Why is NCIS not new tonight, March 11?

After having to wait until February 12 for NCIS season 21 to premiere on CBS, fans of the long-running crime drama are going to have to wait a little bit again, as there is no new episode of NCIS season 21 on Monday, March 11, on CBS. But why is NCIS not new tonight?

Unlike for many of CBS's Thursday night shows on March 7 that were impacted by State of the Union coverage, there is no alternative scheduling on CBS tonight, as a rerun of NCIS is going to air on CBS in the show's normal time slot of 9 pm ET/PT. Instead, this appears to be a scheduled break so NCIS season 21 can continue airing new episodes until the end of the 2023-2024 TV season in May.

As you'll most likely recall, writers and actors were on strike for new labor deals in Hollywood last summer and fall, which led to the delay in many popular TV show returns, including NCIS. Once deals were struck, the shows worked to come back for this season, but are going to have fewer episodes than normal. With that in mind, some breaks are being worked into the show's runs to ensure that they go through May.

The next important question is when is NCIS season 21 returning with new episodes? The official CBS schedule lists that NCIS season 21 episode 5 is going to return on Monday, March 25. So you are going to have to wait another week after this one, unfortunately.

But this little break does allow you to catch up with some of the NCIS season 21 episodes you may have missed, starting with the season 21 premiere, which is re-airing on CBS on March 11, at 9 pm ET/PT. The episode on March 18 will be the second episode of season 21. If you want to catch up with any of the first four episodes of NCIS season 21 and at your own leisure, then the easiest way to do that is with a Paramount Plus subscription, which has all NCIS episodes available on-demand.

Some other scheduling notes for CBS on Monday, March 11: there is not going to be a new episode of NCIS: Hawai'i season 3 either (or March 18 for that matter), as NCIS's sister series is also taking a break. CBS's other Monday shows, The Neighborhood season 6 and Bob Hearts Abishola season 5, are airing new episodes on March 11 at their usual times of 8 pm ET/PT and 8:30 pm ET/PT, respectively.