In order to stand out, “NCIS” was given a slightly different title when it debuted, a rather absurd title…
There are a thousand detective series – especially when they come in several spin-offs. Between The Experts (CSI for “Crime Scene Investigation” in English), New York, judicial police (Law & Order) or even Criminal Minds (Criminal Minds) and their numerous derivative series, to name a few, it is difficult to find yourself there.
In order to avoid confusion with its neighboring series, especially CSI, NCIS (named NCIS: Special Investigations among us) was initially given a slightly different title than the one it has today. In hindsight, it just seems stupid.
In a Hollywood Reporter article retracing the history of the series, its creator, Don McGill, revealed that NCIS was called “Navy NCIS” during its first year.
“During this first year, understandably, the people at CSI [Les Experts] were not very happy to see that we were releasing a series called NCIS – a detective series with forensic analysis. So it was decided that, at least for the first year, to differentiate itself, it would be called Navy NCIS, which is a bit redundant. But it eased the concerns of the people at CSI.”
In English, “NCIS” stands for “Naval Criminal Investigative Service”. So, adding “Navy” gives “Navy Naval Criminal Investigative Service,” a particularly redundant title since “Naval” and “Navy” mean the same thing. From season 2, however, the series is simply called NCIS. Having become a huge success, the public therefore adopted the show as an autonomous brand… which itself has given birth to its own spin-off series since!
NCIS: Special Investigations is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.