In just a few days’ time, Netflix will be making major changes to its offering of NCIS episodes. But while many viewers and TV critics alike have noted that this spells bad news for subscribers midway through specific seasons of the wildly popular military procedural series, there’s actually some exciting news to report, too.

The world’s most popular streaming platform for small-screen releases has never held licensed all NCIS seasons simultaneously. However, since 2024, it’s pivoted towards the release of consecutive later seasons, while retaining seasons 1 to 5 to entice newcomers into discovering the show.

However, as of October 1, 2026, the streamer is tweaking its strategy of licensing several consecutive seasons of NCIS at once. Viewers preparing for Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ return in NCIS: Origins by rewatching his final bow in the main series will no longer be able to do so on Netflix.

Instead, the Supervisory Special Agent universally regarded as the best character in the entire NCIS franchise will be giving way to a new generation of law enforcement operations. Those following Gibbs’ tenure for the first time on Netflix will soon be experiencing what diehard fans went through almost exactly five years ago.

Mark Harmon’s NCIS Era Is Ending On Netflix Next Week

Mark Harmon’s NCIS exit brought an end to almost 30 years of Leroy Jethro Gibbs heading up the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) in Washington, D.C.. By the 19th season of the series, Harmon was tired of devoting almost his entire professional life to the same project, and could no longer handle its heavy-duty shooting schedule as easily.

He moved to a hands-off role behind the camera as an executive producer on the show. Meanwhile, his character decided he was happier in Alaska than going back to D.C.. Netflix subscribers can still watch the moment that Gibbs says goodbye to his colleagues in the season 19 episode “Great Wide Open”, but only for a few more days.

At the start of October, NCIS seasons 18 and 19 will be removed from the platform, bringing to an end its complete coverage of the MCRT’s later years with Gibbs at the helm. Just like when seasons 6–11 were unceremoniously removed from Netflix in mid-2024, this is an era-defining moment for those who’ve been introduced to the series by the streamer.

If there were ever a time to binge your way through two seasons of the most popular procedural TV show of the 2020s, then this week is surely it. NCIS has more going on than ever around the original series, so it’s especially important for newcomers to the franchise to get up to speed while they have the chance.

New NCIS Episodes Are Also Coming To Netflix In October

Even if the Mark Harmon era of the show is coming to an end on Netflix, there’s also some good news for NCIS fans who subscribe to the platform that isn’t yet being widely reported. According to a report by What’s On Netflix which cites inside information from the streaming giant, newer episodes of the series will be making their Netflix debut in October, too.

While the beginning of next month will see the removal of NCIS seasons 18 and 19 from the platform, we should expect to see at least two later seasons added as well. It’s logical to assume that seasons 20 and 21 are next in line for their Netflix berth.

NCIS season 21 has fewer episodes because of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood, so it’s possible we might see even more recent seasons made available for streaming to make up for this discrepancy. Netflix is keeping the exact makeup of its NCIS roster from October a secret at this stage, but it’s certainly something to get excited about.

This moment feels like a historic changing of the TV guard being reenacted by Netflix, five years after Leroy Jethro Gibbs departure from our screens was originally broadcast on CBS. Now it’s up to Gary Cole’s Alden Parker to win over a new generation of NCIS viewers all over again on streaming.

Release Date

September 23, 2003

Showrunner

Donald P. Bellisario

Directors

Dennis Smith, Terrence O’Hara, Tony Wharmby, James Whitmore Jr., Thomas J. Wright, Michael Zinberg, Arvin Brown, Rocky Carroll, Diana Valentine, Leslie Libman, Tawnia McKiernan, Colin Bucksey, William Webb, Bethany Rooney, Alrick Riley, Jeff Woolnough, Alan J. Levi, Lionel Coleman, Martha Mitchell, Peter Ellis, Michael Weatherly, Edward Ornelas, Stephen Cragg, Tom Wright

Writers

George Schenck, Frank Cardea, Jesse Stern, John C. Kelley, Jennifer Corbett, Christopher Silber, Reed Steiner, Nicole Mirante-Matthews, Jack Bernstein, Scott J. Jarrett, Matthew R. Jarrett, Kimberly-Rose Wolter, Don McGill, Gil Grant, Frank Military, Nell Scovell, Steven Kriozere, Brian Dietzen, Kate Torgovnick May, Jeff Vlaming, Sydney Mitchel, Katie White, Richard C. Arthur, Laurence Walsh

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  Sean Murray

  Timothy McGee

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  David McCallum

  Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard