NCIS has finally dropped the first episode of its long-awaited global spin-off NCIS: Sydney…although it's only out in Australia, debuting in its native country on November 10.
Americans and other international viewers will have to wait a couple more days for the show to make its way to Paramount+ Global, eventually airing in the United States as well on November 14.
In the meantime, the new series dropped a promo clip for its upcoming pilot episode on the NCISverse official Instagram page, but fans were a bit divided.
The video features interactions and early action sequences involving several of its key cast members but, to drive home the "Down Under" setting, the entire clip was presented upside down.
The caption accompanying the clip read: "One team, one dream – all the way down under. #NCISSydney premieres in TWO DAYS on CBS and Paramount+."
A few were enthusiastic about the release, leaving several flame emojis in the comments section of the post, but others weren't as excited.
Some of the comments read: "Funny, but not funny. It's a cheesy stereotypical ploy to gather eyeballs. I'll watch it...but not because of this promo," and: "I think they missed out with a bunch of little jokes by not having an American. But if it is the Australian Navy then it doesn't matter. I'm ready to watch anyway," as well as: "Posting it upside down? Really??!"
Olivia Swann as NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey and Todd Lasance lead as Sergeant Jim 'JD' Dempsey will lead the cast of the Sydney spin-off, the fourth in the NCIS franchise (after Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawai'i).
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Joining them are Sean Sagar as NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, Tuuli Narkle as AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper, William McInnes as AFP Forensic Pathologist Dr Roy Penrose, and Mavournee as AFP Forensic Scientist Bluebird 'Blue' Gleeson.
Showrunner Morgan O'Neill recently spoke with TV Insider about the new show, and got candid about borrowing influences from the long-running main series as well as the implications of bringing a tried-and-tested format to international waters.
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"Being the first international version of a global franchise comes with all sorts of challenges, one of which is how you integrate it into the new country," he explained.
"NCIS exists in Australia, but when it exists in Australia, it does so under Australian law, so there has to be a kind of jurisdictional power-sharing that goes on.
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"So in that sense, you've got, I think, in the history of the NCIS franchise, the first blended family where you've got these two agencies coming together, these two very different cultures coming together, and they've got to make it work.
"From that perspective, there's a huge amount of story and a huge amount of fun to be had because it really is the coming together of two very different worlds."
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