The long-running NCIS on CBS received an exciting news on the premiere date for the upcoming Season 21.
The longest-running live-action scripted prime-time TV series outside of Law & Order and its spin-off, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is NCIS, which was first created as a spin-off from JAG.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service continues its work around the world in this series, which has produced over 450 episodes and currently stars 20-year veteran Sean Murray in addition to Rocky Carroll, Gary Cole, Wilmer Valderrama, and others.
When Will NCIS Season 21 Release on CBS?
According to Deadline, NCIS Season 21’s writers room debuted on October 2, making the show’s run the seventh-longest scripted U.S. TV show in history. This is due to the official end of the Writers Guild of America strike, even if the SAG-AFTRA strike is still going on.
From 2003 until 2022, CBS broadcast the first episode of NCIS’s seasons in late September. The lone exception was Season 18, which began its 16-episode run in November 2020 since the COVID-19 epidemic was only getting begun.
For its filming time frame, Season 20 kicked off its production schedule on July 14, 2022 and premiered just over two months later (September 19, 2022) on CBS. Season 21 was then greenlit for production on February 21, 2023. Should the SAG-AFTRA strike reach a resolution and allow filming to start either in late 2023 or early 2024, NCIS Season 21 will most likely begin airing either in March or April 2024.
What Will Happen in NCIS’s Next Season?
Over the past two years, NCIS has undergone significant changes, including the departure of Pauley Perrette after Season 15 and the departure of previous leading man Mark Harmon in early Season 19. In more recent times, the 90-year-old David McCallum, who was credited as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in every one of the first 457 episodes, died. The longest-running star of the show bids his final farewell in the first few episodes of Season 21, which will be the first season without McCallum as a cast member.
Perrette shared an emotional message on her Instagram paying tribute to her late co-star, sending him love and dubbing him “a legend:”
“Oh David. What a life. What a legend. What a journey. And your legacy will always be the love you have for your family. Love to katherine and the kids and the grandkids, your absolutely very favorite things.”
Wilmer Valderrama echoed those same sentiments on his own Instagram, calling it “an immense honor to share the screen” with the industry icon:
David, what an immense honor it was to share the screen with you. Your professionalism and ability to effortlessly take every one of us on a journey through your art will be felt forever. I will miss you my friend.”
After replacing Ducky in Season 15, Brian Dietzen’s Dr. Jimmy Palmer will continue his tenure as the NCIS’s Chief Medical Examiner, moving the narrative forward alongside his seasoned co-stars. The other important topic to think about is how much longer NCIS can continue after 20 years of action, during which time the show launched four different spin-off shows. But given that the series is still among the top five most watched TV shows on television as of 2023 (according to Variety), it is apparent that there is still a need for the Navy’s finest sleuths.