The NCIS franchise is one of the longest-running and most successful TV franchises, and it’s far from being over, meaning that there are a lot of episodes to watch and many more to come. NCIS, the CBS military police procedural series, is even still on the air as of the writing of this article, and it’s unclear when or if it will be canceled. Perhaps the NCIS universe will never truly go away, and people will still be watching iconic characters such as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Tony DiNozzo, and Ziva David on their TV screens for many more years to come.
With seven TV shows under its belt (not including JAG),the NCIS franchise has produced over 1,000 episodes and 46 seasons spread out over all of its series. As a result, taking on a full watch from beginning to end (at least, of what has been released) might sound like a daunting task. Fortunately, although a complete guide to watching all NCIS shows in order is lengthy and detailed, it’s fairly easy to follow the sequence of events in this fictional universe.
All NCIS Shows In Release Order
NCIS Was A Spinoff Of JAG
The NCIS universe technically began in JAG, but the 1990s legal drama isn’t in the franchise. NCIS served as a spinoff to JAG, and its backdoor pilot aired during season 8 in April 2003. The two-hour event introduced JAG fans to Mark Harmon’s Gibbs and his team, including Michael Weatherly as Tony, Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto, Alan Dale as Thomas Morrow, and David McCallum as Donald Mallard. Five months later, NCIS premiered and has been a success ever since. Its spinoffs include NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawai’i, NCIS: Sydney, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
NCIS Shows In Chronological Order (Including Upcoming Spinoffs)
An NCIS Prequel Premieres In 2024
The chronological order of NCIS lines up with its release order for the most part. However, with NCIS: Origins premiering in the fall of 2024, the timeline will contradict that a little bit. The upcoming military police procedural series will serve as a prequel to the original show and focus on Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs during the early days of his career when he was a special agent at the Camp Pendleton branch of the NIS.
Auston Stowell will play the younger version of Gibbs, while Harmon is expected to narrate. So, since NCIS: Origins takes place in 1991, the upcoming show obviously takes place before all the other series.
How To Watch NCIS’ Crossover Episodes
The NCIS Franchise Features Numerous Crossovers
Over the course of over 40 seasons and 1,000 episodes, the NCIS TV shows have crossed over quite a few times. Whether it involved only two series or three, NCIS has had its fair share of crossovers and there will probably be plenty more in the future, especially with the upcoming spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Plus, given the fact that the majority of them air on CBS (except for NCIS: Sydney and NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which both are or will be on Paramount+), it’s fairly easy to plan crossovers.
Can You Watch NCIS Without Watching JAG First?
JAG Isn’t Necessary To Watch NCIS
Even though NCIS is technically a spinoff of JAG, one doesn’t have to watch the older series to understand NCIS. Perhaps watching JAG season 8, episodes 20 and 21 would be informative, given they serve as NCIS’s backdoor pilot. However, as for the other 225 episodes of JAG, it isn’t necessary to see them to understand what is happening in the NCIS franchise. Characters from JAG sometimes appear in shows like NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles. But a viewer wouldn’t be completely confused if they aren’t familiar with the JAG characters — the references would just fly over their heads, and that’s okay.
Do You Need To Watch NCIS To Understand The Spinoffs?
NCIS’s Procedural Nature Makes Watching Easy
Since NCIS is a procedural franchise, none of the shows are obligatory to watch in order to tune in to others. Of course, it would be helpful to watch NCIS and be familiar with Gibbs’ story before diving into NCIS: Origins. However, the other spinoffs aren’t explicitly tied to the parent series.
The backdoor pilots for NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans in NCIS would probably be the most essential episodes to watch, though, if one wants to watch either spinoff.
Things may get a bit confusing when crossovers come around. But given how many episodes are in each TV show, it’s fine to miss out on some plot points that are tied to other series during these events. The backdoor pilots for NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans in NCIS would probably be the most essential episodes to watch, though, if one wants to watch either spinoff.