'i Season 2 premieres September 20.