NCIS Ends Season 23 With the Agency Itself Shutting Down for Good

For more than three decades, NCIS has been a fixture of American television — the kind of show that millions of viewers built their Tuesday nights around. Now, that era is officially coming to an end. CBS has confirmed that NCIS, one of the longest-running and most-watched dramas in broadcast history, is ending its run after 22 seasons.

The original series — which first aired in 2003 as a spinoff of JAG — outlasted countless competitors, survived cast overhauls, and spawned multiple spinoffs across the globe. Its cancellation marks the close of a television chapter that genuinely may never be repeated.

If you’re a fan of the show, or simply someone who grew up with it on in the background, here’s what we know about how this story ends — and what it means for the broader NCIS universe that CBS spent years building around it.

How NCIS Became One of the Biggest Shows in TV History

It’s worth pausing to appreciate just how remarkable NCIS’s run has been. The show premiered on September 23, 2003, and at its peak became the most-watched drama series on American television — a title it held for years. That’s not a small achievement in an era when cable and streaming were constantly chipping away at broadcast audiences.

The series followed a team of special agents working for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, blending procedural crime-solving with character-driven storytelling. Mark Harmon anchored the show for nearly two decades as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs before departing in Season 19, passing the torch to Gary Cole, who joined as FBI Agent Alden Parker.

What made NCIS unusual wasn’t just its longevity — it was its consistency. Even as other long-running procedurals faded, NCIS kept drawing tens of millions of viewers per week. It became comfort television for a massive, loyal audience that tuned in reliably, season after season.

What the End of NCIS Actually Means for CBS

The cancellation of the flagship series doesn’t mean CBS is walking away from the NCIS brand entirely. Over the years, the network built out an entire franchise around the original show, and several of those spinoffs remain active.

So while the show that started it all is signing off, CBS still has a presence in the NCIS world through NCIS: Sydney and the prequel series NCIS: Origins, which explores the early years of Gibbs — played by Austin Stowell in the younger incarnation, with Mark Harmon providing narration.

The Key Facts About the Final Season

Season 22 was already underway when the cancellation news landed, which means fans are watching the final episodes in real time. A few things worth knowing:

• NCIS originally launched in 2003 as a spinoff of the legal drama JAG, which had aired on CBS since 1995 — meaning the broader story connecting these shows spans more than 30 years of television history.
• Mark Harmon, who played Gibbs for 18 seasons, remains one of the most iconic figures in the show’s history, even after his departure.
• Gary Cole stepped in as the new lead following Harmon’s exit, carrying the show through its final seasons.
• The series ran for 22 seasons — an achievement only a handful of American dramas have ever matched.
• NCIS: Origins, the active prequel, allows the franchise to continue telling Gibbs-adjacent stories even after the flagship ends.

Why This Cancellation Feels Different From Most

Most TV cancellations happen to shows that were already struggling — declining ratings, shrinking budgets, dwindling fan bases. NCIS is a different kind of ending. This is a show that, even in its later seasons, continued to attract substantial audiences at a time when traditional broadcast viewership has been eroding across the board.

That makes the decision feel more like a planned retirement than a sudden pull of the plug. CBS and the production teams had time to see this coming, which raises the possibility — though not a certainty — that the final season was crafted with some degree of intentional closure in mind. Fans who have stuck with the show through cast changes and shifting storylines will be hoping the ending honors what made it special in the first place.

There’s also a broader television context here. Broadcast networks have been under sustained pressure from streaming platforms for years, and long-running procedurals — however beloved — are expensive to produce. Ending a flagship series while keeping newer, leaner spinoffs alive is a strategy that makes financial sense, even if it stings emotionally for longtime viewers.

What Happens to the NCIS Universe From Here

The end of the original series doesn’t close the door on this world completely. NCIS: Origins is actively airing and exploring the backstory of the franchise’s most beloved character. NCIS: Sydney brings the format to an international setting and has shown that the brand can travel beyond American soil.

Whether CBS chooses to develop additional spinoffs or let the franchise breathe for a while remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the network views NCIS as an ongoing asset — just one that no longer needs its founding chapter to keep running.

For the millions of viewers who have watched since the beginning, Season 22 is the chance to say goodbye properly. That’s something not every long-running show gets to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did NCIS first premiere?
NCIS premiered on September 23, 2003, as a spinoff of the CBS legal drama JAG.

How many seasons of NCIS were made?
The show ran for 22 seasons, making it one of the longest-running dramas in American broadcast television history.

Why did Mark Harmon leave NCIS?
Mark Harmon departed the series during Season 19. The specific reasons behind his exit have not been fully detailed in the available source material.

Are any NCIS spinoffs still on the air?
Yes — NCIS: Sydney and NCIS: Origins are both currently active on CBS.

Will NCIS: Origins continue after the original series ends?
Based on available information, NCIS: Origins is an active series and is not reported to be ending alongside the flagship show.

Is Season 22 the final season of NCIS?
Yes. CBS has confirmed that Season 22 is the final season of the original NCIS series.