The returns of NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans are nearly at hand.
CBS renewed both NCIS spin-offs and the shows return to Sunday nights, even though the timeslots will be a little different.
Both NCIS: LA and NCIS: NOLA ended earlier than expected last spring when the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. Production had to be postponed, but everyone got back to work this fall with new safety protocols in place.
Now, it’s time to start rolling out new episodes for the shows. For NCIS: LA, this will be Season 12. As for NCIS: NOLA, this is going to be Season 7 for the spin-off.
When is NCIS: LA and NCIS: NOLA start date?
The new episodes of the shows debut on Sunday, November 8. It’s been a long time since we last saw new episodes, so this moment has been highly-anticipated by fans for quite a while.
When CBS debuted FBI: Most Wanted on Tuesday nights, NCIS: New Orleans was moved to Sunday nights. It appears that the network was pleased with the new arrangement, as it is rolling forward with many shows remaining on the same nights where they finished in spring 2020.
#NCISNOLA fam, we’re excited to announce that production on Season 7 has started! To celebrate, here’s a quick message from @CCHPounder. pic.twitter.com/jrQo0mILa4
— NCIS: New Orleans (@NCISNewOrleans) September 21, 2020
Season premiere for NCIS spin-offs at odd times
For the episodes airing on November 8, they are going to be airing at different times on the primetime schedule depending on what area of the country fans are watching.
Due to NFL overrun times, viewers on the East Coast and in the Central time zone will need to tune in at 8:30e/7:30c to watch NCIS: LA and then at 9:30e/8:30c for NCIS: NOLA.
For the other time zones, the shows will begin at 8 pm and 9 pm respectively.
In all time zones, repeat episodes of NCIS will be shown in the third primetime hour, allowing fans of the franchise to spend three hours each Sunday night checking in with the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
According to CBS, the November 15 episodes slide back into the regular timeslots of 8/7c and 9/8c, with new episodes of 60 Minutes preceding them each Sunday evening.
Missing that swing? Watch three hours of your favorite NCIS agents starting this Sunday. #NCISNOLA pic.twitter.com/IHSqImAnG9
— NCIS: New Orleans (@NCISNewOrleans) November 2, 2020
Time to binge-watch prior seasons
There is still time to rewatch some of the episodes to catch up on where many of the characters are in their particular storylines.
As a reminder, there were a few really important moments that took place last year on the NCIS spin-offs.
On NCIS: New Orleans Season 6, the character of Christopher Lasalle died. Lasalle was played by actor Lucas Black, who was a fan-favorite of the show for nearly six years.
For Season 11 of NCIS: Los Angeles, quite a few guest stars were brought in as actor Barrett Foa (he plays Tech Operator Eric Beale) and actress Linda Hunt (Operations Manager Henrietta “Hetty” Lange) had to take time away from the show.
Quite a few of the recent NCIS: LA episodes also featured Bar Paly returning as Anna Kolcheck and making life very interesting for Callen (Chris O’Donnell).
NCIS: Los Angeles airs at 8/7c and NCIS: New Orleans airs at 9/8c Sundays on CBS.