The NCIS franchise has been a hallmark of the police procedural genre since its CBS debut nearly 20 years ago. The original series has branched out with several spin-offs, emulating earlier procedural franchises such as Law & Order and CSI. The franchise has collectively produced nearly 1,000 episodes and has aired in multiple countries around the world. With these multiple adaptations comes multiple timeslots, so keeping track of when and where each series airs can be confusing.

In recent years, a popular trend among broadcast networks involves scheduling franchises with multiple series together on the same night. NBC was the first to do this for “Chicago Wednesday” in 2018 with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD. They would later do the same on Thursdays with the iconic Law & Order franchise. CBS followed suit and set up the FBI franchise on Tuesdays. Strangely enough, NCIS has never had all of its series scheduled for the same day. Given the franchise’s longevity and relatively high ratings, this may seem like a missed opportunity for CBS.

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Here, we’ll look at the current airing series, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: Hawai’i, as well as the upcoming spin-off NCIS: Sydney, and where and when audiences can watch them.

NCIS

     CBS

The flagship series in the franchise, the original NCIS, has been airing since September 23, 2003, and is currently in its landmark 20th season. One of the highest-rated shows in its heyday, it was one of the last broadcast series that could still achieve more than 10 million live viewers in recent years. In fact, not a single episode dropped under 10 million viewers until season 18.

Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs led the Major Case Response Team at the real-life Naval Criminal Investigative Service for 19 of the show’s 20 seasons. Harmon exited the series in 2021, leading to Gary Cole replacing him as Alden Parker.

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For its first 18 seasons, NCIS aired in one timeslot, Tuesdays at 8 pm on CBS. It was one of the longest uninterrupted airings of one series in the same timeslot in American broadcasting history. However, the addition of “FBI Tuesdays” in the fall of 2021 necessitated a change for the Tuesday stalwart. NCIS moved to Mondays at 9 pm following sitcoms The Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola. While ratings declined with the Monday move, they improved on how CBS fared in the timeslot in previous TV seasons.

NCIS: Los Angeles

The first spin-off of the main series, NCIS: Los Angeles, debuted in 2009 and is currently in its 14th season. Los Angeles follows NCIS’s Office of Special Projects agents based in Los Angeles. Chris O’Donnell leads the cast as G. Callen, the agent-in-charge of the OSP. Daniela Ruah appears as Agent Kensi Blye, and LL Cool J stars as Sam Hanna.

When NCIS: Los Angeles premiered, it was given the Tuesday 9 pm slot immediately after the main series. It enjoyed similar high ratings in that slot before it was relocated in 2014 to make room for the then-new NCIS: New Orleans (currently the only series in the franchise to have ended). Los Angeles was relegated to Monday nights at 10 pm, where ratings significantly suffered. Two seasons later, ratings rebounded slightly when it was moved to Sunday nights at 8 pm.

LA still airs on Sunday nights today, though the timeslot has jumped from 8 to 9, then back to 8 and back to 9 before settling at 10 pm this season. However, several episodes in the fall have been pushed back or outright postponed when football runs over, resulting in some broadcasts starting as late as 10:30 pm.

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NCIS: Hawai’i

The newest entry in the franchise, NCIS: Hawai’i, premiered in 2021, a much-needed addition to CBS’s expansive Hawaii-based police procedurals (looking at you, Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I.). Vanessa Lachey stars as Jane Tennant, the first female officer-in-charge of the NCIS base in Hawaii.

Currently, while the franchise is split between Sunday and Monday nights, CBS is trying out a test “NCIS-verse” night in January. All three series will cross over for the first time and air together on Monday, January 2. If that crossover works, we might see “NCIS Mondays” sometime in the future.

NCIS: Sydney

In 2023, NCIS will expand with its first international-based series. NCIS: Sydney will be produced in Australia and air on the country’s Network 10. Sydney will then be available to stream worldwide on Paramount+ sometime after its Australian debut.