Even though “NCIS: Los Angeles” concluded in May of 2023, Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) remains a part of the NCIS universe as an “NCIS: Hawai’i” cast member. His continued involvement in the franchise is more of an exception than the rule, however — virtually all of his former co-stars, including Eric Christian Olsen, have yet to reprise their “NCIS: LA” roles.
Olsen plays Marty Deeks in just over 300 episodes of “NCIS: LA” that aired between 2010 and the show’s final episode. During that time Olsen still acted in some other projects, albeit sporadically. Now that he’s no longer tethered to a decades-long network TV series, Olsen seems primed to enter into a new act of his career. While he has no future TV or film roles planned, establishing himself as a big-time producer, rather, appears to be his priority.
The first upcoming show Olsen is producing, under the banner of his company Cloud Nine Productions, is a CBS reboot of the ’80s legal drama “Matlock” slated to premiere in 2024. In 2022, his production company also sold a sitcom led by comic Al Madrigal, an autobiographical romantic comedy by Liz Thompson, and a crime drama titled “Peculiar.” These too are all in the works at CBS. Rather than continuing to act, then, it seems like producing should keep Olsen busy now that “NCIS: LA” is over.
Eric Christian Olsen’s work with Cloud Nine Productions started back in 2016, when he was still less than halfway through his time on “NCIS: Los Angeles.” However, the company’s first official TV show — titled “Woke,” starring Lamorne Morris — didn’t premiere until 2020. As of the end of “NCIS: LA,” that was the only series to have released with his name in its production credits.
That said, Olsen and Cloud Nine were plenty active during the final years of “NCIS: LA.” In 2020, for instance, he sold two shows to CBS and a comedy titled “Fruit Man” to Hulu. By that point he had also sold a series based on the life of rapper Dumbfoundead to Peacock.
Aside from “Matlock,” each of these shows are still in the earliest stages of production, so it’s unclear how many of them will ultimately end up on TV or streaming. Nevertheless, presuming that at least one or two of them move forward, Olsen will likely remain plenty active as a producer now that he’s done playing Marty Deeks on “NCIS: LA.”
