Television is up and running again, and we couldn’t be more excited. After production was shut down back in March due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, fans of the long-running police procedural show NCIS were left missing four episodes of the 17th season. Now, six months later, the show’s cast and crew are finally back to filming their 18th season, which is expected to pick up right where they left off.
The cast and crew of NCIS have more to be excited about than just returning after a 6-month hiatus. The show’s 18th season will also include the 400th episode — a huge milestone! Here’s what we know to get you pumped for the upcoming season.
NCIS is one of the longest-running shows of all time
Following closely behind Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NCIS is currently the second-longest-running non-animated primetime television series on the air. With 17 years under its belt and still running strong, the police procedural drama follows a team of special agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, led by Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon), while they solve crimes.
Even though NCIS has been on for 17 years, the show’s ratings have still held strong the whole time. Fans love to see what new crimes the team has to solve each week, as well as watching what characters come and go. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, viewers have been able to watch re-runs on CBS but, now that filming has finally started up again, we hopefully only have to wait a few more months to see new episodes.
NCIS will air its 400th episode this season
Now heading into its 18th season, NCIS will hit a milestone early on. The second episode of season 18 will be the show’s 400th episode. And while it technically should have happened already (thanks to the shut-downs), the cast and crew couldn’t be more excited to hit such a big milestone.
TV Insider reports that the 400th episode will be a big one. Rumored to be centered around a Gibbs and Ducky (played by David McCallum) origin story of sorts, something that fans have longed to see since the show’s beginnings. These two longtime have a lot of history with each other, so it makes sense to make the 400th episode center around something so major.
What do we know about NCIS season 18?
Cast member Wilmer Valderrama shared a photo on his Instagram page of the cast’s first table read for season 18. While done virtually, he shared that the table read felt like “the beginning of a road to progression, as we get closer to bringing our show back to your homes.” As the television and film industries continue to navigate this uncharted situation, we’re looking forward to seeing the creative solutions they come up with to make the show go on.
One thing we know about the upcoming season is that actor Maria Bello, who plays forensic psychologist Jack Sloane, is set to leave the series after eight episodes. It’s unknown how her character is expected to be written off, but her departure is simply due to her contract ending. Bello has been on NCIS since 2017.
Not much else has been released about the show’s upcoming 18th season, but fans are clamoring for details. Filming began on September 9th and the show is expected to return with new episodes airing starting in November. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for a safe and healthy production schedule.
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