As one of the original cast members of NCIS, Michael Weatherly has gone on to be quite a franchise fan-favorite character. While DiNozzo departed the long-running procedural after Season 13, he made a long-awaited return with the short-lived Paramount+ spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva. He (unfortunately) had to say goodbye to the franchise for the second time, but what will he miss about filming as part of the NCIS family?
Fans have been wondering what Michael Weatherly will do next after the sudden and surprising cancelation of Tony & Ziva. He hasn't publicly commented yet, but if there's one thing we know about the actor, it's that he loves a good TV schedule. He said as much back in the day when he told reporters what he'd miss about working on NCIS (via People):
I may have a surprise answer. Well, unless you’ve never seen the show, in which case you’ll be like, ‘Wow, I had no idea that that would be a surprise answer.’ I think I will, on one level, miss the schedule, which is an inanimate kind of thing, but I’ll miss the structure that it gave my life.
Weatherly departed NCIS back in 2016 at the end of Season 13, marking the end of an era for the series. At the time he reiterated he'd miss the "structure" the series offered, and while filming a TV series is considered a grind by some, he really seems to have relished it throughout his career.
Article continues belowIn fact, Weatherly didn’t have to wait too long to get back into that grind and those long hours filming. He filmed NCIS for 13 years straight, then was honestly quick to get back to that structure. The same year he departed NCIS, he landed the lead role as Dr. Jason Bull in CBS’ Bull, which ran from 2016 to 2022. Shortly after that cancelation, the Tony & Ziva was announced in 2024.
Of course, the consistency with the schedule was not all that Weatherly misses when it comes to making TV. As previously mentioned, he is one of the original cast members of NCIS, making his first appearance in the two-part JAG backdoor pilot. It was definitely hard to get used to NCIS without Tony DiNozzo, and Weatherly knew his exit on the show would be hard at the time.
But the person that I really am going to miss the most in the most perverse way is Tony DiNozzo. See, yes, I told you this answer was not going to be easy because he’s already gone from me a little bit.
Weatherly spent a few years teasing to fans that Tony’s return was imminent, and it finally happened with the Ducky tribute episode in 2024. Then there’s NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which was announced not long after this return. It was clear he was as happy as ever to get to play Tony again alongside Cote de Pablo, who returned as Ziva David. He was candid about the spinoff’s cancellation being heartbreaking as well. It's clear his home is on a TV set.
Hopefully, the cancellation isn’t a permanent goodbye for Tony DiNozzo. The great thing about a franchise like NCIS is that you never know who could pop up, whether past characters or someone from a spinoff. There is no end in sight for the franchise, so there are plenty of chances for him to step back into Tony’s suit. For now, fans can always watch their favorite Tony moments with a Paramount+ subscription by watching NCIS and NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
