As revealed around the time when CBS was delivering its Fall 2022 TV premieres to its audiences, the NCIS franchise is set to deliver its first ever three-series crossover event, with the flagship drama (technically a JAG spinoff) set to cross the country to cross paths with NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Los Angeles. Now, the network has at last revealed when the three-hour block will debut, as well as what viewers can expect to see when they pop up.
Luckily for everyone who can’t wait to see the respective ensembles mixing it up with each other, NCIS won’t be making us wait very long once the new year breaks. CBS has revealed the three-way crossover will take place on Monday, January 2, and will run for the entire primetime block from 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET. (All eps will also be available to stream the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.) Now let’s take a closer look at how the night will break down for each drama.
NCIS
Understandably, the night of crossover action won't kick off with comedic farce, but rather a surprising murder that will kick off the overarching and interconnected case. Check out the synopsis for Hour 1 of the night, with NCIS kicking things off.
- NCIS agents from Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Hawai’i, all in D.C. to attend the retirement party of a beloved Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) professor, find themselves jointly investigating his shocking suicide.
As far as who viewers can expect to see flipping locations for this episode, "Too Many Cooks" will welcome NCIS: L.A. stars LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell as Sam and Callen, respectively, as well as NCIS: Hawai'i's Vanessa Lachey and Noah Mills as Tennant and Jesse. And from there, the night will jump to...
NCIS: Hawai'i
The second hour of the big crossover event will center on NCIS: Hawai'i within its usual time slot, and here's what CBS says we should expect to see from Act II.
- Tennant, Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and Sam Hanna (LL COOL J) find themselves captured with a woman who claims to be a CIA agent demanding intel from the team. Also, Jesse, Ernie, Whistler and Alden Parker (Gary Cole) learn about an asset that arrived in Hawai’i who could be connected to several overseas assassinations.
Clearly, this episode's synopsis was a lot more friendly about revealing who will be involved. The episode (titled "Deep Fake") will be welcoming longtime NCIS star Brian Dietzen as Jimmy, Gary Cole as Parker, and the aforementioned duo of LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell as Sam and Callen. Somebody better make sure the latter two don't get so used to crossing over with shows that they start showing up on CBS' Tuesday night shows and beyond. Or wait, we DO want that.
NCIS: Los Angeles
Now we'll presumably get to see Sam and Callen back in their home turf, at least assuming they aren't still out of town when the episode's timeline kicks off. (It's technically possible this hour of the crossover will focus entirely on L.A.'s Rountree and Fatima and the guest stars. Here's what fans can expect:
- While Agent Rountree and Fatima are searching for Kilbride, who has been MIA, they are ambushed and learn that every member of the team has a $200,000 bounty on their head via the dark web. The NCIS team must save Agent Rountree and find Kilbride while every cartel, hit man, gang and psychopath hunts them down.
As far as who those guest stars will be, fans will get to see Gary Cole getting a three-show sticker for appearing across all the shows, and he'll be joined by Hawai'i's Vanessa Lachey in that respect. That's not all, though, as Wilmer Valderrama's Torres and Yasmine Al-Bustami's Lucy will also be in the mix. They're used to this kind of thing, as they were involved in past crossovers, such as the one that kicked off the drama's current seasons, but this'll be the first time they head to NCIS: Los Angeles proper.
Considering this is the first time we’ll get to see this big of a crossover, it seems like it’d be a good time to drop in a surprise return from franchise vet Mark Harmon, who notably bowed out of the role of Leroy Gibbs early on in Season 19. But that’s not so likely, and we probably shouldn’t expect other surprises such as Michael Weatherly’s DiNozzo or Linda Hunt’s return as Hetty, but there’s nothing stopping anyone from putting a request in to Santa Claus for it.
Don’t forget to mark you (presumably new) calendars for the three-way crossover hitting CBS on Monday, January 2, starting at 8:00 p.m. Head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule to see what shows will be debuting around the same time, while our 2022 rundown of debuts will clue fans in on what’s yet to come before the year’s end.
