Is NCIS new tonight? On season 16’s future + why CBS takes so many breaks

Given that today is the midterm elections, there may be many of you out there who assumed that NCIS is not airing on CBS tonight. Breaking news (or not): Your assumptions are correct. The network is taking their entire lineup off the air since everyone knows they can’t compete with the elections.

While you wait for more NCIS… – You can watch our video all about the premiere episode below for the latest! If you enjoy this, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube so you don’t miss any other updates. We also have a NCIS franchise playlist with some other insight worth checking out and we post new videos daily.

NCIS will return next week, as will the rest of the CBS lineup, with an installment that will allow you to learn more about Ellie Bishop’s interests outside of the job — that is something that you can read more about over at the link here. Meanwhile, another episode down the line will allow you to see Kasie Hines out in the field, working alongside none other than Nick Torres. Just for the sake of unpredictability, this is a story we endorse. Kasie is still a bit of a wild card, especially since this character is still finding her footing with the group.

Typically, NCIS only releases episode details a few weeks in advance, so it’s hard to tease more beyond what lies ahead this month — yet, there are many whispers about some larger turmoil within the team and additional oversight via the Department of Defense. Basically, the same sort of stuff that we’re seeing across the board with NCIS this season. There are so many new faces coming on board that we’ve never seen before that it’s starting to feel like NCIS and the military within this show have the highest executive turnover rate in existence.

Why does NCIS take so many in-season breaks?

It takes a long time to make new episodes and this show does 24 of them a season! CBS wants to have new episodes from September until May, but beyond that, there’s no way that they could air 24 episodes straight through unless someone put Mark Harmon and the cast back at work months earlier than they do in July. Adding more episodes to an already packed work schedule for a cast 16 seasons in feels impossible without bucket-loads of cash and maybe a little bit of caffeine in order to keep everyone awake.

Also, it doesn’t really make sense for CBS to air a new episode of NCIS tonight in the first place. Does the network really want to see this show clobbered by political coverage? There’s a reason why so many networks are sitting the night out. If they did air a new episode, there’s a good chance that it would be face near-constant cutaways from networks announcing election results.

There are still many NCIS episodes coming up from now until December, when the series takes a brief break for the holidays and comes back in January.

Disappointed that there’s no NCIS tonight, and what do you want to see from the rest of season 16? Be sure to sound off now in the attached comments. (Photo: CBS.)