NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is a media franchise of American television programs originally created by Donald P. Bellisario and currently broadcast on CBS, all of which deal with military related criminal investigations based on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Department of the Navy, which includes the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.

In 2003, NCIS was introduced via a backdoor pilot, from the TV show JAG with NCIS in turn spinning off NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans in 2009 and 2014, respectively. NCIS: Los Angeles had a proposed spin-off, but it was later not picked up by CBS.

As of May 19, 2015, 449 episodes of the NCIS franchise have aired. The main NCIS series is the longest-running of franchise concluding its twelfth season and premiering season thirteen on September 22, 2015.

Overview

NCIS, voted America's favorite Television Series in 2011,^[1] finished its tenth season as the most-watched television series in the U.S. during 2012–13^[2] and is broadcast in over 200 territories worldwide.^[3] As of the end of the 2014–15 TV season, NCIS remains TV's most watched drama series.^[4] Spin-off NCIS: New Orleans ended its first season as the second most watched drama on CBS,^[4] and the fifth most watched series on TV. NCIS: Los Angeles ended its fifth season as the fourth most watched series on TV, and the second most watched drama.^[5]

JAG

JAG follows Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., and his partner Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, as they prosecute and defend cases within the jurisdiction of the Navy's Judge Advocate General corps. Harm, a naval aviator who was reassigned following a diagnosis of night-blindness, and his successive partners - Commander Caitlin Pike, a strewed judge advocate; Lieutenant Meg Austin, a junior naval officer with a passion for justice; and Mac, a highly skilled investigator and JAG's Chief of Staff - travels the world, enforcing the laws of the US armed forces, under the supervision of Admiral A.J. Chegwidden, and working alongside Commander Sturgis Turner, Lieutenant Bud Roberts, and Petty Officer Jennifer Coates.

NCIS

NCIS follows the work of the Major Case Response Team, stationed out of Washington, D.C. Supervised by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a former Gunnery Sergeant and a widower, the team specializes in crime scene examination, and the investigation of murders. The MCRT also includes Special Agent Caitlin Todd, who earned her stripes protecting the President as a member of the Secret Service; Anthony DiNozzo, a former Baltimore detective; Timothy McGee, a computer specialist and M.I.T. graduate; Ziva David, a former Mossad assassin; and Ellie Bishop, an NSA Security Analyst turned rookie agent. Primarily dealing with cases along the East Coast, and acting under the director supervision of successive NCIS Directors Jenny Shepard and Leon Vance, the team is supported by Abigail Sciuto, a forensic specialist; Jimmy Palmer, an Assistant Medical Examiner dubbed the "autopsy gremlin", and Ducky Mallard, a season Chief M.E. and long-time friend of Gibbs.

NCIS: Los Angeles

The Office of Special Projects is an elite counter-terrorist division of NCIS, and is responsible for threats pertaining to national security, as well as high profile murder cases, and cases with an undercover element. Working under the supervision of Assistant Director Owen Granger, OSP is headed by Operations Manager Hetty Lange, a master of disguise and prop-artisan, and G. Callen, a long time friend of Gibbs, and a street kid turned Special Agent with a desire to find out who he is. Callen works alongside Kensi Blye, a forensic specialist and the daughter of a marine; Dominic Vail, an M.I.T. graduate and a computer-whiz; Marty Deeks, an LAPD Detective recruited to liaise with OSP; Nell Jones, an Intelligence Analyst with the highest IQ at NCIS; Eric Beale, an awkward technician and one half of the technical dream-team; and Nate Getz, a deep-cover operative and Operational Psychologist seconded to Hetty's team. Callen's partner is former SEAL Sam Hanna, a family man who met his wife on the job.

NCIS: New Orleans

The New Orleans NCIS team is headed by Special Agent Dwayne Cassius Pride, a seasoned Special Agent known as "King" to his friends. He's a former Sheriff's Deputy with the second highest arrest record in the history of JPSO. Tasked with heading a small satellite squad who handle Naval and Marine related cases in Pensacola, Fla., through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle, Pride supervises Chris LaSalle, an agent recruited from the New Orleans Police Department's Vice Division, who is well known for his volunteer work at the children's hospital; Meredith Brody, a senior career agent who earned her stripes afloat, and later became the youngest agent in the history of NCIS Midwest; and Sonja Percy, a former undercover ATF agent who joined the team to come in from the dark. They work alongside Medical Examiner Loretta Wade, a Jefferson Parish Coroner; Patton Plame, an NCIS Computer Specialist; and Sebastian Lund, a forensic scientist who works with Wade.

Series

All of the series were spun off with a two-part episode from another series used as a backdoor pilot.

Proposed spin-off

NCIS: Red was a proposed spin-off of NCIS: Los Angeles. The series was to follow a group of elite agents, supervised by SSA Paris Summerskill (Kim Raver), as they travel from port to port investigating crimes within NCIS' jurisdiction when regular NCIS agents were not available to do so. CBS declined to pick up the series but stated they would not be opposed to reconsidering if it was reconfigured to feature a different cast. Other series regulars would have included John Corbett, Scott Grimes, Edwin Hodge and Gillian Alexy. Grimes had previously guest starred on NCIS. Alexy later recurred on NCIS: New Orleans.

Main cast

Notes

Crossovers

This is a complete list of all crossovers, both within the franchise and out of it. All characters, main, recurring, and shared guest stars, are credited.

Within the NCIS franchise

Outside the NCIS franchise

Notes

Theme songs

NCIS TV movies

In the UK, certain NCIS multi-part episodes were edited together to make a combined feature and shown on Channel 5, 5USA, CBS Action and Fox UK. These include:

References