'NCIS: Sydney' Scheduling Change Features Nod to 'NCIS'
'NCIS: Sydney' is moving to Tuesdays, beginning with its premiere on Nov. 14 in the timeslot once held by 'NCIS' for 18 seasons.
CBS is making another change to its fall 2023 schedule, with NCIS: Sydney on the move. Deadline reports that the newest iteration in the NCIS franchise will be moving to Tuesdays when it premieres in November, rather than airing on Mondays like initially planned. The move is a bit of a nod to the flagship series, however, whether on purpose or not. NCIS spent its first 18 seasons on Tuesdays before moving to Mondays to make room for the FBI franchise.
With the FBIs on hiatus with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, that essentially opens up the Tuesday lineup. NCIS: Sydney will be settling into its parent series former timeslot at 8 p.m. ET beginning Nov. 14. NCIS reruns will then follow the new spinoff, with the Paramount+ docuseries FBI: True closing out the night. The latter is being pushed back an hour to account for the double dose of NCIS. Reruns of FBI, which are set to follow FBI: True, will likely no longer be on the schedule once NCIS: Sydney premieres.
NCIS: Sydney is the franchise's first international spinoff. The series will see a team of U.S. NCIS Agents teaming up with the Australian Federal Police to form a multi-national taskforce to deal with naval crimes in the Indo-Pacific. It's headed by Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance and also stars Sean Sagar, Tuuli Narkle, Mavournee Hazel, and William McInnes. The drama is one of few new original scripted series airing on the fall schedule, with most scripted content being held off for midseason or later in the midst of the strikes.
NCIS will continue to hold down the fort on Mondays with two hours of reruns instead. In fact, CBS will celebrate the show's 20th anniversary this Monday with a mini-marathon. The network will show the pilot episode, the Season 2 finale, and a key episode from Season 19. A sneak peek of NCIS: Sydney will also be shown during the marathon, which will definitely make viewers even more excited. Even though the franchise has been around for 20 years, it's clear that it's not going anywhere any time soon.
NCIS: Sydney will surely keep fans occupied while NCIS and NCIS: Hawai'i are on hiatus due to the strikes. Maybe fans can even look forward to a future crossover with the three shows, even if it's not as big as the previous franchise crossover. In the meantime, NCIS: Sydney premieres on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, four days after its worldwide premiere on Paramount+ Australia on Friday, Nov. 10.