Why There’s No NCIS Tonight (Nov 25) & When New Flagship, Origins, & Sydney Episodes Release

CBS is pre-empting the NCIS franchise’s scheduling tonight, November 25, 2025. Despite the major changes in the last several years, the NCIS franchise continues to be a ratings hit for the network. The flagship, in particular, has maintained its popularity, even as it moves farther away from its days with Mark Harmon. Alongside the main show, the universe also has NCIS: Origins — its first prequel series tackling Gibbs’ origins, and NCIS: Sydney — its first international installment, running in the 2025-2026 TV cycle.

For years, the NCIS shows mainly took over CBS’ Monday primetime. That changed this year, when the network brought it back to its usual day slot, which is Tuesday. Now, all three shows have taken over the 8-11 PM ET block for CBS, making it easier to follow. That said, it’s also more prominent when the broadcaster preempts the NCIS franchise’s weekly schedule, as it is this week.

The NCIS Franchise Is Taking A Break During Thanksgiving Week

CBS/MovieStillsDB

As with many of its scripted shows this week, CBS is not airing new episodes of NCIS season 23, NCIS: Origins season 2, and NCIS: Sydney season 3 tonight, November 25, 2025. There’s really no official reason for the hiatus, but it’s likely because it is Thanksgiving week, and the broadcaster have specials lined up for the occasion, like the Everybody Loves Raymond Anniversary event that took over FBI season 8’s slot on Monday.

Instead of a different program, however, CBS is rerunning some of the best episodes from the NCIS franchise thus far this year. The first two hours of the block will feature a repeat of the NCIS season 23 and NCIS: Origins season 2 crossover event that featured the return of Mark Harmon, Muse Watson, and Roma Maffia. It will be followed by NCIS: Origins season 2, episode 3, “The Edge” — another nostalgic outing that focused on the reunion of young Gibbs and young Ducky.

When NCIS, Origins, & Sydney Return For New Episodes (& What To Expect)

Luckily, CBS has confirmed that all three NCIS shows are coming back with their respective new episodes on December 2, 2025. For NCIS season 23, episode 7, “God Only Knows,” the team tackles the kidnapping of a teen leading them to a Navy SEAL who survived captivity by the Taliban but may have committed a something illegal on his way home. Elsewhere, Jimmy finally comes clean about what he discovered about Parker’s mother’s death.

In NCIS: Origins season 23, episode 7, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” the NIS’ case-of-the-week involves the murder of a Marine who was supposedly going on a classified mission. In terms of personal storylines, Wheeler and Lala get big news, respectively, while Gibbs and Diane spend time with Randy and his wife. Finally, in NCIS: Sydney season 3, episode 7, “Gold Digger,” a U.S. naval officer getting arrested for murder while trying to destroy a treasure map leads the team down the rabbit hole of the so-called “Yamashita’s Gold.”