NCIS season 17
A shortened season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 17th season of NCIS, a police procedural drama, aired on CBS from September 24, 2019, to April 14, 2020. Produced by Belisarius Productions and CBS Television Studios, it had only 20 episodes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This season is the only one so far not to conclude in May, and it is the first without Joe Spano as Tobias Fornell. CBS renewed the series for an 18th season in May 2020.
Quick Facts
- Season number
- 17
- Episodes
- 20
- Network
- CBS
- First aired
- 24 September 2019
- Last aired
- 14 April 2020
Facts from the source article.
Production
CBS renewed NCIS for a 17th season in April 2019. Production was halted in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories that were meant for the final four episodes of that season were later folded into two Season 18 installments: "Everything Starts Somewhere" and "Sunburn." Executive producer Frank Cardea mentioned that a planned "very surprising ending" had to be changed due to the pandemic.
Fans have guessed that this ending might have involved Maria Bello's character Jacqueline Sloane leaving the show—her exit was delayed until the Season 18 episode "True Believer"—or a reunion of former stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo as Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David, but neither idea was ever confirmed. Season 17 is one of only two seasons (the other being Season 22) where Joe Spano did not appear as recurring character Tobias Fornell, though the character is mentioned several times in the eighth episode, "Musical Chairs."
Because the opening arc of Season 18 wraps up the story about Fornell and his daughter that started in the Season 16 finale, many believe that this plot was originally intended to serve as the basis for the unproduced final episode of Season 17.
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