Cote de Pablo
It takes a lot of courage to leave the single most-watched program on network TV, but Cote de Pablo is doing exactly that: CBS has confirmed that the Latina actress will stick around for a few episodes to “finish out her storyline,” but to all intents and purposes “Ziva David” won’t be back for Season 11 of NCIS.
Every other members of the cast, including Mark Harmon, will be back for the full season come September 24. Only Harmon had a chance to leave–all the other stars’ contracts are on different schedules–but Harmon re-upped way back in February.
“I’ve had 8 great years with NCIS and Ziva David,” de Pablo said in a statement that accompanied the news. “I have huge respect and affection for Mark, Gary, Michael, David, Rocky, Pauley, Brian, Sean, all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva’s story.”
Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo
in season 10 of NCIS
This is particularly sad news given CBS’ chronically poor showing when it comes to Latinos in front of the camera. In fact, once she’s well and truly gone, de Pablo’s departure may put Marisa Ramirez, now a regular on Blue Bloods, and newly added regular Sarah Shahi on Person of Interest as the only Latinos on the network this fall. (Newcomer James Martinez in the midseason replacement Intelligence may be showing up downstream as well.)
No news about what de Pablo will be doing with all that time on her hands…but we’ll let you know. And of course you’ll be able to see as much of her in NCIS as you like for years to come: NCIS is licensed in more than 200 markets, and ranks as cable’s #1 off-network drama on the USA Network, where it plays over and over and over every single week.
