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CBS is winding back the clock and giving us an origin story for one of NCIS’s best-known characters. The network has given a straight-to-series order to NCIS: Origins, a prequel focused on a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Mark Harmon played the character on NCIS for more than 18 seasons before leaving the show in 2021. 

Here’s everything we know so far about the upcoming Gibbs prequel series.

What is ‘NCIS: Origins’ about? 

Gibbs and Mike Franks sitting at a diner counter and talking in 'NCIS'
Mark Harmon and Muse Watson in ‘NCIS’ | Richard Foreman/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

NCIS: Origins will explore the early years of Gibbs’ NCIS career and his “complex and mysterious backstory,” said CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach.

The show begins in 1991 and will follow him “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,” according to CBS. 

In addition to Gibbs and Franks (who was played by Muse Watson on NCIS), NCIS: Origins will also feature a younger version of Roma Maffia’s Vera Strickland character. While specific plot details have yet to be revealed, chances are, the new show will explore one of the darkest episodes in Gibbs’ life. As we learned in NCIS Season 3, Gibbs’ wife and daughter were murdered by a member of a Mexican drug cartel when he was serving overseas as a Marine during Operation Desert Storm. Their deaths happened roughly around the time NCIS: Origins is set and will undoubtedly figure into the show’s larger story.   

Who is part of the ‘NCIS: Origins’ cast? 

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No cast members have been announced for NCIS: Origins. However, Harmon will be involved in the new series, though he won’t appear on screen. Instead, he’ll serve as the show’s narrator and one of its executive producers. 

Harmon’s son Sean Harmon played a younger version of Gibbs in NCIS. But a new actor will take on the role in NCIS: Origins. (The younger Harmon is an executive producer on the new show.) Ben Turner Dixon, who played young Franks in NCIS, also won’t appear in Origins, according to TVLine.  

“The character of Gibbs has been an important part of my life for 20 years, both in watching my father craft the role and previously having the honor to play young Gibbs myself,” Sean Harmon said in a statement. “I always felt there was a tale worth telling about his earlier years, so I am thrilled to be stepping into a producing role alongside Gina [Lucita Monreal], David [J. North], and my dad as we tell this story and reveal a new side of this beloved character.”

When will ‘NCIS: Origins’ premiere?

NCIS: Origins doesn’t have a premiere date. However, CBS has confirmed that the show will air during the 2024-25 broadcast season. CBS shows also stream on Paramount+ and Paramount+ with Showtime. 

Source: TVLine 

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