NCIS and its characters were originally introduced in a two-part episode of the CBS television series JAG in . The show premiered on , 2003, in the United States.
Created by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill, and executive produced by Bellisario, Shane Brennan, Gary Glasberg, George Schenck, Frank Cardea, and Steven D. Binder, NCIS stars Mark Harmon as Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and Gary Cole as Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker in charge of NCIS' Major Case Response Team. Based out of Washington, D.C., the team includes special agents Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), Eleanor Bishop (Emily Wickersham), Alexandra Quinn (Jennifer Esposito), Nicholas Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), forensic specialists Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover), medical examiners Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), medical examiners assistant Gerald Jackson (Pancho Demmings) and SIS attaché Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry). Operational psychologist Dr. Jacqueline Sloane (Maria Bello) assists the team during troubled times, while successive Directors Tom Morrow (Alan Dale), Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly), and Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) command from on high.
Series overview
Episodes
Introductory episodes The program and its characters are introduced during the eighth season of JAG. The JAG episodes, "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown", served as pilot episodes for the show. The character Special Agent Vivian Blackadder (Robyn Lively) does not appear in the series because producer Donald Bellisario felt that "she was a little soft for this kind of role". In , the two episodes were edited together and aired as "Navy NCIS: The Beginning".
Season 1 (2003–04)
Sean Murray (Timothy McGee) first appears episode 7 "Sub Rosa", has one scene in episode 11 “Eye Spy”, then from episode 18–23 has a continuous arc. it was called Navy NCIS
Season 2 (2004–05)
Sean Murray (Timothy McGee) was promoted to the main cast starting with the episode "See No Evil". It was called Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Season 3 (2005–06)
Sasha Alexander (Caitlin Todd) left the show after the 2-part premiere (”Kill Ari”). Cote de Pablo (Ziva David) had a continuous arc starting with the first two episodes ("Kill Ari"), and later promoted to the main cast in the episode "Silver War". Lauren Holly joins the supporting cast as NCIS Director Jenny Shepard. She was promoted to the main cast in the ninth episode ("Frame Up").
Season 4 (2006–07)
Season 5 (2007–08)
Rocky Carroll (Leon Vance) had a continuous arc starting with episode 14 ("Internal Affairs"). Lauren Holly (Jenny Shepard) left the show after the season finale ("Judgment Day"). This season was planned to consist of 24 episodes, but due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, only 19 episodes were produced.
Season 6 (2008–09)
Rocky Carroll (Leon Vance) was promoted to the main cast starting with the episode "Last Man Standing". "Legend" serves as the two-part backdoor pilot for the spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles.
Season 7 (2009–10)
Season 8 (2010–11)
Season 9 (2011–12)
Season 10 (2012–13)
Brian Dietzen as M.E. Assistant (Jimmy Palmer) was promoted to the main cast as of this season.
Season 11 (2013–14)
Cote de Pablo as Special Agent (Ziva David) departed the show after the second episode, "Past, Present, and Future". Emily Wickersham as NSA Analyst and then Probationary Special Agent, (Eleanor Bishop), is introduced in episode nine, "Gut Check", and was later promoted to the main cast in episode twelve, "Kill Chain". "Crescent City" serves as the two-part pilot for NCIS: New Orleans.
Season 12 (2014–15)
Season 13 (2015–16)
Episode 12 begins a crossover event that concludes on NCIS: New Orleans season 2 episode 12. Michael Weatherly (Anthony DiNozzo) departed the series after the season finale "Family First".
Season 14 (2016–17)
The first season not to feature longtime cast member Michael Weatherly, who left the series after 13 seasons in the thirteenth season finale. Jennifer Esposito (Alexandra "Alex" Quinn) and Wilmer Valderrama (Nicholas "Nick" Torres) join the cast. Jennifer Esposito departed in the season finale. Duane Henry (MI6 Senior Officer Clayton Reeves) was promoted to the main cast in the fifth episode ("Philly"). Pandora's Box (Part I) episode begins a crossover event that concludes in NCIS: New Orleans episode, Pandora's Box, Part II.
Season 15 (2017–18)
Maria Bello (Jacqueline Sloane) made her series debut in episode 4, "Skeleton Crew", before her promotion to sries regular in episode 5, "Fake It 'Til You Make It". Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto) and Duane Henry (Clayton Reeves) departed the show in episode 22, "Two Steps Back".
Season 16 (2018–19)
Diona Reasonover (Kasie Hines) was promoted to the main cast. Cote de Pablo (Ziva David) made a guest appearance in the season finale. This is the final season to have 24 episodes.
Season 17 (2019–20)
Cote de Pablo (Ziva David) had a recurring role in the season. On March 13, 2020, CBS announced that the filming of season 17 had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in only 20 episodes being filmed.
Season 18 (2020–21)
Maria Bello (Jacqueline Sloane) departed the show in episode 8 "True Believer". Emily Wickersham (Eleanor Bishop) departed the show after the season finale "Rule 91".
Season 19 (2021–22)
Katrina Law (Jessica Knight) was promoted to the main cast. Gary Cole (Alden Parker) makes his debut in episode 2 and joins the main cast in episode 3. Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs) departed the show in episode 4 "Great Wide Open", but remains on the title sequence for the remainder of the season. Episode 17 begins a crossover event that concludes on NCIS: Hawaiʻi season 1 episode 18.
Season 20 (2022–23)
Episode 1 begins a crossover event that concludes on NCIS: Hawaiʻi season 2 episode 1. Episode 10 begins a crossover event that continues on NCIS: Hawaiʻi season 2 episode 10 and concludes on NCIS: Los Angeles season 14 episode 10. David McCallum (Donald Mallard) made his final appearance in the season finale "Black Sky" before his death.
Season 21 (2024)
This is the first season to not feature David McCallum as Ducky Mallard as McCallum died around a week before this season entered production. "The Stories We Leave Behind" paid tribute to him and is dedicated to him. Michael Weatherly (Anthony DiNozzo) returned as a special guest star in the episode "The Stories We Leave Behind," making this his first appearance on the show after his exit in the season 13 finale ("Family First").
Season 22 (2024–25)
Season 23 (2025–26)
Emily Wickersham (Eleanor Bishop) returns as a guest this season. Rocky Carroll (Leon Vance) departed the series in the thirteenth episode "All Good Things".
Season 24
Home media
Season Episodes DVD release dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 Discs Intro 2 March 17, 2009 June 21, 2010JAG – Season 8 [DVD] : Amazon.co.uk: DVD . Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. August 5, 2010 5 1 23 June 6, 2006 July 24, 2006 August 10, 2006 6 2 23 November 14, 2006 October 16, 2006 October 12, 2006 6 3 24 April 24, 2007 June 18, 2007 March 15, 2007 6 4 24 October 23, 2007 May 19, 2008 July 10, 2008 6 5 19 August 26, 2008 June 22, 2009 May 7, 2009 5 6 25 August 25, 2009 July 19, 2010 June 3, 2010 6 7 24 August 24, 2010 June 13, 2011 July 7, 2011 6 8 24 August 23, 2011 July 30, 2012 September 1, 2011 6 9 24 August 21, 2012 June 24, 2013 August 1, 2012 6 10 24 August 20, 2013 August 18, 2014 August 21, 2013 6 11 24 August 19, 2014 November 30, 2015 August 20, 2014 6 12 24 August 18, 2015 October 24, 2016 August 26, 2015 6 13 24 August 23, 2016 January 12, 2017 September 29, 2016 6 14 24 August 29, 2017February 1, 2018 August 30, 2017 6 15 24 August 21, 2018 February 14, 2019 August 15, 2018 6 16 24 September 3, 2019 February 6, 2020 August 28, 2019 6 17 20 July 28, 2020 March 4, 2021 August 12, 2020 5 18 16 August 17, 2021 March 24, 2022 September 1, 2021 4 19 21 August 16, 2022 February 9, 2023 October 12, 2022 5 20 22 August 22, 2023 6 21 10 August 13, 2024 3 22 20 September 9, 2025 5 23 20 September 22, 2026 5
See also NCIS (franchise) List of JAG episodes List of Hawaii Five-0 episodes List of NCIS: Los Angeles episodes List of NCIS: New Orleans episodes List of NCIS: Hawaiʻi episodes
References General references that apply to most episodes
External links