NCIS: Los Angeles

NCIS: Los Angeles is an American action television series combining elements of the military drama and police procedural genres, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009.[2] The series follows the exploits of the Los Angeles–based Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments. NCIS: Los Angeles is the first spin-off of the successful series NCIS and the second series in the NCIS franchise.[3][4][5][6][7]

NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre	Police procedural Military Action drama
Created by	Shane Brennan
Starring	Chris O'Donnell Peter Cambor Daniela Ruah Adam Jamal Craig LL Cool J Linda Hunt Barrett Foa Eric Christian Olsen Renée Felice Smith Miguel Ferrer Nia Long Medalion Rahimi Caleb Castille
Theme music composer	James S. Levine
Composers	Jay Ferguson James S. Levine Craig Dobbin Adonis Tsilimparis 2Up In The Club Martin Davich Brendan Ryan
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	271 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Shane Brennan[1] Kyle Harimoto Frank Military John Peter Kousakis R. Scott Gemmill
Cinematography	Victor Hammer Russell McElhatton (2013)
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	42–44 minutes
Production companies	R. Scott Gemmill Productions (2016–present) Shane Brennan Productions CBS Television Studios (2009–2020) CBS Studios (2020–present)
Distributor	CBS Media Ventures
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Original release	September 22, 2009 – present
Chronology
Related shows	NCIS
External links
Official website

The series originally starred Chris O'Donnell, Daniela Ruah, LL Cool J, Peter Cambor, Adam Jamal Craig, Linda Hunt and Barrett Foa. Cambor's character was demoted to a recurring character after season 1 and Craig's character was killed off in season 1. Other stars have included Eric Christian Olsen, Renée Felice Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Nia Long,[8][9][10] Medalion Rahimi, and Caleb Castille.

The show has received mixed reviews from critics, but has been a solid rating hit for CBS. On May 3, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a twelfth season.[11] Season 12 premiered on November 8, 2020.

Premise

NCIS: Los Angeles follows Special Agents Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) and G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell), undercover operatives assigned to the Office of Special Projects, a specialist branch of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Sam is a former member of SEAL Team Six and dedicated family man. Callen is a former foster child who became a "legend" under the watchful eye of Operations Manager Henrietta "Hetty" Lange (Linda Hunt). Over the course of the series, Sam, Callen, and Hetty, are supported by Special Agent Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), a hand-to-hand combat specialist, trained sniper and forensic whiz, and her partner-turned-husband Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), an LAPD liaison officer turned NCIS Special Agent. Technical Operator Eric Beale (Barrett Foa), Assistant Director Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer), and Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones (Renee Felice Smith) complete the team, while Operational Psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) and rookie agents Dominic Vail (Adam Jamal Craig), Fatima Nazami (Medalion Rahimi), and Devin Roundtree (Caleb Castille) offer support under the watchful eye of Executive Assistant Director Pacific (EADPAC) Shay Mosley (Nia Long).

Characters

Main

• G. Callen (birthname Grisha Aleksandrovich Nikolaev) (Chris O'Donnell) is the Lead Senior Field Agent and undercover operative attached to the NCIS Office of Special Projects. He speaks several languages fluently, including Russian, German, and French. Callen is a highly skilled field agent having worked numerous overseas undercover assignments. Placed in the foster system at a young age, G. did not know his first name but eventually learned about his family, and in turn, himself. As G. has somewhat of a nomadic nature, Los Angeles is G's most stable home. He is partnered with Sam Hanna.[12]
• Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) is an Operational Psychologist originally attached to OSP in order to monitor the team's emotional well-being. Valued as both an agent and a doctor, Getz is later drafted to a deep cover operation and subsequently becomes a well-established field agent. Despite his career change, Getz still returns to Los Angeles when needed. (season 1; recurring seasons 2–8)
• Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) is the daughter of a Marine and, initially, the only female Field Agent attached to OSP. Her father died at a young age, after which Kensi spent some time living on the streets. Estranged from her mother, Kensi is a skilled undercover operative and sniper who is not afraid to use her sexuality to get results. In season 10, she marries her partner Marty Deeks and the two later purchase and run a bar called "The Squid and Dagger".
• Dominic Vail (Adam Jamal Craig) is a probationary agent and a technical specialist who was assigned to OSP straight out of training. He is partnered with Kensi and seen as a sort of younger brother to the other team members; NCIS Los Angeles is left devastated when, following a period as a missing person, Dom is killed during his own rescue mission when he saves Sam from an unseen assailant. (season 1)
• Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) is a Senior Field Agent attached to OSP and G's partner. Sam has the most stable home life of the team as he is married with children through most of the series, though his wife is murdered in season 8 just after returning to her own position. He met his wife on the job and still lives for the thrill of undercover work. He is a former Navy SEAL, an expert on Middle Eastern culture, and a fluent Arabic speaker; as such, he provides invaluable insights on cases involving the USMC and USN.[6]
• Henrietta "Hetty" Lange (Linda Hunt) is a Supervisory Special Agent and the team's Operational Manager. As a veteran undercover operative, Hetty has achieved an unbelievable amount during her life, with distinguished work as an overseas intelligence operative during the Cold War. During her younger years, she took in several orphans (including Callen and Hunter) from the streets in order to mold them into undercover operatives.
• Eric Beale (Barrett Foa) is the team's Technical Operator and resident geek. He was not an undercover operative like his teammates until season seven, so was not firearms-trained until then. Beale is incredibly comfortable in the OSP much to the chagrin of his teammates who often become annoyed by his quirks such as leaving his surf board by their cars. He is partnered and in a romantic relationship with Nell. (season 1 onwards; recurring season 1)
• Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) is an NCIS Special Agent and a former veteran Los Angeles Police Department Detective who worked undercover and was exiled socially within the LAPD. Deeks is also an experienced attorney at law having worked as a Public Defender in the Los Angeles Criminal Courts prior to joining the LAPD. After he is selected by Hetty to be the LAPD's Liaison Detective to NCIS, it becomes clear that her plan is for Deeks to ultimately become an Agent. He did not have the easiest childhood and deflects a great deal using humor. He is partnered with Kensi and later develops a romantic relationship with her, which leads to their eventual marriage in season 10; the two also buy a bar the same season, naming it "The Squid and Dagger". In season 12, Deeks loses his liasion position as a result of ongoing reform in the LAPD, and is furloughed by the department until budget issues involving the reform are resolved. After initially being told that he's too old to become an Agent at this point, Deeks is eventually accepted for FLETC training thanks to Hetty pulling some strings. Although he seemingly supposedly washes out of training just before graduation, it's revealed that Hetty had arranged for him to get his badge by her, officially making him an NCIS Special Agent. (season 2 onwards; recurring season 1)[13]
• Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith) is a Special Agent who acts as the team's intelligence analyst. She is just as comfortable outside the office as in it, and it appears that Hetty is grooming her as a replacement. Jones is a highly capable field operative and extremely skilled firearms expert. She has the highest IQ of anybody at NCIS. She is partnered and involved in a romantic relationship with Eric. (season 2 onwards; recurring season 2).
• Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer) is the Assistant Director of NCIS. He is the team's link to Washington, and while he is often seen at loggerheads with his subordinates, he no doubt has a great desire to keep them safe. Unlike other administrators, he is not afraid to accompany the team into the field. Granger spent many years overseas as a field agent on many hazardous assignments before becoming an administrator. He is a long time friend and sometimes adversary of Hetty. During season 8, Granger is revealed to be suffering from an unknown ailment, most likely cancer, due to a lifetime of bad habits. In the episode "Payback" (Miguel Ferrer's final episode filmed before his death), after being wounded by rogue CIA operatives, Granger disappears from the hospital. In the following season, Granger's daughter, Jennifer Kim (Malese Jow), confirms his death from his illness. (seasons 5–8; recurring seasons 3–4)
• Shay Mosley (Nia Long) is a former Secret Service agent who becomes the NCIS Executive Assistant Director for Pacific Operations (EAD-PAC). She comes off as hardened and cold towards the team, but eventually, they warm up to each other, especially following Hetty's return. She is revealed to have a son named Derrick, who was taken by his father, criminal arms dealer Spencer Williams, when Williams fled the country for Mexico five years prior. At the end of season 9, she enacts an unsanctioned mission for the team to head into Mexico and retrieve Derrick. While the mission is ultimately successful (during which Mosley kills Williams), it comes at a costly price: Mosley's assistant Agent Harley Hidoko is killed, the rest of the team is grievously wounded, and the OSP is put under the microscope by D.C. officials. In season 10, after a drug cartel allied with Williams puts bounties on the team's heads, Mosley opts to take full responsibility for everything, resigns her post, and flees with her son into hiding. (seasons 9–10)
• Fatima Namazi (Medalion Rahimi) is an NCIS Special Agent. She first appears halfway through in season 10, where she helps the team pursue a terrorist cell responsible for bombing a movie theater in the first of a series of planned attacks on Los Angeles. From then on, Namazi appears periodically, helping the OSP team with cases from either in the Ops Center or out in the field, until she is reassigned overseas to Afghanistan early the following season. In the second half of season 11, she is captured by insurgents following a mission gone wrong and nearly executed before the team rescues her. Following this, she transfers to the OSP, becoming its newest addition until the following season. (season 11 onwards; recurring seasons 10–11)
• Devin Roundtree (Caleb Castille) is an NCIS Special Agent. Formerly with the FBI, Roundtree runs into the OSP team during season 11 after being compromised by several dirty colleagues. Following this, he later accepts an offer to try out for an opening on the team. After a few cases, he completes FLETC training and joins the OSP at the start of season 12, becoming its most recent addition. (season 12; recurring season 11)

Recurring

• Indira G. Wilson/Aunjanue Ellis as Michelle Hanna aka "Quinn" (seasons 3–8): Sam Hanna's wife, Michelle is a former deep-cover CIA operative. At the end of the eighth season, Michelle is kidnapped and murdered by Tahir Khaled in a vendetta against Sam.
• Rocky Carroll as Leon Vance, the Director of NCIS (seasons 1–3, 6): He initially spent a great amount of time "getting the new LA office up and running", but still returns to ensure the well-being of his agents. Carroll also appears on both NCIS (as a regular), and NCIS: New Orleans.[14][15] He makes a seventh appearance in "Hunted". Vance appears in the season two finale and season three premiere. He makes his tenth appearance during season six.
• Brian Avers as Mike Renko, an agent attached to NCIS's Los Angeles satellite office (seasons 1, 3): He often works with OSP. An undercover operative, Renko later reported directly to Owen Granger. The team were fond of him, so it came as a shock when he was gunned down during an operation gone awry in a revenge attack.
• Kathleen Rose Perkins as Rose Schwartz, a Los Angeles County Medical Examiner (seasons 1–4): She often assists the team on their investigations. She is incredibly quirky and develops an affinity for Nate Getz, showing great romantic interest in the psychologist.
• Ronald Auguste as Moe Dusa, a man whom Sam first came into contact with in Sudan (seasons 1–2): A "brother" to Sam, of sorts, he joins a terrorist group and assists in the kidnapping of Dom. Developing a conscience, Moe assists in Dom's escape. He is later found dead by the NCIS agents.
• Vyto Ruginis as Arkady Kolcheck, a retired Russian operative (seasons 1–present): He is friends with Callen. He considers himself to be of great assistance to the NCIS team but often brings trouble in his wake. He has a daughter, Anastasia, whom he does not know very well.
• Claire Forlani as Lauren Hunter, an NCIS Operations Manager and SSA (seasons 2–3): Taken in by Hetty as a teenager, Lauren later becomes an NCIS agent and succeeds Hetty for a short time as Special Agent in Charge of OSP. Initially adversarial, the team later warmed to Hunter. She was reassigned following Lange's return but was later kidnapped and murdered by the Chameleon. Her death has a lasting effect on Lange.
• Christopher Lambert as Marcel Janvier, a serial killer and criminal mastermind (season 3–5): When Marcel is conducting business transactions, his modus operandi is to buy the supplies for his employers and then arrange a drop-off for the merchandise. He is the primary antagonist to Callen during the show's third season and is responsible for the deaths of Hunter and Renko.
• Scott Grimes as Dave Flynn, an NCIS Special Agent (seasons 4, 8): Initially an NCIS forensic specialist assigned to the elite rapid response NCIS: Red team stationed out of San Diego, Dave later transfers to San Diego's NCIS: Cyber where he re-trains as a senior intelligence analyst.
• Erik Palladino as Vostanik Sabatino, a CIA Agent (seasons 4–5, 7–8, 10): He is arrested by the team while deep undercover. He is friends with Michelle Hanna and later joins Kensi Blye's Afghanistan team. Kensi initially believes him to be her suspect, but she later realizes he is a skilled operative and will be of great use to her. In season 8, it is revealed that Sabatino is working as part of a rogue CIA faction attempting to dismantle the NCIS team.
• Anslem Richardson as Tahir Khaled, a local warlord in Sudan (seasons 3, 7–8): A war criminal and warlord, he came into conflict with CIA agents and later NCIS agents Sam Hanna and G. Callen when they went to collect evidence about the genocide he was involved in. He is Sam's arch-enemy and began plotting revenge when Sam took his sister, Jada, from him. He is the primary antagonist of the seventh and eighth seasons, and later murders Sam's wife, Michelle, near the end of season eight. He eventually kills himself via bomb in a last (failed) attempt to kill Sam.
• Matthew Del Negro as Jack Simon (seasons 5, 7): Kensi's ex-fiancé, who was suspected of being a war-criminal known as 'The White Ghost'. Kensi was assigned to assassinate him in the series' fifth season.
• Elizabeth Bogush as CIA Officer Joelle Taylor (seasons 6–10): Callen's ex-girlfriend, she is introduced as a teacher at a private school before it is revealed that she is part of the rogue CIA group tasked with dismantling the Office of Special Projects. In season 9, she, with the help of Callen, Sam, and Nell, fakes her death in order to take down the group behind the rogue CIA group. The group is known as the syndicate.
• Bar Paly as Anastasia "Anna" Kolcheck, a freelance NCIS Special Agent (seasons 6–present): The estranged daughter of Arkady Kolcheck, she is a prospective ATF agent who begins filling in on NCIS missions while Kensi is on medical leave. Following Kensi's return, Anna embarks on a relationship with Callen and joins NCIS as a Special Agent on a freelance basis.
• John M. Jackson as A. J. Chegwidden, a retired Rear Admiral and the former Judge Advocate General of the Navy (seasons 8–9): A wartime confidant of both Hetty and Granger, Chegwidden served in Vietnam as a Navy Seal. He reenters the NCIS fold at Lange's behest during an investigation into the CIA. Jackson previously appeared as Chegwidden in nine seasons of JAG, and in one episode of NCIS.
• Andrea Bordeaux as Harley Hidoko, NCIS Special Agent (season 9): Executive Assistant to EADPAC Mosley. She starts off as fiercely loyal to her boss, but soon forms a friendship with the rest of the OSP team. At the end of the ninth season, Hidoko goes missing during an off-the-books mission in Mexico to rescue Mosley's son, and is revealed to have been captured and murdered by a cartel allied with Mosley's criminal ex-husband. Her remains are identified at the end of the tenth season premiere.
• Jeff Kober as Harris Keane (seasons 9–10): A soldier who served in the CIA contingent led by Hetty and Granger in the Vietnam War. Keane was captured by Viet Cong and held captive for decades until he was rescued along with Hetty by the NCIS LA team.
• Esai Morales as Louis Ochoa, NCIS Deputy Director (season 10): Ochoa temporarily takes over directing the team in Hetty's absence.
• Peter Jacobson as Special Prosecutor John Rogers (season 10): Rogers arrives at the Los Angeles office to investigate the team, but soon gets pulled into helping them out on their operations.
• David James Elliott as Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. (seasons 10–11), a Naval Captain transferred from the Judge Advocate General to the USS Allegiance. Elliot reprised his role from JAG.
• Catherine Bell as Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie (seasons 10–11), the former commander of Joint Legal Services Southwest who now acts as the Marine Corps liaison to the U.S. Secretary of State. Bell reprised her role from JAG.
• Kayla Smith as Kamran Hanna (season 12), Sam Hanna's daughter. The role was originally played by Layla Crawford (guest season 3, 4, 6, 8).[16]

Other

• Louise Lombard as Lara Macy; a former Military Police Lieutenant and the Supervisory Special Agent of OSP, Macy was relieved of her position sometime between the pilot episode and the beginning of season one. Hetty remarks she was sent to Djibouti in retaliation for insubordination regarding budget, although the truthfulness of this is unknown. After a short time working with an NCIS satellite division, Macy is found dead in an NCIS episode, murdered as part of a vendetta against Washington Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Lombard was not picked up as a regular in the new series and the character was killed in the NCIS episode "Patriot Down".[17][18][19]

Production

Special Agent G. Callen was initially a CIA operative created by Shane Brennan for a series that was never produced. After taking over show runner duties previously held by Donald P. Bellisario on NCIS, he used the potential of a spin-off to bring his story to fruition.

Brennan intended for the series to hold a Miami Vice-esque vibe through its two co-leads, Callen and Agent Sam Hanna. However, the character of Lara Macy was written to serve as a parallel for Gibbs, the lead of the original NCIS team. Macy was portrayed by Louise Lombard in the backdoor pilot, but she was not featured in the actual spin-off, and Brennan was able to produce the show as he originally envisioned it.

The show was known as NCIS: Legend while in production (referring to the episodes of NCIS in which the spin-off was introduced), and other names considered included OSP: Office of Special Projects, NCIS: OSP and NCIS: Undercover.[7] Filming started in February 2009, with the characters being introduced in the two-part NCIS episode titled "Legend", the first part of which aired on April 28, 2009.[7][20] This episode served as a backdoor pilot for the series, in a manner similar to the way NCIS was introduced by way of a two-part episode of JAG.

Part of the cast in 2012 (from left): Barrett Foa, Daniela Ruah, Eric Christian Olsen and Renée Felice Smith

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	Intro	2		April 28, 2009	May 5, 2009
	1	24		September 22, 2009	May 25, 2010
	2	24		September 21, 2010	May 17, 2011
	3	24		September 20, 2011	May 15, 2012
	4	24		September 25, 2012	May 14, 2013
	5	24		September 24, 2013	May 13, 2014
	6	24		September 29, 2014	May 18, 2015
	7	24		September 21, 2015	May 2, 2016
	8	24		September 25, 2016	May 14, 2017
	9	24		October 1, 2017	May 20, 2018
	10	24		September 30, 2018	May 19, 2019
	11	22		September 29, 2019	April 26, 2020
	12	18[21]		November 8, 2020	TBA

Crossovers

Crossover between		Episode	Type	Actors/actresses crossing over	Date aired
Series A	Series B
Hawaii Five-0	NCIS: Los Angeles	"Ka Hakaka Maikaʻi" (Hawaii Five-0 2.6)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series A: Daniela Ruah	October 24, 2011
Joe White calls in Agent Kensi Blye to review the video of John McGarrett, Governor Jameson, and Wo Fat for Steve McGarrett from Hawaii Five-0, but only recognizes the word "Shelburne".
Hawaii Five-0	NCIS: Los Angeles	"Pa Make Loa" (Hawaii Five-0 2.21) "Touch of Death" (NCIS: Los Angeles 3.21)	2-Part Crossover	Appearing in Series A: Chris O'Donnell, LL Cool J, Craig Robert Young Appearing in Series B: Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim	April 30, 2012 May 1, 2012
Agents Sam Hanna and G. Callen are called in to assist Five-0 finding a suspect, Dracul Comescu. Later, Callen and Sam must return to Los Angeles to stop a possible smallpox outbreak from becoming a reality with Danny Williams and Chin Ho Kelly of Hawaii Five-0 coming along to help.
Scorpion	NCIS: Los Angeles	"True Colors" (Scorpion 1.06)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series A: Linda Hunt	October 27, 2014
Hetty Lange assists Scorpion, a team of geniuses, in tracking down a painting after a suspected counterfeit is found at a museum.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Payback" (NCIS: Los Angeles 8.15)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: John M. Jackson	February 19, 2017
As the team races to save Kensi from Ferris/Sullivan, they find themselves questioning who they can trust when old faces resurface.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Battle Scars" (NCIS: Los Angeles 8.21)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: John M. Jackson	April 23, 2017
When a veteran kidnaps a corrupt VA administrator, the team must work with old friends of Hetty's, one of which being A.J. Chegwidden to find him and figure out what's going on.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Golden Days" (NCIS: Los Angeles 8.22)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: John M. Jackson	April 30, 2017
The team works with Hetty's former Vietnam War colleagues to recover $40 million in stolen gold, though things get complicated when other parties invest themselves into the search. Deeks receives some surprising news from Detective Whiting about his IA case.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"This Is What We Do" (NCIS: Los Angeles 9.08)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: John M. Jackson	November 19, 2017
When a group of migrants and Border Patrol officers are slaughtered near Camp Pendleton, the team discovers that the killers are there for one of their old enemies; Nell must work with her bossy older sister Sydney, a Homeland Security analyst.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Các Tù Nhân" (NCIS: Los Angeles 9.13)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: John M. Jackson	January 14, 2018
Eric and Nell find a cryptic clue Hetty left behind in a book that points to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At first, they clash with Mosley as they try to find out what Hetty is doing there, but Mosley comes around and gets them tickets to Vietnam. Meanwhile, Hetty tries to look insane while being interrogated by her "buyer", who is after the secret information she has. The title of the episode, "Các Tù Nhân", is Vietnamese for "Prisoners".
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Goodbye, Vietnam" (NCIS: Los Angeles 9.14)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: John M. Jackson	January 21, 2018
The OSP team must work with Hetty's old unit to locate her before she is sold off, while Nell and Eric must work with Sydney to uncover information that would help the team.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"The Guardian" (NCIS: Los Angeles 10.23)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: David James Elliott	May 12, 2019
Callen and Sam travel to the USS Allegiance in the Persian Gulf to work with Navy Captain Harmon Rabb, Jr. when the team uncovers a terror threat on military locations.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"False Flag" (NCIS: Los Angeles 10.24)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: David James Elliott, Catherine Bell	May 19, 2019
Callen, Hanna, and Rabb detain several terror suspects onboard the Allegiance but are simultaneously forced to deal with Iranian forces amassing on the Iraqi border; Sarah MacKenzie helps the rest of the team untangle a complicated spy web involving a crooked Russian diplomat, Chechen terrorists, and an increasingly meddlesome ISIS; Eric is conflicted between being there for Nell and her mother in the hospital and scrambling to neutralize the terror threat and prevent World War III.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Let Fate Decide" (NCIS: Los Angeles 11.01)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: David James Elliott, Catherine Bell	September 29, 2019
Callen and Sam work with Navy Capt. Harmon Rabb Jr. to apprehend spies aboard the USS Allegiance; Hetty tries to neutralize a missile attack in the Middle East; Kensi and Deeks are trapped in a mobile CIA unit in Iraq while under attack.
NCIS: Los Angeles	JAG	"Code of Conduct" (NCIS: Los Angeles 11.22)	Guest appearance	Appearing in Series B: Catherine Bell	April 26, 2020

Reception

Filming the pilot episode in 2009

Critical reception

"Identity", the series' first episode, garnered 18.73 million viewers with a 4.4/11 share in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and therefore won its timeslot. It was the second-most-watched show of the week, behind only the original NCIS.[22]

Reviews for the show have been mixed. It has a score of 59/100 on Metacritic. According to Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times, "The crime is intriguing and multifaceted, its resolution requiring a nice balance of street smarts and lots of gunfire. But as with the original "NCIS", the emphasis is on the characters of the team... Los Angeles, meanwhile, looks fabulous, a pleasing mixture of noir and gridlock, and there's an air of stability that's comforting in these uncertain times."[23] The New York Daily News reviewer, David Hinckley, was more critical of the show saying that although "It all adds up to an hour of decent entertainment, and there's room for enough character development to give "NCIS: Los Angeles" a personality of its own, ... a premiere episode shouldn't feel even a little like something we've already seen."[24]

Tom Shales of The Washington Post felt that, "NCIS: Los Angeles gets the job done ... It's a procedural that follows strictly the established procedure, but it has likable characters, dislikable bad guys and the occasional flabbergasting shot of L.A."[25] Robert Bianco of USA Today summarized it as a "serviceable hour that takes the NCIS formula—a light tone and a lot of banter wrapped around a fairly rudimentary investigatory plot—and transfers it to a special, undercover NCIS division in Los Angeles. Nothing more, but also nothing less."[26] The Hollywood Reporter compared the show to The A-Team with "the same lighthearted approach to life-or-death situations. Maybe the biggest change is that 'NCIS: L.A.' achieves its inevitably favorable outcomes with a little more intellect and a little less testosterone."[27] IGN stated that although "NCIS: Los Angeles doesn't exactly reinvent the police procedural... it's another above-average entry, aided by the fact that the people behind the show know what they're doing" and ultimately gave the episode a 7.7/10.[28]

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Viewership and ratings per season of NCIS: Los Angeles

Season	Timeslot (ET)	Episodes	First aired		Last aired		TV season	Viewership rank	Avg. viewers (millions)
			Date	Viewers (millions)	Date	Viewers (millions)
1	Tuesday 9:00 p.m.	24	September 22, 2009	18.73[22]	May 25, 2010	13.12[29]	2009–10	9	16.08[30]
2		24	September 21, 2010	15.76[31]	May 17, 2011	15.61[32]	2010–11	7	16.54[33]
3		24	September 20, 2011	16.71[34]	May 15, 2012	15.19[35]	2011–12	7	16.01[36]
4		24	September 25, 2012	16.74[37]	May 14, 2013	13.52[38]	2012–13	4	17.31[39]
5		24	September 24, 2013	16.35[40]	May 13, 2014	14.85[41]	2013–14	4	16.03[42]
6	Monday 10:00 p.m.	24	September 29, 2014	9.48[43]	May 18, 2015	9.33[44]	2014–15	27	11.72[45]
7		24	September 21, 2015	7.89[46]	May 2, 2016	8.10[47]	2015–16	24	11.11[48]
8	Sunday 8:00 p.m.	24	September 25, 2016	10.34[49]	May 14, 2017	9.40[50]	2016–17	11	12.51[51]
9	Sunday 9:00 pm.[lower-alpha 1]	24	October 1, 2017	8.95[52]	May 20, 2018	7.82[53]	2017–18	21	10.71[54]
10		24	September 30, 2018	8.75[55]	May 19, 2019	5.28[56]	2018–19	28	9.85[57]
11		22	September 29, 2019	6.44[58]	April 26, 2020	5.26[59]	2019–20	28	8.91[60]
12	Sunday 8:00 pm.	18	November 8, 2020	6.35[61]	TBA	TBD	2020–21	TBD	TBD

1. The first episode of season nine and third episode of season ten which aired at 9:30 pm, the season finale of season 9 which aired at 8:00 pm and the twenty first to twenty four episode of season ten aired at 10:00 pm, with the last episode of season 11 at 10:00 pm.

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2010	People's Choice Awards	Favorite New TV Drama	–	Nominated	[62]
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Show	–	Won	[63]
		Choice Actor Action	LL Cool J	Nominated
		Choice Actress Action	Daniela Ruah	Nominated
	Golden Globes (Portugal)	Revelation	Daniela Ruah	Won	[64]
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Show	–	Won	[65]
		Choice Actor Action	LL Cool J	Nominated
		Choice Actress Action	Linda Hunt	Won
2012	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Stunt Direction	Troy James Brown	Nominated	[66]
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Show	–	Nominated
		Choice Actor Action	LL Cool J	Nominated
		Choice Actress Action	Linda Hunt	Won
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Show	–	Won	[67]
		Choice Actor Action	LL Cool J	Won

Potential spin-off

On November 5, 2012, Deadline Hollywood reported the first news about a spin-off of NCIS: Los Angeles titled NCIS: Red. The new characters were introduced during a two-part episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. The spin-off was to feature a team of mobile agents, who travel around the country to solve crimes.[68] This would have been the second successive spin-off in the NCIS franchise. However, on May 15, 2013, CBS confirmed that NCIS: Red was officially passed on and would not be moving forward.[69] Scott Grimes reprised his potential spinoff role as NCIS Red Agent Dave Flynn during the eighth season of NCIS: Los Angeles.

Home video releases

The first nine seasons have been released on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4, and Season 1 was released on Blu-ray Disc in Region A. The first season DVD release includes the two-part pilot episode that aired as part of the sixth season of NCIS, which were also included on the Season 6 DVD of NCIS. All releases are distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment.

International broadcast

In Asia, the series airs on AXN, ARY Zindagi & ARY Digital.[70] In the UK the series premieres its latest season first on Sky 1, with subsequent runs and repeats then also broadcast on Channel Five.[71] In the Netherlands the series airs on NET5 .NCIS: Los Angeles airs on Network Ten, ONE and TVH!TS (formerly TV1) As of December 2019, NCIS:LA airs on Fox Crime after TV H!TS was rebranded as Fox One in Australia. In Portugal the series airs on Fox.[72] and on M6 in France.

Adaptations

In August 2016, Titan Books published NCIS Los Angeles: Extremis, a novel by Jerome Preisler.[73] Three months later, it was followed by NCIS Los Angeles: Bolthole, written by Jeff Mariotte.[74] Both books contain original stories featuring the characters from the show.

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External links

• Official website
• NCIS: Los Angeles at IMDb
• NCIS: Los Angeles at TV.com