It seems NCIS fans are going to have to wait longer than anticipated for the returns of NCIS, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney.
Originally, CBS had announced that the three NCIS shows would be coming back on Tuesday, February 24 after taking an extended break. However, that plan has been thrown out the window thanks to President Donald Trump, who has announced he will be giving his State of the Union address on the final Tuesday of the month.
With President Trump delivering his annual address to Congress on February 24, CBS will push the returns of NCIS, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney back a week to make room for special CBS News coverage of the State of the Union address. The NCIS series will then return on Tuesday, March 3 beginning with the NCIS winter premiere at 8/7c, followed by the NCIS: Origins winter premiere, and ending with the NCIS: Sydney winter premiere at 10/9c.
The move is certainly disappointing for fans as it means the wait for new episodes will continue for a week longer than anticipated, with the shows being off the air for over 10 weeks. The news is particularly disappointing for NCIS: Sydney fans as it means 12 weeks will have passed between when its final episode aired because its fall finale was pulled just hours before its planned broadcast on December 16. At the time, little information was provided about the decision, but TVLine has since confirmed the decision to pull the fall finale was the result of the Bondi Beach shooting which occurred in Sydney, Australia on December 14.
When the NCIS shows finally resume their current seasons on March 3, the good news is that fans should not expect many interruptions in the airing of the remaining episodes. With NCIS, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney all signing off the air in mid-December and not returning until the first week of March, CBS will likely air the shows' remaining episodes with little interruption.
This means fans should get to see new episodes airing consistently once NCIS, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney return through their finales, which are likely to air sometime in mid-to-late May.
In the meantime, fans can catch up on the current seasons of all three shows on Paramount+, which is the streaming home to the NCIS series. With an extra week in the break, there is plenty of time for fans who fell behind to catch up before new episodes begin, as well as for all fans to enjoy a rewatch of the first episodes of the current seasons before new episodes arrive.