We’re all ready for the return of the NCIS franchise, after it went on its winter break in December 2025. The initial disappointing news was that we would need to wait until February 2026 for the three shows to return. Now that wait is growing longer.
The initial reason was due to the Winter Olympics. While disappointing, it made a lot of sense. We had hoped there wouldn’t be another delay, but now the NCIS franchise won’t return until March 2026.
Politics delays the NCIS franchise by an extra week
It turns out that politics can be blamed for the new delay. According to Give Me My Remote, the State of the Union Address will now air on Tuesday, Feb. 24. We’re used to this being on a Tuesday, but it’s usually in January, so we had hoped that with the later return, NCIS wouldn’t be affected by it. Well, the State of the Union Address has been moved to after the Winter Olympics.
This is the annyal address to Congress, and all the major networks will air coverage of it. We’ll see every broadcast channel pre-empt shows on the day.
So, instead, the NCIS franchise will air on Tuesday, March 3, starting at 8/7c on CBS. We’ll start with NCIS and then run into NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney. It’s still not clear if NCIS: Sydney will end up airing what was supposed to be its fall finale sometime in January or February, or if it will air that as the winter premiere now.
What to expect when the NCIS franchise returns
Both NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney have been off the air since Tuesday, Dec. 9, with Origins’ fall finale being planned for that date. It wrapped up with an impromptu wedding, as Gibbs realized that Diane was a keeper and rushed to Vegas to get married. Meanwhile, we got to see just why things are so strained between Lala and Gibbs, as it turned out he wasn’t there for her after her accident in the way others — including her CI, Tony — were.
As for NCIS: Sydney, that ended with its unplanned fall finale, due to the decision not to air the fall finale on Tuesday, Dec. 16. This was likely linked to the terrorist attack on Bondi Beach two days earlier. Until we know the plan for when the fall finale will air, we can’t really delve into what to expect when the series returns.
NCIS fans have only had to wait since Tuesday, Dec. 16. The episode ended with a reveal that Ellie Bishop is the next target, and the first for Knight as she leads her NCIS Elite team. Emily Wickersham left the series in season 18, joining Ziva’s former handler, making it clear she wanted to work in the shadows. It looks like all of that is catching up to her.
