‘NCIS’ franchise hit with major setback despite CBS’ sweeping renewal spree
The 'NCIS' franchise has been one of the most successful outputs of CBS. The procedural drama, which began in 2003 with 23 episodes, has maintained steady popularity among viewers. It branched out into multiple spin-offs, including 'NCIS: Sydney,' 'NCIS: Los Angeles,' 'NCIS: Origins,' and several others. This year, CBS renewed several shows, including those from the NCISverse. However, fans will be sad to hear that the network has decided to reduce the episode counts of the upcoming season, as reported by Deadline.
In the coming 2026–27 cycle, 'NCIS: Origins' Season 3 will only have 10 episodes, which is almost half of the current season with 18 episodes. Furthermore, 'NCIS: Sydney' Season 4's episode count has been reduced to 10 as well, which is a 50 percent reduction from Season 3. This is not a unique phenomenon for network television. 'NCIS' Season 5 had 19 episodes, while Season 18 had 16. Season 21 was significantly affected by the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, resulting in a reduced episode count of just 10. Despite the reduced number for 'NCIS: Origins' and 'NCIS: Sydney,' the network seems to have great faith in its flagship franchise. A new spinoff, titled 'NCIS: New York', was officially confirmed by CBS this April, with LL Cool J and Scott Caan in the lead roles. LL Cool J will reprise his role as Sam Hanna, while Caan will take on a new role.
His role as Sam Hanna spanned 14 seasons of 'NCIS: Los Angeles'. The character made guest appearances in the main show, most recently in episodes 17 and 18 of the ongoing season. Talking about the actor and rapper, and the new series, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach shared with CBR, "LL is like a member of our family at CBS, and he’s done pop-ins on 'NCIS' over the last two years, and it’s been really successful. And the opportunity for Sam Hanna — who is originally from New York but lived in LA for 'NCIS: LA' — to send him back home felt like a really ripe creative space to play in." Apart from 'NCIS' shows, 'Fire Country' Season 5 and 'Matlock' Season 3 will also have shorter seasons, each with only 13 episodes. The reason behind these reductions is CBS’s scripted roster for next season. Unlike other networks, it has added three new shows: 'NCIS: New York', 'Cupertino', and 'Einstein'.
