Plot Synopsis

This one-hour drama is a spin-off from JAG and follows a team of special agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, an independent unit not bound to any military chain of command, who investigate all crimes from murder to terrorism involving the Navy and Marines. The team is led by Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a highly decorated U.S. Marine Corp veteran, and includes: NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, an ex-homicide detective whose instincts in the field are unparalleled and whose quick wit and humorous take on life make him a team favorite; the youthful and energetic forensic specialist Abby Sciuto, a talented scientist whose sharp mind matches her Goth style and eclectic tastes; NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee, an MIT graduate whose brilliance with computers far overshadows his insecurities in the field; and Ziva David, perhaps the most dangerous member of the team, a former Mossad agent now Probationary Agent and newly sworn in U.S. citizen. Assisting the team is medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, who knows it all because he's seen it all, and he's not afraid to let you know. At the end of the ninth season, Harper Dearing's latest act of terrorism ripped through NCIS headquarters, and in Season 10, NCIS must recover and catch Harper Dearing as part of a cross-agency manhunt for the criminal mastermind. The show originally premiered with the title NAVY NCIS.

CBS debuted the Season 12 premiere of NCIS on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 8pm ET/PT. In the season opener, "Twenty Klicks," Gibbs and McGee travel to Russia to safely escort home an NCIS computer engineer connected to classified intel, but their mission is compromised and they are forced to go off the grid while hunted by a Russian mercenary group. Meanwhile, the team in D.C. frantically uses every asset and inter-agency contact they have in an attempt to locate their missing team members.

NCIS returned for its thirteenth season on Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. In the season opener, "Stop the Bleeding," Gibbs fights for his life aboard a Navy hospital ship after being shot, while DiNozzo and Joanna Teague travel to Shanghai to try and take down the Calling. Plus, Jon Cryer begins a multi-episode arc as Gibbs' surgeon, Dr. Cyril Taft.

Season 14 of NCIS premiered on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. In the season opener, "Rogue," the NCIS team investigates a deadly car explosion in D.C. that connects to NCIS Special Agent Nicholas 'Nick' Torres, who disappeared six months ago while on a deep undercover assignment in Argentina. Also, Gibbs asks NCIS Special Agent Alexandra 'Alex' Quinn to shadow his team after rejecting eight agents she instructed and referred for the open position. Jennifer Esposito has joined the cast of NCIS as a series regular, with her character introduced in the season premiere. Esposito plays NCIS Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Quinn, an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center. Gibbs lures her back into the field as part of his team, where he takes advantage of her sharp wit, quick mind and immense talent as a federal agent. Also, Wilmer Valderrama has joined the cast of NCIS as a series regular, playing a once grounded NCIS field agent who accepted a deep cover assignment years ago and never resurfaced. Many agents don't know he's still on the job or that he's even alive. Now, he's back and his dedication to job and country has left him an unpredictable, charismatic loose cannon.

The fifteenth season of NCIS premiered on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. In the season opener, "House Divided," two months after Gibbs and McGee were last seen fighting an elusive group of rebels in a Paraguay jungle, the NCIS team in D.C. tirelessly searches for their missing colleagues. Also, Vance and Torres are summoned to a congressional hearing regarding the fallout from the Paraguay mission. Later this season, Maria Bello joins the regular cast as Special Agent Jacqueline 'Jack' Sloane, an NCIS agent commissioned as a second lieutenant in the army, who served two tours in Afghanistan. After joining NCIS, she built her reputation as the agency's premier forensic psychologist. Unlike the other agents, she can second guess and challenge Gibbs, so there will be friction but also mutual respect. She is a positive force, mischievous and at times acerbic. Her character is introduced in the season's fourth episode.

Season 16 of NCIS premiered on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. In the season opener, "Destiny's Child," one month after Director Vance was kidnapped, Gibbs is assigned the role of acting director in his absence while the team searches worldwide for his whereabouts. On Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT, CBS debuted "Toil and Trouble," the mid-season premiere of NCIS, with Mitch Pileggi guest starring as United States Secretary of Defense Wynn Crawford. United States Secretary of Defense Wynn Crawford shuts down Gibbs' murder investigation and demands that Special Agents McGee and Torres be arrested for their actions in the case.

On Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT, CBS premiered the seventeenth season of NCIS, with Cote de Pablo guest starring as Ziva David. In the season opener, "Out of the Darkness," Ziva surprises Gibbs with a cryptic warning, prompting him to question why she remained underground for years while being presumed dead by family and friends, and what led to her return. On Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 8pm ET/PT, CBS debuted "In the Wind," the winter premiere of NCIS, with Cote de Pablo guest starring as Ziva David. Gibbs must face the reality of his actions after he assists Ziva with "the one thing" she said she would need to take care of before returning to her family.

Season 18 of NCIS premiered on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. In the season opener, "Sturgeon Season," Gibbs and Fornell (guest star Joe Spano) attempt to track down the leader of a drug ring who supplied drugs to Fornell's daughter. Also, the team deals with the case of a missing cadaver from the NCIS autopsy room. After a six-week break, NCIS returned for its winter premiere on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 from 8-10pm ET/PT, as CBS debuted back-to-back episodes.

CBS premiered the 19th season of NCIS on Monday, September 20, 2021 at 9pm ET/PT, with guest star Pam Dawber returning as investigative journalist Marcie Warren. Katrina Law is promoted to series regular for the new season, while Gary Cole joins the cast as FBI Special Agent Alden Parker. In the season opener, "Blood in the Water," as the NCIS team searches for Gibbs after wreckage from his boat is discovered, they find out he was tracking a serial killer with journalist Marcie Warren, who wrote an expose on him. After a four-week break, NCIS returned with new episodes on Monday, January 3, 2022 at 9pm ET/PT on CBS. In the winter premiere, "Pledge of Allegiance," NCIS is called in when Navy Chief Warrant Officer Rafi Nazar (guest star Artur Zai Benson) is suspected of trying to sell stolen classified Navy software used to pilot combat drones. Series star Rocky Carroll directed this episode.

NCIS returned for its 20th season on Monday, September 19, 2022 at 9pm ET/PT on CBS, as part of a special crossover event with NCIS: HAWAII. During a suspenseful two hours, the hunt for a dangerous suspect unveils a complex network and a larger sinister plan that will take the D.C. team to Hawai'i in a race to thwart the next large-scale attack. The night opened at 9pm with "A Family Matter," the Season 20 premiere of NCIS. Special Agent Alden Parker is still on the run with his ex-wife Vivian, so the team investigates who from his past might have a personal vendetta against him in hopes of clearing Parker's name. Enlisting the help of NCIS: Hawai'i's Special Agent Jane Tennant and Computer Specialist Ernie Malick, who are in town meeting with Director Leon Vance in preparation for a global military exercise, the group tracks down their prime suspect, The Raven. Then, in "Prisoners' Dilemma" (10pm), the Season 2 premiere of NCIS: HAWAI'I, Special Agent Tennant's team, along with NCIS agents Nick Torres and Jessica Knight, learns about plans for an attack on RIMPAC (The Rim of the Pacific Exercises) in Oahu, the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, on the conclusion to the special NCIS crossover event. After a five-week break, NCIS returned on Monday, January 9, 2023 on CBS with a three-episode NCISverse crossover event with NCIS: LOS ANGELES and NCIS: HAWAI'I that centers around a very personal, high-stakes case to take down a mysterious hitman. Team members from the different NCIS divisions come together in Washington, D.C., to celebrate a beloved FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center) professor who taught multiple members of each of the squads. On the eve of the celebration, the professor is found dead of an apparent suicide and his former students immediately suspect foul play. While investigating his past, they uncover a mysterious hitman, and the more they dig into it, the bigger the targets on their backs become. Members of the team are suddenly kidnapped and all the agents must come together to take down the assassin and save their own.

Season 21 of NCIS debuted on Monday, February 12, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT on CBS. In the season opener, "Algun Dis," the NCIS team must help Torres when he puts his future at stake by confronting the man who tormented his family when he was a child.

On Monday, April 15, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT, CBS debuted the 1000th episode of the NCIS franchise, with the 464th episode of the flagship series, NCIS. This milestone includes counts of all the aired episodes of NCIS, NCIS: HAWAI'I, NCIS: SYDNEY, NCIS: LOS ANGELES and NCIS: NEW ORLEANS combined. (Fun fact: Binge-watching the 1,000 episodes of the NCISverse back-to-back without breaks would take about 42,722 minutes -- or just under 30 full days!) In the 1,000th episode, titled "A Thousand Yards," NCIS comes under attack by a mysterious enemy from the past. Also, Vance tries to mend fences with his estranged son by explaining why, despite the ongoing dangers of his job, he still chooses to stay at NCIS.
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Season 22 of NCIS debuted on Monday, October 14, 2024 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. Special Agent Alden Parker, a quirky former FBI agent who solves his cases with calm professionalism and sharp, sarcastic charm, leads the NCIS team, which includes NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee, an MIT graduate with a knack for computers who serves as a senior field agent; the charismatic, unpredictable and resilient NCIS Special Agent Nicholas "Nick" Torres, who has spent most of his career on solo undercover assignments; and sharp, athletic and tough NCIS Special Agent Jessica Knight, a formidable REACT agent who specializes in hostage negotiations and high-risk operations. Assisting the team is Jimmy Palmer, a fully licensed medical examiner who runs the morgue; and forensic scientist Kasie Hines. Overseeing operations is NCIS Director Leon Vance, an intelligent, highly trained agent who can always be counted on to shake up the status quo. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties.

In the season opener, "Empty Nest," NCIS searches for a missing undercover agent in the midst of an active hostage situation.