CBS’s Trailblazing NCIS Show Suffers Major Setback

While the NCIS franchise is still on hiatus, a new announcement confirms a major setback for its trailblazing show. Since 2003, the CBS procedural has been a stapLe of network TV, endearing viewers to a cast of good-doers solving Navy-related crimes. Due to its popularity, multiple NCIS spinoffs were born, resulting in one of the most robust small screen universes thus far.

During the 2025-2026 TV cycle, CBS has three active NCIS shows on its roster, all airing on Tuesdays. Aside from the flagship, which has been rolling out solid storytelling for the most part of the year, the franchise also has NCIS: Sydney — the first international-set installment in the universe, and NCIS: Origins, which marks its first period show. All three are already renewed, but the last one suffers a big creative loss before its season 3 return.

Per Deadline, co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal is exiting NCIS: Origins at the end of its sophomore year. No reasoning has been revealed, but her departure from the project is a personal decision from her, as she embarks on new projects. David J. North is taking over full showrunning responsibilities when the prequel returns in the fall. The pair

CBS Entertainment President and Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf praised Monreal in their joint statement, thanking her for her contributions to the all-encompassing TV universe. Meanwhile, both Monreal and North commented on the major NCIS: Origins shake-up in separate releases. Read them all below:

Reisenbach and Stapf: “Gina has been an important beloved member of the NCIS family for many years. We are incredibly grateful to her for helping launch and steer NCIS: Origins, and bringing these incredible characters and stories to life. We look forward to working with her again in the future on new projects, and know the creative foundation she helped build will continue to thrive.”

Monreal: “It’s been the biggest honor of my career to write NCIS: Origins alongside my incredible co-showrunner and friend David North. I want to thank Amy Reisenbach, David Stapf, and everyone at CBS Network and Studio for their support. To have had this opportunity to work again with the incomparable Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, our writers, and the best cast and crew in the business — how lucky am I? I can’t wait to see what this extraordinary group cooks up for Season 3.”

North: “Long before Gina was my incredible writing partner on NCIS: Origins, she was, and remains, one of my closest friends. I couldn’t have imagined launching this show with anyone else, and even though Gina won’t be working with us on a daily basis next season, the characters and stories she helped create will live on. I can’t wait to team up with her again in the future.”

Before launching Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ prequel show with North, Monreal was already a part of the TV institution as a writer-producer on the mothership series. She held that role for 10 years before departing in 2021, eventually becoming writer/co-executive producer on Hulu’s Paradise Season 1 and Netflix’s Griselda before. CBS Studios’ NCIS: Origins lured her back to the police procedural, which premiered in 2024.

No word yet on what’s next for Monreal at this point. On the flip side, however, NCIS: Origins is losing her at a critical point in Gibbs’ known history. Season 2 showed his haphazard marriage to Diane and the rest of the year is expected to start laying the foundation for the Fed Five plot, introducing a young Dwayne “King” Pride. Depending on how fast the pacing of the period show is, season 3 may see the plot seeds of Gibbs’ eventual narrative with Jenny Shepard.

As the first prequel project in the universe, NCIS: Origins opens the door for more origins story for some of the beloved members of MCRT. Admittedly, the ratings for the spinoff still haven’t caught up yet with the flagship show, but its solid storytelling and characterization make it worth the attention. It will be interesting to see how Monreal’s exit will impact the NCIS show.