Who’s excited for NCIS: Origins? In anticipation of the CBS prequel — and Mark Harmon‘s return to the well-watched franchise — TVLine is breaking down everything you need to know about the newest NCIS series.
In January 2024, CBS announced a straight-to-series order for the spinoff, which will be set in the early ’90s and follow a young version of Harmon’s longtime NCIS protagonist Leroy Jethro Gibbs as a new agent at the NCIS Camp Pendleton office. The show will chronicle Gibbs’ early career as he forges his own path on a team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.
Mark Harmon will not appear in the series, but he will serve as its narrator as well as executive producer. His son, Sean Harmon, who has played Young Gibbs in NCIS flashbacks and came up with the idea for the prequel, will also serve as an EP alongside co-showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing this new chapter to life along with Mark and Sean Harmon,” Monreal and North said in a statement when the series was announced. “This really is the making of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. And even the most dedicated NCIS fans will discover that they don’t know the whole story.”
So read on to get all of your burning questions about NCIS: Origins answered, including the latest updates on characters, casting, the release date and where to watch new episodes.
NCIS: Origins is winding back the clock to 1991, where we will visit the early life of Harmon’s longtime NCIS protagonist Gibbs. CBS announced that the series will follow Young Gibbs as a “newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.”
So far, young versions of Harmon’s Gibbs, Muse Watson’s Mike Franks and Roma Maffia’s Vera Strickland have been confirmed to appear in the spinoff.
While Harmon’s real-life son Sean Harmon (pictured above) has portrayed his dad’s character in the past, Sean is focusing on producing the spinoff, and as such a new actor was cast in the role in NCIS: Origins.
Austin Stowell, whose TV credits include Secret Life of the American Teenager and Peacock’s A Friend of the Family, has been tapped to play Gibbs, beating out several TV vets (including a few named here). (Sean Harmon, who previously played Young Gibbs in a handful of NCIS episodes over the years, made the choice to focus on producing the spinoff.)
Kyle Schmid (SIX) will portray a young version of Mike Franks, the special agent originated on NCIS by Muse Watson. The character is described as “a proud Texan who all but showers in his cowboy boots and sports a perfectly coiffed mustache that’s as thick as his skin.”
Other series regulars include Mariel Molino (Promised Land) as Special Agent Lala Dominguez, a former Marine with a dark sense of humor (and whose dynamic with Gibbs is “filled with sparks”); Diany Rodriguez (The Blacklist) as Special Agent Vera Strickland, “a no-nonsense, sharp-witted Brooklynite who’s tough as nails and never minces words” (a character originated by Nip/Tuck‘s Roma Maffia in the Season 11 NCIS installment “Under the Radar”); and Tyla Abercrumbie (The Chi) as Field Operation Support Officer Mary Jo Sullivan, a “mama bear” who has wryly dubbed herself “HSIC” — Head Secretary in Charge.
Among recurring guest stars, Australian Longmire vet Robert Taylor will play Jackson Gibbs, the hard-nosed father of one-day NCIS team leader Jethro; Daniel Bellomy (Power Book II: Ghost) will play Special Agent Granville “Granny” Dawson, a “probie” who’s cutting his teeth as the Evidence Custodian’s assistant; Caleb Martin Foote (Made for Love) will fill the role of Special Agent Benjamin “Randy” Randolf, the agency’s all-too-lovable “golden boy” who is tasked with showing the newly minted Agent Gibbs the ropes; Patrick Fischler (Mad Men) will play Special Agent in Charge Cliff Walker, who oversees the agency’s fledgling Pendleton office; and Julian Black Antelope (Tribal) has been cast as Chief Medical Examiner Kai Blackrock.
The NCIS prequel series is slated to premiere this fall on CBS, airing Mondays at 10/9c (leading out of NCIS, and replacing the cancelled NCIS: Hawai’i); episodes will also be available to be live streamed on Paramount+ for those who subscribe to the premium subscription with Showtime.
For all other Paramount+ subscribers, NCIS: Origins episodes will be streamed the day after they air (as is the case with NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i.)
Want scoop on any NCIS TV show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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In 1991 wasn’t still called NIS?
Yep, and that’s used frequently in the flashbacks.
The retcons are already happening! Lol
It was but only through 1993. But to the general public who probably aren’t familiar with all the acronyms but who have heard of NCIS as just a TV show, calling it NIS would be confusing. I think there are a lot of people out there who still don’t even realize NCIS is an actual law enforcement agency.
Hence the continual “CSI” jokes.
Maybe they’ll set it in 1993, after the name change.
I want to love this, but I just can’t. I have been a fan since the JAG days, but I think this story is overstaying its welcome. Thanks to the handling of Mac and Harm and Tony and Ziva I already have major trust issues with the NCIS-verse (Kensie and Deeks can only make up for so much!), but this just feels like a rehash of what’s already been done. Part of what made the original NCIS fun was slowly peeling off the layers of the Gibbs character while still keeping an air of mystery around him. Over time we got the Gibbs origin story, and I think this is only setting us up for retcons. Now if they were to take all of the previously made Gibbs flashbacks and cut that into a miniseries putting the clips in chronological order, that would be fun.
I’m torn myself, in many ways (although it wouldn’t be NIS or NCIS) I’d like to see Gibbs before then, when he was still a marine. We know that the loss of Shannon and Kelly shaped him in to the character he became and we’ve seen his ex-wives and relationships with Jenny, the mysterious redhead and Hollis Mann, but by going earlier there’s scope to do something different with the character and a legitimate reason for him changing.
.
Surely we also need to see Dwayne Pride at some point too as the NO pilot establishes that he and Gibbs were probies together IIRC?
>Surely we also need to see Dwayne Pride at some point too as the NO pilot establishes that he and Gibbs were probies together IIRC?
This. I have to wonder if this will get overlooked or not
Maybe they’ll flashback to that time like they did in NCIS but with the new Gibbs and a new Shannon.
mmmm…I don’t know about this, not entirely sold on it. Even as a lontime NCIS fan, my head goes to Stargate: Origins, which did not fare well for a very popular franchise.
Out of the chute, they are talking about his early days at NCIS…I thought Gibbs joined NIS, which subsequently became NCIS. Are fans supposed to forget this?
Not sure how this is supposed to hook new fans. Of course, will have to get more details as it is fleshed out.
I’m wondering if they’ll get to cast Young Hetty. We know Gibbs and Callen knew each other back in 2009, which means he and Hetty obviously knew each other. I think it’d be really amusing to see how they 1st met.
And don’t forget Gibbs and Vance got into it in the early days too. They will need to be so careful to not break the already existing history.
We all know they will, as has happened in every prequel film/T.V.
This is the reason I rarely watch prequel series.
As for this one, not yet decided. I still think it be much better having new characters set in the early days of NCIS. That way the character’s we know can make guest appearances without rewriting the character history/cannon. Set on the characters we already know, we know within the first year something will be changed about whats happened in later shows..
Gibbs would never work with an abusive woman who brainwashes orphans and creates child soldiers for kicks. Having lost a child himself he’d probably shoot Hetty on principle.
A young Hetty would be hard to cast. Have to find an actress that short!
Awesome! I’m very excited about this. If the writing is strong it has great possibilities! And, as a fan of Mark Harmon from the beginning, I’ll at least get to hear his voice again, even if another actor plays the part.
I love this idea but with 20 years of Gibbs backstory in existence they will need to be so careful to not break cannon.
Would work better as a mini series on cable or streaming period dramas tend to be hit or miss on broadcast. CBS did a prequel 90s set series to a franchise with Clarice and that ended horribly.
I’ll watch if Sean Harmon (yes I heard you)plays young Gibbs. If Muse Watson is in it somehow and if that same young lady plays Shannon. You can’t improve on that. The idea is good but you almost lost me with Abby.
Sean played realIy young Gibbs but I am surprised he isn’t playing the NIS Gibbs. I did like Abby but she was always the same – never grew up. I do like Dionna though and am so glad she’s different from Abby. BUT I have no idea what this show is going to look like. I hope I am pleasantly surprised because I have to believe that Sean Harmon (who they say thought up this idea) and Mark and the other executive producers know what they’re doing.
I feel since Harmon’s son protrude Gibbs he should in the new series also.
It will be hard doing a show that is in the 90 now if they out and about technically is everywhere that u wouldn’t get in the 90
Would like to see ncis origins on NBC like the rest
they are on CBS always have been not NBC
OK how about Abby is she going to be coming back
Abby was a lot younger than Gibbs and since this takes place in Gibbs earlier days, doesn’t seem possible for Abby to be a part of it.
Why aren’t you putting NCIS Origins on CBS so we all can see it?
They are will stream the next day on Paramount
Sounds interesting. Will give it a shot. Hope they get good actors to protray the younger versions
I’m getting very excited about this new NCIS prequel! Admittedly, I’m mostly liking it because of Mark Harmon’s involvement. Hopefully, this will be a fun show AND will help soften the blow of MH leaving NCIS! I wish them success!
Forget it.I don’t do streaming costs more$. I don’t have paramount plus . I already pay $270 monthly for cable.
It will be on CBS.
Although, My wife and I are big fans of NCIS, I don’t know if back peddling to Gibbs former years is something that is going to hold our interest. Yearning for Gibbs ( Mark Harmon) and others to continue NCIS.
Can’t wait to see this show.
Where’s Charles Michael Davis ( Carter) at? NEW ORLEANS!
They want another actor to play young Gibbs? Why? His son did an excellent job playing younger Gibbs AND he gave them the idea of the prequel. To me that is so wrong.
However, I am looking forward to the new show though!
Regular cable TV, where can I see this show? I am a die hard fan of Gibbs ,Zeva, Tony and McGee. It will not be the same without theses characters,but I will take a look at it. Let the professionals tell you what’s wrong.
CBS. As noted in headline and elsewhere.
This usnot getting ouf Vi bd back anc just hezring him narrate is not good enough either.. we ssnttt Leerit Jethto Gibbs bzck !!
Many will be disappointed not to see Mark Harmon. Many of his fans are older women and will not be satisfied with a substitute.
He’s too old for the part in a show set in the 1990s
Well, I was certain CBS would have finally dumped all their older series, they have axed Blue Bloods, so I thought this would be it for NCIS, as well. I have watched NCIS from the first episode, and watched it’s “spins-offs” come and go. So, I was really surprised that NCIS was NOT cancelled with NCIS:LA. I only watched the first 10 or so minutes of NCIS:Hawaii, and it was awful, and since NCIS: Sydney was filmed for Australia audiences, even when the Actors and Writers strike were going, I have NOT watched a single episode of it either. To me, current NCIS is, for all intents-and-purposes NCIS:Lite, with the entire original cast GONE, with only Timothy McGee and Jimmy Palmer holding down the fort. As for NCIS: Origins, we shall have to see, if it even comes to fruition, in the wake of the two strikes. But, I will certainly give it a try.
I really hope NCIS SYD wasn’t made for us. I have watched it all and as “the target audience” I have to say it’s terrible and very jarring.
If I were playing stereotype bingo I’d be drunk at minute 17 every episode.
It definitely was filmed here but for an American “Throw another shrimp on the Barbie, Where the Bloody Hell are ya, Fosters true blue, everything will kill ya in Australia” audience.
All the things we grew out of 30 years ago.
Stop bringing new people. Sean Harmon should be young Gibbs. Besides he looks just like his father.
Sean Harmon does not want to star; instead wants to focus on his first executive-producing role. –Mgmt.
I agree, but as Matt has said, this is not going to happen as he has already said no. He gave his reasons as it’s not where he want to put his time into, and want to produce.
Shame as it would of at least given some continuity.