‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ Gets Mixed Reviews — Some Call It a ‘Hawaii 5-0’ ‘Knockoff,’ While Others Beg to Bring Back ‘NCIS: New Orleans’

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• Many fans are not impressed with ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’
• A ‘really diverse’ cast was important to the series’ creators
• The ratings for the ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ pilot dropped from its lead-in

NCIS: Hawai’i recently made its debut on CBS, and it definitely has fans talking. The pilot introduced Vanessa Lachey’s Jane Tennant and her team amid stunning Hawaiian backdrops like Pearl Harbor. There were familiar parts of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that fans recognized from the flagship series and its spinoffs.

But NCIS: Hawai’i made it very clear that it wasn’t like other shows in the NCIS universe — and many fans were not impressed.

‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ producers want the characters to have ‘full lives’

The newest addition to the NCIS franchise follows Tennant and her team that includes Lucy Tara (Yasmine Al-Bustami), Ernie Malik (Jason Antoon), Jesse Boone (Noah Mills), Kate Whistler (Tori Anderson), and Kai Holman (Alex Tarrant).

The pilot introduced fans to all of these characters and set the scene for the series. But unlike the other NCIS series that have come before it, Hawai’i immediately dove into the personal lives of the agents.

“We want these characters to feel like they have full lives — they have families, they have interests, they struggle with things — and certainly relationships are a part of that,” executive producer Jan Nash told TV Line.

A ‘really diverse’ cast was important to the series’ creators

Whistler is an agent from the Defense Intelligence Agency who at first appeared to have some professional friction with Lucy. But later in the pilot episode, it was revealed that they had a romantic past.

This scene actually made NCIS history, as Lucy is the first LGBT agent to be introduced in a pilot episode. Nash says that from the beginning, it was important to the series’ creators that they had “a really diverse” cast. But they never intended on making any kind of history.

“Our desire was to create a show that had a really diverse — and we meant that in every way — palette of characters. And having these two characters was part of that,” Nash explained.

Many fans are not impressed with ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’

Diversity may have been important. But to some fans, it felt like producers were ticking boxes when casting and writing the series. Many complained that NCIS: Hawai’i had a focus group feel to it. Others accused it of being a Hawaii Five-0 knockoff.

“Wanted to give #NCISHawaii a chance, but it seemed like a 3D printer, paint by numbers knockoff of #H50, banter, local color, a pork (instead of shrimp) truck, beach scenes, no character devo, cliche-ridden. Not hopeful,” one disappointed fan wrote.

Another fan added, “#NCISHawaii – ”Pilot” – Quick Thoughts. It doesn’t feel like an ”NCIS” for me for a few reasons. 1. It tried, and for me, highly failed in making me believe that they’re already an established team. 2. The humour just doesn’t work for me.”

‘Bring back NCIS: New Orleans!’

Some NCIS fans shared that watching the pilot for NCIS: Hawai’i made them miss NCIS: New Orleans. CBS canceled that NCIS spin off earlier this year after seven seasons.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed. It was boring. I missed Steve and Danny! I’m here to support @Noah_live. @HawaiiFive0CBS was so much better! It’s hard to believe this is part of the #NCIS franchise #BringbackNCISNewOrleans!!!” one disappointed fan tweeted.

“So far, not impressed. Bring back NOLA,” a different fan said on Facebook. “A very boring series premiere, so far. They took NOLA away for THIS?¿?!??”

The ratings for the ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ pilot dropped from its lead-in

CBS made a huge primetime schedule change for the fall season when they moved NCIS out of the time slot it’s held since 2003 — Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm (Eastern). They put television’s most-watched drama on Monday nights at 9:00 pm (Eastern) ahead of NCIS: Hawai’i at 10:00 pm (Eastern).

The network is hoping that this change will bring better ratings to their Monday night lineup. And, having NCIS as the lead-in for NCIS: Hawai’i was supposed to bring big ratings for the new series. But, it didn’t quite work out that way.

According to Carter Matt, the NCIS: Hawai’i premiere generated a 0.5 rating and more than 6.3 million viewers. That’s nearly two million viewers less than its lead-in, NCIS. CBS did score the best ratings of the night with the NCIS premiere. But even those ratings were down 20 percent from the season 18 premiere in its old time slot.

NCIS: Hawai’i airs Monday nights on CBS.