NCIS: Origins is an American police procedural television series, and the sixth installment in the NCIS franchise. It is a prequel to the original series and follows a younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs during his early career years as a Probationary NIS Agent while still processing the trauma of the murder of his wife and daughter.
In February 2025, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 14, 2025.[1][2][3][4] In January 2026, it was renewed for a third season,[5] which premiered on October 6, 2026.[6]
Synopsis
NCIS: Origins follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs in 1991, a decade prior to the events of NCIS. NCIS: Origins is narrated by the older Gibbs. In the series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.[7]
Mark Harmon reprises his role as the older Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a now-retired veteran NCIS agent who provides voice-over context for each episode (Voice-over season 1–present, guest season 1-2, main: season 3)
Patrick Fischler as Special Agent in Charge Cliff Wheeler, head of NIS's Pendleton Office[10]
Julian Black Antelope as Chief Medical Examiner Témet Téngalkat, an unfazed, experienced ME with the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office who works alongside NIS; he is a member of the Payómkawichum tribe and the uncle of Tish Kwa'la
Michael Harney as Richard Kowalski, the NIS evidence custodian, who used to be Army chaplain and POW during the Korean War
Daniel Bellomy as Herman "Herm" Daniels, an NIS agent acting as the evidence custodian's assistant[8]
Bobby Moynihan as Woodrow "Woody" Browne, a forensic analyst
Ely Henry as Philip Elertson, a chemist who works with Woody
Matthew Henerson as Carl Loughlin, an NIS agent
Eric Normington as Roger Murphy, a former NIS agent who had a gambling problem
Aaron Wilton as Special Agent JJ Henneberry, an NIS agent
Claire Berger as Lara Macy. Lala's friend; military police investigator (played by Louise Lombard in the original series)
Adam Campbell as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, a liaison from D.C. headquarters and an old acquaintance of Gibbs (played by David McCallum in the original series). Campbell reprises the role after portraying the young Ducky in four episodes of the original series.[12]
Kelly Albanese as Julie Larsen, Lala's sister
Thomas Crawford as Dr. Walter Magnus, Medical Examiner with NIS Headquarters at the Navy Yard in D.C. and NIS Chief Medical Examiner before Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (played by Bob Newhart in the original series)
NCIS: Origins was announced in January 2024, with franchise mainstays Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North acting as showrunners. The series is executive produced by Mark Harmon and his son Sean Harmon, who had played a younger Gibbs in flashback sequences on the original show.[14] The series was included on CBS's 2024–25 primetime schedule in May 2024. CBS said Mark Harmon would narrate and executive produce the series, with Sean Harmon, David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal also executive producing.[15] The show is filmed on a 1990s era recreated set of Camp Pendleton, built at Fort MacArthur, a former Army installation in San Pedro.[16]
On November 7, 2024, CBS ordered five additional episodes of the first season, bringing the season to 18 episodes.[22] In January 2026, Gina Lucita Monreal announced that she would leave the series after the second season, with David J. North continuing as the sole showrunner for the third season.[23]
On June 30, 2026 it was announced that NCIS: Los Angeles star Eric Christian Olsen would join the show as executive producer in season 3.[24] It was also announced that Harmon would actively reprise his role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs for the season, appearing in all 10 episodes of the third season.[25][26][27]
Release
The series premiered on October 14, 2024, on CBS.[28][29] The first season consists of 18 episodes. Its episodes stream on Paramount+. In Canada, the series airs on Global and is streaming on StackTV.[30] In Southeast Asia, the series airs on AXN Asia.
For the 2026–27 television season, CBS scheduled the third season for Tuesdays at 10:00p.m., after NCIS and NCIS: New York.[31] The third season was reported to have a reduced episode order.[32]
Reception
Pre-release
Following the announcement of NCIS: Origins, fellow spinoff NCIS: Hawaiʻi was canceled after three seasons due to low ratings and budget cuts. This led to angered fans boycotting Origins.[33]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 88% approval rating for the first season.[34]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 62 out of 100 based on eight critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[35] Following the cancellation of NCIS: Hawaiʻi, some fans criticized CBS's decision to add another NCIS franchise series.[33]
Ratings
Season 1
Viewership and ratings per episode of NCIS: Origins
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