NCIS is an American television drama that has aired on CBS since September 23, 2003. It was a spin-off series of JAG.
The series has spawned two spin-off series, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.
Synopsis
Set in Washington, D.C., "NCIS" is about a special unit of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that catches wrongdoers with Navy or Marine Corps ties.
Cast
- Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs
- Michael Weatherly as Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Season 1-13)
- Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto (Season 1-15)
- Sean Murray as Timothy McGee (Season 2-current, recurring season 1)
- David McCallum as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard
- Cote de Pablo as Ziva David (Seasons 3-11)
- Emily Wickersham as Ellie Bishop (Seasons 11-current)
- Rocky Carroll as Director Leon Vance (Season 6-current, recurring season 5)
- Lauren Holly as Director Jenny Shepard (Seasons 3-5)
- Sasha Alexander as Caitlin "Kate" Todd (Seasons 1-2)
- Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer (Season 10-current, recurring season 2-9)
- Wilmer Valderrama as Nicolas "Nick" Torres (Season 14-current)
- Jennifer Esposito as Alexandra Quinn (Season 14)
- Duane Henry as Clayton Reeves (Season 14-15)
- Maria Bello as Jacqueline "Jackie" Sloane (Season 15.4-current)
Seasons overview
| Season | Episodes | First air date | Last air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intro | 2 | April 22, 2003 | April 29, 2003 | |
| Season 1 | 23 | September 23, 2003 | May 25, 2004 | |
| Season 2 | 23 | September 28, 2004 | May 24, 2005 | |
| Season 3 | 24 | September 20, 2005 | May 16, 2006 | |
| Season 4 | 25 | September 19, 2006 | May 22, 2007 | |
| Season 5 | 19 | September 25, 2007 | May 20, 2008 | |
| Season 6 | 22 | September 23, 2008 | May 19, 2009 | |
| Season 7 | 24 | September 22, 2009 | May 25, 2010 | |
| Season 8 | 24 | September 21, 2010 | May 17, 2011 | |
| Season 9 | 24 | September 20, 2011 | May 15, 2012 | |
| Season 10 | 24 | September 25, 2012 | May 14, 2013 | |
| Season 11 | 24 | September 24, 2013 | May 13, 2014 | |
| Season 12 | 24 | September 23, 2014 | May 12, 2015 | |
| Season 13 | 24 | September 22, 2015 | May 17, 2016 | |
| Season 14 | 24 | September 20, 2016 | May 16, 2017 | |
| Season 15 | 24 | September 26, 2017 | May 22, 2018 | |
| Season 16 | 24 | September 25, 2018 | May 21, 2019 | |
| Season 17 | 20 | September 24, 2019 | ||
Production
Name
Prior to the launch of the first season, advertisements on CBS identified the show as "Naval CIS". By the time of the launch of the first episode, NCIS was airing under the name Navy NCIS, the name it held for the entire first season. Since the "N" in NCIS stands for "Naval", the name "Navy NCIS" was redundant. The decision to use this name was reportedly made by CBS, over the objections of Bellisario, to:
- Attract new viewers (particularly those of JAG), who might not know the NCIS abbreviation
- Distinguish between NCIS and the similarly themed and similarly spelled CBS series CSI and its spinoffs. (The original title, for instance, was often misquoted and parodied as "Navy CSI", something the show itself referenced in the first episode.)
Flair
From the season-two episode "Lt. Jane Doe" onwards, the series began showing two-second-long black-and-white clips. These clips are shown at the beginning of every segment depicting the last two seconds of that segment, a segment being the five or six portions of the show meant to be separated by commercials. In the season-three premiere, "Kill Ari (Part I)", a freeze-frame shot was also used with the very end of most episodes turned into a freeze frame, as well.
Reception
Ratings
| Season | Episodes | Timeslot (EST) | Original airing | Live television ratings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | TV season | Viewers (in millions) |
Rank (viewers) |
Key demographics (18–49) | ||||
| 1st | 23 | Tuesday 8:00 PM | September 23, 2003 | May 25, 2004 | 2003–04 | 11.84 | 26th | Template:N/a | |
| 2nd | 23 | September 28, 2004 | May 24, 2005 | 2004–05 | 13.57 | 22nd | Template:N/a | ||
| 3rd | 24 | September 20, 2005 | May 16, 2006 | 2005–06 | 15.27 | 16th | Template:N/a | ||
| 4th | 24 | September 19, 2006 | May 22, 2007 | 2006–07 | 14.54 | 20th | Template:N/a | ||
| 5th | 19 | September 25, 2007 | May 20, 2008 | 2007–08 | 14.41 | 14th | Template:N/a | ||
| 6th | 25 | September 23, 2008 | May 19, 2009 | 2008–09 | 17.77 | 5th | Template:N/a | ||
| 7th | 24 | September 22, 2009 | May 25, 2010 | 2009–10 | 19.33 | 4th | 4.1 | ||
| 8th | 24 | September 21, 2010 | May 17, 2011 | 2010–11 | 19.46 | 5th | 4.1 | ||
| 9th | 24 | September 20, 2011 | May 15, 2012 | 2011–12 | 19.49 | 3rd | 4.01 | ||
| 10th | 24 | September 25, 2012 | May 14, 2013 | 2012–13 | 21.34 | 1st | 4.0 | ||
| 11th | 24 | September 24, 2013 | May 13, 2014 | 2013–14 | 19.77 | 3rd | 3.3 | ||
| 12th | 24 | September 23, 2014 | May 12, 2015 | 2014–15 | 18.25 | 3rd | |||
| 13th | 24 | September 22, 2015 | May 17, 2016 | 2015–16 | 16.61 | 3rd | 2.2 | ||
| 14th | 24 | September 20, 2016 | May 16, 2017 | 2016–17 | 14.63 | 3rd | TBA | ||
| 15th | 24 | September 26, 2017 | May 22, 2018 | 2017–18 | |||||
| 16th | 24 | September 25, 2018 | May 21, 2019 | 2018-19 | |||||
| 17th | 20 | September 24, 2019 | 2019-20 | ||||||
Awards and Achievements
Throughout its run, "NCIS" has received many awards and nominations since it premiered on September 23, 2003 including the ALMA Awards, ASCAP Awards, BMI Film & TV Awards, Emmy Awards and the People's Choice Awards.
External links
- NCIS Database on Fandom
- NCIS on Facebook
- NCIS on Wikipedia
Videos
