NCIS: New Orleans has been on the air over at CBS since 2014. However, the series has had some trouble finding and keeping producing talent. Former showrunner Brad Kern has already been displaced and now we've learned executive producer Adam Targum has also been fired.
News broke this week that Adam Targum, who had stepped in as the second-in-command under Christopher Silber, was let go from NCIS: New Orleans back on Friday, January 25. Vulture reports that Adam Targum was fired following a complaint made to the network’s HR department.
It reportedly wasn’t the first time a complaint had been made against the executive producer, but the fourth. Previous complaints had been made, allegedly regarding sexist comments about breastfeeding and more.
CBS is not commenting on the situation, nor is the network commenting to reveal what the fourth complaint within the HR department was about. However, people involved with the show have revealed that while Adam Targum was the next seniormost employee and the natural hire, he might not have been the best fit in the wake of Brad Kern. One anonymous commenter called him “tone deaf.”
Adam Targum had previously worked as the showrunner on Syfy's Deadly Class as that project was coming together. He was actually fired by the show after the pilot but before Deadly Class went to series, with the network citing "creative differences" as the reason for his dismissal. Adam Targum had also previously done producing and writing work on Outcast, Banshee and CSI: NY before landing on NCIS: New Orleans.
Less than a year ago, NCIS: New Orleans also made headlines when showrunner Brad Kern was suspended and then later demoted after a revue was underwent looking at whether or not the producer and showrunner created a hostile work environment. Brad Kern was only officially fired from his role as consulting producer over at CBS back in October of 2018—so during this TV season. Those in the know are alleging the network might have believed the show would figure things out with Christopher Silber and Adam Targum heading up the series, but that hasn't happened.
NCIS: New Orleans might be in its fifth season, but that's still fairly young for a procedural series on the network, shows like parent franchise NCIS and similar programs like Criminal Minds and CSI are running or ran on for much longer. Criminal Minds will be ending after Season 15 wraps next TV season, for example.
Other CBS shows, including Bull and Fam have dealt with other issues within the work place in recent months, with the later series also firing one of its co-showrunners due to workplace misconduct.
In general, CBS produces a ton of shows that haven’t dealt with myriad workplace issues. Regardless, the network is still dealing with press after the displacement of Les Moonves. We’ll be sure to let you know if we hear about anything else that goes down with NCIS: New Orleans as it works its way through its fifth season on the network.
