Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on NCIS, Fire Country, The Rookie, The Way Home, The Ones Who Live and More!
Which NCIS vet will be caught up in a family feud? What’s “new” on Fire Country? Is the latest Walking Dead spinoff the ultimate love story? Read on for answers to those questions and many more! (You can and should email brand-new Qs to InsideLine@tvline.com.)
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What’s coming up for McGee on NCIS? –Natalie
What’s coming up is a shaking of his family tree. “All of our characters on NCIS know that family is more important than anything,” co-showrunners Steven D. Binder and David North tell TVLine. “But after McGee takes a genealogy DNA test, he’s shocked to find out he has more family than he realized.”
I’ll take any NCIS scoop you can give me, but I’m especially interested in what plans they have for Jimmy and Jess! –MC
Akin to McGee dealing with the above, “Knight has her own special family drama to deal with when her father shows up during a case and has some ideas what his daughter should be doing with her life,” Binder and North shared with me. “And, of course, there’s poor Jimmy Palmer, stuck exactly where nobody would ever want to be: aka in the middle of a Knight family feud.” Bonus scoop! I can in turn exclusively report that Russell Wong (Westworld, The Oath) will play Jess’ dad in that storyline. Bonus bonus scoop: Oh, I almost forgot to tease that #KnightInShiningPalmer dabble in a tiny bit of (ahem) “role play” in the season premiere.
Any final teases for the La Brea series finale? –Jay
During our pre-season interview, Nicholas Gonzales (who plays played Levi) told me, “There’s gonna be a bit of sadness [for fans], saying goodbye to this world and these characters we’ve spent the past three years creating. But I also feel like there will be a lot of satisfaction. We don’t hold back on the excitement — literally, so much happens — and some meaningful arcs come around in very satisfying ways. Very satisfied, the audience will be, in Yoda-speak.”
Can I get some scoop on Fire Country? –Casey
1) When the EPs told TVLine in the video above that “everybody’s in a new place” when Season 2 picks up, six months later, man, they were not kidding. 2) The very final seconds of the Season 2 premiere airing Friday, Feb. 16 very well may have you shouting expletives at your TV.
Are we going to see more of Michael Trucco on Fire Country this season? –The Panda Bear
Very much so, given the “new place” that Luke Leone finds himself in when Season 2 opens. Bonus scoop: Andrea Brooks (Supergirl, When Calls the Heart) guest-stars in the season opener.
Any scoop on Nichelle’s parents (played by Monnae Michaell and Damien Leake) for the final season of S.W.A.T.? –Adriana
I brought your Q to showrunner Andrew Dettman, and he said, “We’re not all the way through [writing] the season, and we haven’t seem them so far. But if this is our goodbye, we are trying to find ways to bring everybody back through again and see the characters that have been so important over seven seasons.”
Any scoop on The Way Home? –Vera
Kat and Elliot’s troubled looks while at the Lingermore estate, and the mystery of what unfolded there, will lead to “some unexpected revelations,” Evan Williams, who plays Elliot, tells TVLine. “At one point, a character says, ‘Everything you thought you knew about these people is wrong,’ and I think that pretty much sums it up.”
Do we know yet of the full Leverage: Redemption team is coming back for Season 3? –Dee
Yes, Noah Wyle and Aleyse Shannon are now both signed, sealed and confirmed to reprise their roles as Harry and Breanna, as the caper dramedy moves to Prime Video proper.
I’m 15 years behind the times, but just finished binging Everybody Hates Chris. Is the animated reboot still in development? It’s been almost three years since TVLine first reported it was in the works. — Geoff
I am assured that the animated reboot, which was officially ordered to series in August 2022 (and with Chris Rock returning as narrator), is still in the pipeline at Paramount+/Comedy Central.
I just need more about The Rookie! Any additional scoop ahead of Season 6? –Emily
There is a “SIX WEEKS LATER” time jump that comes at a pretty unexpected moment. Also, though groom-to-be Nolan pooh-poohs the idea of “The Curse of the Last Shift,” toward the end of the finale he has good reason to be a believer!
Anything on Chenford from The Rookie? –Ashley
In the Season 6 premiere airing Tuesday, Feb. 20, Lucy’s a bit on edge about taking the detective exam, so she asks to ride with one Tim Bradford, so that her onetime T.O. can give her a shift-long grilling like in their olden days. One encounter with a literal clown, though, might get her rethinking her logic.
Any news on any characters from the books showing up in Interview With the Vampire Season 2 (premiering May 12)? –KOS
The cast and creatives were super-secretive and extremely spoiler-averse at TCA, though EP Mark Johnson did share this: “This is the second part of the [first] book, and we follow it somewhat religiously…. At one point when we did the first season, we actually toyed with going to Europe where most of this takes place, but we held off. So, this is really the second half of the book.”
Anything on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live would be lovely! –Carrie
Appearing at the TCA winter press tour on Tuesday, Andrew Lincoln said of the awaited Rick/Michonne spinoff premiering Feb. 25, “This has been a long time coming, this story, and this is a love story. The DNA of the original [The Walking Dead] episode was a man in search of his family, and that DNA is very much in this story — but we wanted to sort of make it a bit more operatic.”
Will there be a second season of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live? –Leslie
“I would say ‘anything is possible,’” franchise CCO Scott Gimple answered at TCA. “We’re focused on this one right now, but this one came together in a really amazing way where there were all sorts of plans, and the world changed and we altered those plans, and we wound up with something we really liked.”
Is Jenna Bans’ put pilot at NBC for Grosse Pointe Garden Society moving forward? It sounded so original and intriguing, was hoping to see it on the schedule. –M
I asked around and can confirm that yes, Grosse Pointe Garden Society is still active over at NBC.
Do YOU want scoop/have questions about a favorite show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com! Questions plopped in Comments will not be read and may very well count against your final score. (With additional reporting by Vlada Gelman)
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