The NCIS franchise keeps growing, but even as it does, some of its shows do say goodbye. The mothership, however, isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It is, however, moving days and times in fall 2025 and will be airing in its old slot. And the good news is that in July, CBS announced exactly when it will be returning, so we know when we’ll see what’s next after the shocking finale cliffhanger.
NCIS, itself a spinoff (of JAG), will be back for its 23rd season, airing as part of CBS’s 2025-2026 lineup. The series follows a team of special agents who investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties. Read on for everything we know about Season 23, from a premiere date to the cast and more, as well as what’s going on in the franchise as a whole.
When was NCIS renewed for Season 23?
NCIS was one of nine renewals CBS handed out in February 2025.
“This season, our new and returning series continues to showcase CBS as the leader in launching and programming the biggest hits with mass appeal for broadcast and streaming viewers,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, at the time. “These returning shows represent a mix of long-standing hits and a new generation of fan favorites. In collaboration with our extraordinarily talented partners in front of and behind the camera, we look forward to delivering another successful season.”
When will NCIS Season 23 premiere?
CBS announced its fall 2025 premiere dates in July. NCIS Season 23 will premiere on Tuesday, October 14 at 8/7c. It is returning to its original time slot after airing Mondays at 9/8c since Season 19. It will be followed by NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney for an all-NCIS night.
Who’s in the NCIS Season 23 cast?
The drama stars Sean Murray (as Special Agent Timothy McGee), Wilmer Valderrama (as Special Agent Nickolas “Nick” Torres), Brian Dietzen (as Dr. Jimmy Palmer) Diona Reasonover (as Forensic Scientist Kasie Hines), Katrina Law (as Special Agent Jessica Knight), with Rocky Carroll (as NCIS Director Leon Vance) and Gary Cole (as NCIS Special Agent Alden Parker). So far, there’s been nothing said to suggest that all of them won’t return for Season 23 since the finale ended with all their characters alive and still with the agency.
How did NCIS Season 22 end?
Parker faced off with his longtime nemesis, mob boss Carla Marino (Rebecca De Mornay), who kidnapped him and told him killing him — she blamed him for her son’s death, since the agent had informed him of her criminal activity — would be too easy. Instead, Parker arrived him to find his father dead.
What will happen in NCIS Season 23?
An official description has yet to be announced, but we will see the aftermath of Parker finding his father dead, and executive producer Steven D. Binder told TV Insider that he won’t be in a good place.
“He’s going to be destructed and he’s going to be out for revenge and out for blood in a way that it will seem very atypical for someone like him, not a way you’d expect a character like him to behave and yet entirely motivated and justified,” he previewed. “We had some precedents in the past in our show with this. Gibbs [Mark Harmon] was a man on fire when his wife and daughter were killed. Bishop [Emily Wickersham] was a woman on fire when someone was attempted to kill Torres. We’re going to see some of that.”
We can’t forget that Parker is the leader of the team, and Binder revealed that his agents will try to help. “You’ll have a team trying to protect him, trying to talk him off a ledge, possibly getting between him and his target in a really uncomfortable turn of events,” he teased. “It’s going to create a ton of conflict as it had in the past when we’ve had other people on our staff on fire. … Last time Bishop was in this position and her target ire ended up dead, you’re left with a very strong notion that the reason Bishop didn’t go all the way to kill him was because Gibbs got to him first. … It’s protected her from making a wrong decision by going and making the wrong decision first. It’s f**ked up, and I think we’re going to see some of that.”
The finale also sets up a mystery involving Parker’s mother’s original death certificate. Palmer “saw something in the data that makes him think the conclusion in that autopsy was not accurate. And by implications, since we’re a cop show and not a kids’ show, someone’s covering something up,” said Binder.
In general, he shared, “We’re really hoping to dive into our characters and their lives and their journeys and their pain in a way that we have not done before — or have done before, but have done it more in a back burner secondary to the crime of the week. And I think seeing how Parker — the ignition on Parker is the start of that. That’s no small hiccup in the man’s life.”
Is there an NCIS Season 23 trailer?
Not yet. It’s too early.
Which other NCIS shows are airing in the 2025-2026 season?
NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney were both renewed, for Seasons 2 and 3, respectively, at the same time as NCIS in February. Plus, there’s a new spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, featuring Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo reprising their roles from the mothership, coming to Paramount+ in fall 2025.
