Scott Bakula has been cast in the lead role of CBS’ planned “NCIS” spinoff set in New Orleans.
Bakula (“Quantum Leap”) will play NCIS Special Agent Pride, according to reports, “a unique federal agent” who is “driven by the need to do what’s right and does it all with warmth, passion, strength and humor.”
The two-part backdoor pilot — meant to serve as a test for a potential series — will air during “NCIS” this spring and centers on the NCIS New Orleans office, which handles cases from Pensacola through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle and whose Big Easy setting makes it a magnet for military personnel on leave. “NCIS” star Mark Harmon and creator Gary Glasberg will executive produce the spinoff.
Bakula, who is currently recurring on the HBO series “Looking,” was nominated for an Emmy Award last year for his role in the network’s Liberace biopic “Behind the Candelabra.” He previously starred in “Quantum Leap” on NBC from 1989 to 1993 (for which he earned a Golden Globe Award) and TNT’s “Men of a Certain Age” from 2009 to 2011.
The Crescent City-set pilot is just the latest spinoff for the hugely successful “NCIS” franchise (which is averaging nearly 22 million viewers in its 11th season).
“NCIS: Los Angeles” premiered in 2009 and is currently CBS’ third most-watched series behind the flagship and “The Big Bang Theory.”
The L.A. edition had its own spinoff in the works last season — “NCIS: Red” — that the network opted not to pick up to series. The two-part pilot which aired during “NCIS: LA” last spring starred John Corbett and Kim Raver as part of a mobile NCIS team that travels the country anywhere there might be a crime involving the Navy or Marine Corps.