NCIS, which began airing in 2003 and recently finished its 21st season on CBS, is a military police procedural about a team of special agents who solve crimes that are perpetrated against or somehow involve members of the Navy and Marine Corps. NCIS began as a singular show about NCIS agents in the Washington, D.C., area, and over time, it has expanded into a multiple-show franchise. For the last 21 seasons, the show has been one of the most popular police procedurals on television, holding on to fans even through cast turnover, and recently, the franchise aired its 1,000th episode.
Currently, the NCIS team is run by Alden Parker (Gary Cole), who joined the NCIS team after being fired from the FBI for not arresting Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), the former head of the NCIS Major Case team, in Season 19. Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), who joined the team early in Season 1, is the second-in-command on the team. The rest of the team includes former undercover agent Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), former REACT (Regional Enforcement Action Capabilities Training Team) member Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), medical examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), and Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover), the team’s forensic scientist. As the show heads into its 22nd season, it appears to only be getting better.
What Does NCIS Stand For?
- During the opening credits of NCIS, there is a note that reads, “The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is a worldwide federal law enforcement organization whose mission is to protect and serve the Navy and Marine Corps and their families.”
NCIS isn’t just the name of CBS’s popular show; it’s also the name of the department where the characters work – and it’s the name of a real government department. NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and is an investigative branch within the Department of the Navy (DON). NCIS is responsible for criminal investigations involving the entities of the Navy and the U. S. Marine Corps (USMC), their service members, and affiliated civilian personnel. Most of the investigators in NCIS are civilians, and many of them were previously members of the military. These Special Agents are given the authority to investigate criminal acts in alignment with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the criminal laws under the United States Code (USC) that collide with DON rules and regulations.
The real NCIS was formed in December 1993 when the NIS (Naval Investigative Service) was dismantled after an investigative scandal. At a 1991 Naval Aviators reunion, known as the Tailhook Symposium, in Las Vegas, dozens of female military personnel and civilians were sexually harassed and assaulted by officers and other enlisted staff. Both the Navy and the Department of Defense Inspector General’s Office were tasked with investigating, and both investigations were deemed failures. Most of the involved officers and personnel received non-judicial punishments related to “conduct unbecoming of an officer” and false statement charges. Not a single officer was disciplined for sexual assault. As a result of the botched investigations, the Department of Defense overhauled the NIS and turned it into NCIS, where civilian leadership and civilian personnel were prioritized.
How Real is CBS’ NCIS?
- One of the most unique things about the real NCIS is that it is a civilian-run agency dealing with military crimes within the Navy and Marine Corps, making it much more objective than other military justice agencies.
As is true with any police procedural, there are aspects of the show that are true to life and aspects that are highly exaggerated. The producers and writers of NCIS often communicate with staff at the real NCIS to ensure they are handling their cases as authentically as possible, but there are still some major differences. The real NCIS doesn’t have a medical examiner or forensic scientist on hand like the agents do in the show, nor does the real NCIS struggle with quite as many jurisdictional issues as the team on NCIS seems to have.
Just like on the CBS show, the real NCIS agents are equivalent to civilian detectives but focus on the Navy and Marine Corps. The difference is that the real NCIS agents have a mission much broader than the one suggested in the show. The real NCIS also deals with general and economic crime, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and crime prevention. They’re typically not first on the scene and are only called once it is determined that someone from the Navy or USMC is involved. Real NCIS agents have been interviewed about the show, and many of them say they enjoy it, even if it isn’t 100% true to life.
The Development of NCIS
- Mark Harmon, who led NCIS from the beginning, let the producers know that he was considering leaving the show at the end of Season 18. The decision was made to cancel the show if he left. He instead agreed to come back in a limited capacity rather than have the rest of the cast put out of work.
NCIS technically began as a spinoff of the show JAG, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 1996 and then on CBS from 1997 to 2005. JAG, which stands for Judge Advocate General, is also a show about criminal justice in the Navy and starred David James Elliott and Catherine Bell. Judge advocates are uniformed lawyers who serve the country as part of the Department of the Navy. They prosecute and defend criminal cases under the jurisdiction of the UCMJ and advise on military operational law.
Both JAG and NCIS were created by Donald Bellisario, whose daughter is Troian Bellisario, best known for playing Spencer Hastings on the teen drama Pretty Little Liars, and whose stepson, Sean Murray, who plays Tim McGee on NCIS. Bellisario had begun to develop NCIS when he saw Mark Harmon’s four-episode guest spot on NBC’s The West Wing as Secret Service agent Simon Donovan and decided he wanted Harmon to star on the show. Bellisario brought Harmon on to JAG and used the episodes as a backdoor pilot for NCIS. Bellisario retired in 2007, reportedly due to disagreements with Harmon, and Harmon retired in 2021. Both men remain executive producers on the show.
NCIS Expands Into a Franchise
NCIS Spinoffs
After six very successful seasons on CBS, the first NCIS spinoff was developed. NCIS: Los Angeles, which starred Chris O’Donnell, LL Cool J, and Eric Christian Olsen, ran for 14 seasons. In Season 11 of NCIS, there was a backdoor pilot for NCIS: New Orleans, which starred Scott Bakula and Lucas Black and ran for seven seasons. In the fall of 2021, NCIS: Hawai’i began starring Vanessa Lachey as the first woman in charge of an NCIS field office. Fans and cast members alike were disappointed to learn the show would be canceled at the end of the 2024 season after just three seasons on the air. In the fall of 2023, Paramount+ Australia began airing the first international spinoff, NCIS: Sydney, which stars and is made by Australians. It was recently picked up for a second season. There are two additional spinoffs coming soon — NCIS: Origins, which will follow Mark Harmon’s character Leroy Jethro Gibbs in his early days in NCIS, and NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which will focus on Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), fan favorites from NCIS, as they solve crimes in Europe.
NCIS recently surpassed Gunsmoke’s record for the longest-running scripted primetime television series to air on CBS. The forthcoming spinoffs will be the sixth and seventh shows of the franchise, making NCIS the second-largest franchise on television – Law & Order remains the largest with eight shows in total. Fans of the original NCIS often watch all NCIS shows that are airing, but each NCIS has picked up its own fan base as well. With 21 seasons and all those spinoffs under its belt, NCIS is an obvious television staple for police procedural fans.
