CBS fires another NCIS: New Orleans executive producer: Why so much behind-the-scenes turmoil?

Vulture

Executive producer Adam Targum, the show's second-in-command who was hired last spring, follows in the footsteps of former NCIS: New Orleans showrunner Brad Kern, who was the subject of three human resources investigations before he was ousted from CBS altogether last October. According to Maureen Ryan, Targum was let go last Friday as a result of a complaint filed with CBS' HR department within the past two weeks. Targum and showrunner Brad Silber, who replaced Kern, were promoted to fix the show's work environment. But Ryan reports that "during the show’s current season, sources say, the atmosphere at NCIS: New Orleans did not notably improve, especially with Targum running the writers room for long stretches. Targum had an insistent, overpowering manner that led one source to say that he 'bullies' people." Why does NCIS: New Orleans keep having behind-the-scenes problems? "There is nothing about the content or premise of NCIS: New Orleans that makes the show especially prone to reports of questionable behavior behind the scenes," explains Ryan. "It is a mainstream spinoff of a well-known, financially lucrative TV franchise. But it’s that very status — as an untrendy, workaday show that employs hundreds of entertainment-industry professionals — that makes its past and present important. It provides a somewhat extreme but unsurprising set of indicators about how the culture of CBS has operated for a long time."