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It’s been weeks since the unexpected season finale of NCIS: New Orleans. Production shut down early due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, leaving fans hanging. Many want to know if the hit CBS procedural drama will return or not. Here’s what we know.

How a potential sweeps episode created the ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ series

NCIS: New Orleans
Scott Bakula as Special Agent Dwayne Pride, Vanessa Ferlito as Special Agent Tammy Gregorio, Necar Zadegan as Special Agent Hannah Khoury, and Charles Michael Davis as Special Agent Quentin Carter | Sam Lothridge/CBS via Getty Images

COVID-19 cut season 6 of NCIS: New Orleans short, but the NOLA spinoff has attained great success throughout its run. The show just wrapped slightly shy of their usual season. Still, it’s hard to believe the show’s premise began as a sweeps opportunity for the mothership show, NCIS.

Former executive producer, Gary Glasberg, originally pitched NCIS: New Orleans as a one-off episode for NCIS to show creator and (star of NCIS), Mark Harmon.

“Gary, that’s not a sweeps episode. That’s a new show,” Harmon said, according to Glasberg in a previous interview.

What became of that two-part April 2014 “sweeps” edition, titled “Crescent City,” is the NCIS: New Orleans fans know and love today.

In May 2015, Nola.Com reported that the spinoff became the “most successful new drama in a decade in total audience, tracking all the way back to ABC’s 2004 introduction of Desperate Housewives.” The show held “an average of 15 million viewers” in its first season alone.

One reason for the show’s success, according to executive producer, Jeffrey Lieber, is the connection between NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans. There’s room for crossover potential wherever writers see fit.

“We want to work very hard to exist in the same universe, and in the same concentric universe,” he told Nola.Com. “The people who are part of the large overarching world over there are part of our world as well. We’ll find ways to pull those people in and use them and use them in a way that a field office would.”

This key move has proven to be successful in both NCIS-related worlds.

Has ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ been renewed?

On May 6, Deadline reported a few shows that have received the “go-ahead” for season renewal. Three of which include all NCIS shows — NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, and NCIS: Los Angeles.

After cutting off season 6 before its true finale, where will things pick up? Moving forward, NCIS: New Orleans Season 7 will return to CBS with fresh, new episodes likely in the fall. Considering the state of affairs, lack of production stifled ratings for most Hollywood bigshots. That said, it’s a beautiful thing to see beloved series like NCIS: New Orleans obtaining new deals.

Which cast members will return?

Which of NCIS: New Orleans cast will return for season 7? The hit series stars Scott Bakula, Vanessa Ferlito, Necar Zadegan, Rob Kerkovich, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Charles Michael Davis, and CCH Pounder.

So far, “CBS TV Studios closed a new deal with Mark Harmon, who also exec produces NCIS: New Orleans, ahead of the renewal,” according to the same Deadline report. Bakula, who plays Dwayne Cassius “King” Pride, is said to also have a deal that recently finalized.

As for the rest of the cast, it’s looking good. The release stated that agreements have been made with each of the shows’ stars. CBS TV Studios “is expected to pursue new contracts with other cast members whose current deals are up, including everyone on NCIS: New Orleans who are coming to the end of their original six-year pacts.”

Rumors previously swirled of the NOLA cast and crew moving to LA, but nothing has been confirmed. Whatever happens with COVID-19, rest assured — NCIS: New Orleans is coming back, eventually.

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