NCIS and its characters were originally introduced in a two-part episode of the CBS television series JAG in April 2003. The show premiered on September 23, 2003, in the United States.[1]
Created by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill, and executive produced by Bellisario, Shane Brennan, Gary Glasberg, George Schenck, Frank Cardea, and Steven D. Binder, NCIS stars Mark Harmon as Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and Gary Cole as Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker in charge of NCIS' Major Case Response Team. Based out of Washington, D.C., the team includes special agents Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), Eleanor Bishop (Emily Wickersham), Alexandra Quinn (Jennifer Esposito), Nicholas Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), forensic specialists Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover), medical examiners Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), medical examiners assistant Gerald Jackson (Pancho Demmings) and SIS attaché Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry). Operational psychologist Dr. Jacqueline Sloane (Maria Bello) assists the team during troubled times, while successive Directors Tom Morrow (Alan Dale), Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly), and Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) command from on high.
As of November 4, 2024,[update] 471 episodes of NCIS have aired, currently in its twenty-second season.