CIS: Tony & Ziva has been a huge success with longtime fans who have been eagerly awaiting the return of Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David, played by Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo. The series follows the pair, who have been living in Paris, raising their tween daughter Tali. However, as episode one reveals, the two are left on the run across Europe when they stand accused of bribing Interpol out of hundreds of millions of dollars. And if you’ve been waiting to get stuck into the new series, perhaps Michael’s own recommendation may help?

Speaking to HELLO!, the actor promised that this is a series that will “bring the audience along for a great adventure,” and not one that plans to “tell you what to think or how to feel or teach you how to vote”. The series is instead “in the context of star-crossed lovers on the run across Europe being chased,” and a show for anyone who liked “The Bourne Identity and Mission Impossible, but also Annie Hall”.

Michael, a father to three who has been working for over 30 years in the industry, went on to share that he is fascinated with the cultural obsession with NCIS, which is about to premiere its 23rd season, acknowledging that early on in the franchise’s history, people often thought he would be bored on such a show because he is such an expressive persons who uses his hands to talk, and often digresses, with many claiming “it must be frustrating for you to do a procedural drama that’s kind of boring”.

“But that’s not the show!” exclaims Michael. “Abby’s got a tattoo of a spider’s web on her neck, and Gibbs is slapping heads, and Ducky is in the basement with the dead bodies, and Probie’s got the computer, and there’s a Mossad ninja killing people with throwing stars. It’s a cuckoo world. This is not a documentary about the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, let’s be clear.”

“Tony is sort of a magnification of a facet of my real-life personality,” Michael told HELLO!, for our digital cover this month,, sharing that his approach to returning to the world of Tony was not “with the dialogue and theme and genre” but instead in trying to find something true that would resonate for the audience. “It’s like a comedian. The comedian doesn’t tell a joke that they think is going to get a laugh; they tell a joke that they think is funny about the world. Then if it resonates, great, but at least you told a truth about human nature and reality and your own foibles and weaknesses and vulnerability.”

© Marcell Piti/Paramount+
Michael has played Tony for over two decades

As for the fan love for Tony, a character now on screens for 23 years and still finding a new audience, Michael believes that because “everybody knows somebody like DiNozzo. You might have gone to college with him or worked with him, and he’s in the next cubicle, and you say, ‘I hate that guy so much.’  Or, you dated him or you have children with him, and he’s in the next room, so I think people love the character because there’s something familiar about him.”

© Marcell Piti/Paramount+
The first three episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva dropped on Paramount+ on September 4, 2025

The first three episodes dropped on Paramount+ on September 4, 2025, and viewers rushed to share their excitement, with many commenting specifically on the chemistry between Tony and Ziva, known in fandom by the portmanteau Tiva.

“Just finished the 3 hr binge of the first 3 eps & it’s everything I wanted. Bring on the rest, we want more. That McGee mention was nicely done, still hoping we’ll see some of them. Digging the newbies as well,” wrote one fan, as another shared: “The flashbacks are just adding to their love story & I’m here for it. The #Tiva chemistry is as great as ever. I need more.”