The NCIS cast has gotten a little bit bigger for its upcoming 23rd season. Last Man Standing star Nancy Travis has joined the cast in an exciting new role.
TVLine revealed that Travis will play Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker in the new season of the hit military procedural series. The character is the sister of Gary Cole’s Special Agent Alden Parker and will appear in the two-part Season 23 premiere airing on Oct. 14. The role will give fans “a glimpse into how Alden became the man he is today.” The long-running drama series was renewed for its 23rd season back in February.
“The Alden Parker that we know and see now is not what Alden Parker was as a child,” NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder told TVLine. “We’ve gotten into his history a bit — he was a troubled kid, he was in a juvie home, he stole things — and that’s the dynamic that his sister grew up with. He was the ‘bad’ kid and she was the good kid.“
Alden and Harriet will be reunited as adults in the aftermath of their father’s recent murder, and TVLine reports that their childhood dynamic will still be ‘alive and well.’ It’s also going to make their jobs more difficult.
“They’re going to relive that between the two of them,” Binder shared. “She’s this super squared-away Navy admiral, and then you’ve got Alden Parker, who’s got this ‘bad kid’ seed. Those two are going to come to a head, and what’s funny about that is it’s one thing to have it happen over Thanksgiving dinner, it’s a whole other thing to happen in the middle of a global crisis! The bickering is, I might say, very NCIS.”
Travis’ role being announced is the first new casting for NCIS Season 23. It remains to be seen if any new actors will be joining the cast in other roles, with announcements likely to be made as the season premiere draws closer.
NCIS Remains a Strong Performer for CBS
The flagship NCIS series dates all the way back to 2003, with the story revolving around a fictional team of agents working for the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, spinning off of characters originally introduced in another hit CBS series, JAG. Over the years, there have been several spinoffs taking place in various cities, including NCIS: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai’i, and Sydney. A prequel series, NCIS: Origins, debuted in 2024 and was also renewed for a second season in February.
Season 22 of NCIS began airing in October 2024, with the NCIS team being led by Alden Parker (Cole), an ex-FBI Special Agent. Other main cast members include Sean Murray, Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law, Brian Dietzen, Diona Reasonover and Rocky Carroll.
