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NCIS: Origins is the latest CBS series going through offscreen changes — with the prequel losing a showrunner after two seasons.
Co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal is departing from the show at the end of the current season, according to TVLine and Deadline. David J. North will remain and will serve as sole showrunner from now on.
“Gina has been an important beloved member of the ‘NCIS’ family for many years,” CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf said in a joint statement on Wednesday, January 28. “We are incredibly grateful to her for helping launch and steer NCIS: Origins, and bringing these incredible characters and stories to life. We look forward to working with her again in the future on new projects, and know the creative foundation she helped build will continue to thrive.”
Monreal released her own statement about the surprise exit. “It’s been the biggest honor of my career to write NCIS: Origin’ alongside my incredible co-showrunner and friend David North,” she wrote. “I want to thank Amy Reisenbach, David Stapf, and everyone at CBS Network and Studio for their support.”
She continued: “To have had this opportunity to work again with the incomparable Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, our writers, and the best cast and crew in the business — how lucky am I? I can’t wait to see what this extraordinary group cooks up for season 3.”
NCIS: Origins, which premiered in October 2024, follows a young Gibbs — a role originated by Mark Harmon — years prior to the events of NCIS. The new series picks up less than a year after Gibbs’ wife and daughter were killed. During season 1, Gibbs started a new job as a special agent at the NIS Camp Pendleton office while still dealing with the aftermath of losing his family.
Mariel Molino, Austin Stowell. Erik Voake/CBS
Harmon, 74, made his NCIS debut as Gibbs in 2003 and played the lead role for 18 years. His final appearance aired in late 2021, and Harmon hasn’t returned to the flagship show since. He did, however, sign on to be the narrator for the prequel series and has served as an executive producer on the project alongside his eldest son, Sean Harmon.
“It’s a daunting task to recreate Gibbs and to go back and try to tell this story while being respectful to the fans and to the story line of the original show,” Stowell, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2024 before Harmon filmed present-day scenes for season 2. “We want to do our best job as actors, as artists, as writers and storytellers. While there could be a lot of pressure, Mark Harmon makes us feel so comfortable and he makes us feel justified in our decisions.”
The actor revealed that it didn’t take long for Harmon to share his opinion about Stowell’s performance.
“He gave it to me right away in the room,” Stowell quipped. “He was vocal about — maybe not what to do — but certainly [he was] guiding me more in terms of posture and mindset, things that I’ve learned to inhabit all the more over time.”
Harmon, however, has “never given” Stowell any notes on his acting. “He leads by example. He’s a guy who I’ve learned a lot more about being a human being than being Gibbs,” Stowell continued. “He’s been so welcoming — not just to me and not just to the rest of the cast, but the whole crew. He’s really such a wonderful leader for us because he makes everybody feel so comfortable.”
Before NCIS: Origins returned for season 2 late last year, Monreal and North teased their approach to the prequel.
“That was really our ultimate goal from the start was to make a show that the fans of the original show loved and felt satisfied by. But [it is] also [a show] that new viewers can come in from the beginning of NCIS: Origins,” Monreal explained exclusively to Us in April 2025. “Viewers can jump in and not be confused and really get on board with our characters and their stories. We’ve always approached it from that point of view. I feel like we’ve succeeded.”
She continued: “We’re really keen on sticking to canon [events]. We’re strict about that. We want to pay respect to the mothership. We both have written on the mothership and do love that show. But we also love branching out into our new characters and digging into their emotional lives.”
NCIS: Origins returns Tuesday, February 24, to CBS at 9 p.m. ET.
