13/03/2013 - Is a Spin-off of a Spin-off of a Spin-off of a show based on a book written about real life a bit excessive?

So there's a new addition to the NCIS franchise on CBS - NCIS: RED. It sounds very interesting to me and I already plan to watch it, but do you think this would be a good move for them? Two of CBS' shows are right now the most high ranking shows on american television screens, and they happen to be NCIS and NCIS: LA. So is this new show a good move for them?

Fans will know that NCIS is currently in it's 10th season where as NCIS: LA is currently in it's fourth. JAG ended in 2005 during it's 10th season so many people think this addition of NCIS: RED is a safety blanket for the suspected soon to be ending NCIS.

NCIS: RED is scheduled to have it's first pilot episode as a backdoor episode onto NCIS: LA, much like NCIS: LA had their backdoor double-pilot in NCIS (Legend pt 1 & 2) and NCIS had it's backdoor double-pilot in JAG (Meltdown and Ice Queen). So far we've only got news that the NCIS: RED backdoor will only be one episode, which disappoints me.

The Backdoor pilots are tester episodes, to see if the characters work etc, which in my opinion is an amazing move. It gives the audience a chance to meet the characters and leave positive or negative feedback.

Like for instance in JAG when we met the NCIS team, they were basically the same except for one character, Vivian Blackadder, who was disliked by the audience and cut, being replaced by Kate Todd (played by Sasha Alexander) who then stayed on in the role for two years before deciding she wanted to explore more and left the show (In a painfully tragic way), her character was then replaced by a Mossad liaison Ziva David (played by Cote De Pablo).

And when NCIS: LA had their backdoor pilot in NCIS, they had an entirely different base in a warehouse and a different leader, Lara Macy, who was once again disliked by the public and was cut, she said to have retired from NCIS and on the show NCIS (not LA) they found her charred bones on a bonfire due to a cartel; her character was replaced by Henrietta Lange, an incredibly short ninja like character played by oscar winning Linda Hunt. The base of operations was moved to a run down (on the outside) villa building, completely secret from the outside world (as NCIS: LAs team is an Operations of special projects - or OSP - meaning they live their lives undercover). and they have a separate boat house for interrogations. 

So, I'm looking forward to this, but I'm already attached to the roles they have cast as they have some amazing actors in place, John Corbett, Kim Raver, Edwin Hodge, Scott Grimes, Miguel Ferrer and Gillian Alexy, and the shows synopsis makes it sound so much different from the previous shows; and with them becoming repetitive we could do with a fresh start.

What's your opinions?  Is a Spin-off of a Spin-off of a Spin-off of a show based on a book written about real life a bit excessive? Or do you think CBS has done a good thing by expanding their already thriving franchise?

Watch the promo for NCIS: LA 4x18 titled 'RED' which introduces the new team:

LJ
JAG: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112022/?ref_=sr_2
NCIS: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364845/?ref_=sr_1
NCIS: LA: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1378167/?ref_=sr_1
NCIS: RED: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2699068/?ref_=sr_1