NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is a media franchise of American television programs originally created by Donald P. Bellisario and currently broadcast on CBS, all of which deal with military related criminal investigations based on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Department of the Navy, which includes the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.

In 2003, NCIS was introduced via a backdoor pilot, from the TV show JAG with NCIS in turn spinning off NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans in 2009 and 2014, respectively. NCIS: Los Angeles had a proposed spin-off, but it was later not picked up by CBS.

As of February 26, 2019 , 714 episodes of the NCIS franchise have aired. The main NCIS series is the longest-running show of the franchise which began its sixteenth season on September 25, 2018.

Overview [ edit ]

NCIS, voted America's favorite Television Series in 2011,[1] finished its tenth season as the most-watched television series in the U.S. during 2012–13[2] and is broadcast in over 200 territories worldwide.[3] As of the end of the 2014–15 TV season, NCIS remains TV's most watched drama series.[4] Spin-off NCIS: New Orleans ended its first season as the second most watched drama on CBS,[4] and the fifth most watched series on TV. NCIS: Los Angeles ended its fifth season as the fourth most watched series on TV, and the second most watched drama.[5]

NCIS [ edit ]

NCIS follows the work of the Major Case Response Team, stationed out of Washington, D.C. Supervised by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a former Marine Gunnery Sergeant, and a thrice-divorced widower. The team specializes in crime scene examination, and the investigation of murders. Gibbs' team has included Caitlin Todd, who earned her stripes protecting the President as a member of the Secret Service; Anthony DiNozzo, a former Baltimore detective; Timothy McGee, a computer specialist and M.I.T. graduate; Eleanor Bishop, a former NSA security analyst and threat assessment specialist; Nicholas Torres, an undercover operative; Alexandra Quinn, a training officer who supervised the recruitment of Bishop, McGee, David, and Torres; Ziva David, a former Mossad assassin; and Jack Sloane, a no-nonsense senior agent. Primarily dealing with cases along the East Coast, and acting under the supervision of successive NCIS Directors Tom Morrow, Jenny Shepard and Leon Vance, the team is supported by Abigail Sciuto, a forensic specialist; Kasie Hines, a forensic scientist; Jimmy Palmer, an Assistant Medical Examiner dubbed the "autopsy gremlin"; Ducky Mallard, a seasoned Chief Medical Examiner; and Clayton Reeves, an MI-6 officer assigned to liaise with NCIS during these troubled times.

NCIS: Los Angeles [ edit ]

The Office of Special Projects is an elite counter-terrorist division of NCIS, and is responsible for threats pertaining to national security, as well as high-profile murders and cases that require undercover work. Under the supervision of Operations Manager Hetty Lange, a master of disguise and prop-artisan, OSP is led by G. Callen, a street kid turned Special Agent with a desire to find out who he is. Callen works alongside Kensi Blye, a forensic specialist and the daughter of a marine; Dominic Vail, an M.I.T. graduate and a computer-whiz; Marty Deeks, an LAPD Detective recruited to serve as liaison to OSP; Nell Jones, an Intelligence Analyst with the highest IQ at NCIS; Eric Beale, an awkward technician and one half of the technical dream-team; Nate Getz, a deep-cover operative and Operational Psychologist seconded to team team; Sam Hanna, a former SEAL and a family man who met his wife on the job; and laconic Assistant Director Owen Granger. The team are overseen both bureaucratically and operationally by Executive Assistant Director for Pacific Operations (EAD-PAC) Shay Mosley.

NCIS: New Orleans [ edit ]

The New Orleans NCIS team is headed by Special Agent Dwayne Cassius Pride, a seasoned operative known as "King" to his friends. He's a former Sheriff's Deputy with the second highest arrest record in the history of Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office. Tasked with heading a small satellite squad who handle Naval and Marine related cases in Pensacola, Fla., through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle, Pride supervises Christopher LaSalle, an agent recruited from the New Orleans Police Department's Vice Division, who is well known for his volunteer work at the children's hospital; Meredith Brody, a senior career agent who earned her stripes afloat, and later became the youngest agent in the history of NCIS Midwest; Sonja Percy, a former undercover ATF agent who joined the team to come in from the dark; and former FBI agent Tammy Gregorio, recruited to the team after heading an investigation into their ethics and operations. Together, the team are assisted by forensics agent Sebastian Lund, who transitioned from the lab to the field; Loretta Wade, a Jefferson Parish coroner; with Patton Plame, an NCIS computer specialist and Necar Zadegan as Hannah Khoury, an NCIS Senior Agent.

Series [ edit ]

All of the series were spin off with a two-part episode from another series used as a backdoor pilot.

Proposed spin-off [ edit ]

In 2012, CBS commissioned a pilot episode for a potential NCIS: Los Angeles spinoff titled NCIS: Red.[6] Written and produced by Shane Brennan, the series would follow "a mobile team of agents who live and work together as they go across the country to solve crimes".[6] On February 6, 2013 John Corbett was cast as retired special agent Roy, the series male lead.[7] Earlier, CBS had confirmed that Miguel Ferrer would join the cast as a series regular, reprising his NCIS: Los Angeles role,[8] while Edwin Hodge had been cast as Kai, an intelligence analyst.[9] On February 8, 2013 Scott Grimes was cast as Dave,[10] and Gillian Alexy was cast as Claire.[11] Kim Raver was the last actor cast in the pilot, playing the lead role of Paris.[12] The pilot episodes, titled "Red" and "Red-2", aired on March 19 and March 26, 2013, during NCIS: Los Angeles' fourth season. On May 15, 2013, CBS announced that the pilot would not be taken to series.[13] On May 21, 2013 CBS President Nina Tassler stated that "sometimes [spinoffs] work and sometimes they don't. Protecting [the franchise] was really important."[14] CBS was reportedly "open to redeveloping the pilot with a new cast attached",[14] though a second franchise appearance by Scott Grimes in 2017 remains the only continuation of Red to date.

Main cast [ edit ]

Series Actor Character Duration Appearances Franchise Universe[a] NCIS[b] L.A.[c] N.O.[d] JAG[e] H 5-0 [f] Scorpion NCIS 2003– Main Guest Guest 2003–05; 2011 2003–16 Guest Guest Guest 2003–18 2003– 2003– 2005–13 2005–08 2008– Guest Guest 2003– 2013– 2016– 2016–17 2016–18 2017– 2018– NCIS: Los Angeles 2009– Guest Main Guest 2009–17 2009– Guest 2009–10 2009– Guest Guest 2009– Guest 2009– Guest 2010– 2010– 2012–17 2017–18 2013- Roy|Haines|List Of NCIS: Red Character#Roy Haines 2013- 2014– Guest Main 2014– 2014–16 2014– 2014– Guest Patton Plame 2014– Sonja Percy 2015–18 Guest Tammy Gregorio 2016– Hannah Khoury 2018–

Notes

Crossovers [ edit ]

This is a complete list of all crossovers, both within the franchise and out of it. All characters, main, recurring, and shared guest stars, are credited.

Within the NCIS franchise [ edit ]

Outside the NCIS franchise [ edit ]

Universe [ edit ]

The NCIS franchise, born of "JAG," shares a television universe with "Scorpion" (via a direct crossover with "Los Angeles"), "First Monday" (via an indirect crossover with "JAG"), "Hawaii Five-0" (via a direct crossover with "Los Angeles"), "MacGyver" (via an indirect crossover with "Hawaii Five-0"), "Magnum P.I." (via an indirect crossover with "Hawaii Five-0"), and "JAG" itself (via crossovers with "NCIS" and "Los Angeles").

Notes

^ In Hawaiian, the title means "The Good Fight". ^ In Hawaiian, the title means "Touch of Death".

Theme songs [ edit ]

Series Theme song NCIS "NCIS Theme" NCIS: Los Angeles "No Crew Is Superior" NCIS: New Orleans "Boom Boom"

Games [ edit ]

NCIS: Hidden Crimes [ edit ]

On September 15, 2016, Ubisoft launched a hidden-object mobile game titled NCIS: Hidden Crimes. Developed by Ubisoft in conjunction with CBS Interactive, the game was released for Android & iOS device.[16]

NCIS TV movies [ edit ]

In the UK, certain NCIS multi-part episodes were edited together to make a combined feature and shown on Channel 5, 5USA, CBS Action and Fox UK. These include: