When will 'NCIS' Season 17 Episode 6 air? Fans confused after CBS procedural takes week off
CBS' veteran procedural drama 'NCIS' took a break from airing this week. Tuesday, October 29, was supposed to be the air time for 'NCIS' season 17's, episode 6 titled 'Institutionalized', but surprisingly enough, the show didn't air, leaving a lot of fans extremely confused and concerned. Worry not, we have the answers to all your hows, whys and whens.
Instead of airing its designated episode, the procedural aired its season 16's sixth episode titled 'She', and fans took to social media to express their concerns right away. Questions mostly aligning with "Why aren’t we having a new episode?" flooded the official Twitter account of the show. Other fans expressed themselves, tweeting: "Another rerun already. They just don’t get the statement, no rerun till Memorial Day." Most expressed confusion at seeing something they had already seen before: "I thought I was about to watch a new episode of #NCIS tonight until it started looking familiar. Lol! #TooSoonForReruns"
So here's the thing. As of this year, the television season runs for 39 weeks at a stretch, and with their 20 to 24 episodes slotted for each season, sometimes, well - they go on a break to fill out the season. The most popular time is the mid-season break that happens around December to January, specifically the festive or holiday season, with shows going off-air for a couple of weeks at a stretch. At other times, shows tend to take week-offs throughout the rest of the year and 'NCIS' itself had done does back in season 16 when they went on breaks in November, December, January, March, and April.
With it being sports season and with major sporting events taking place every weekend, it makes sense for shows to take a break around this time, and people are expected to be more focused on watching the games. That is a big factor, and the other one is of course - 'sweep breaks' where TV rating companies do their due research on viewerships and viewer habits. The first season of these sweep breaks begins this coming November, and tonight was also Game 6 of the World Series air on Fox, so NCIS couldn't have gone with a better time.
'NCIS' Season 17 Episode 6 will arrive next week, on Tuesday, November 5 at 8pm/7c only on CBS.