Everything You Need to Know About the 'NCIS' Franchise’s 1,000th Episode

Gary Cole, Katrina Law, Rocky Carroll, Sean Murray, Brian Dietzen, Wilmer Valderrama, Diona Reasonover, and Chris O’Donnell

The NCIS franchise is one of the most popular worldwide and the proof is in the numbers. When you add together the total number of episodes from NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Sydney, the total will be 1,000 overall. There’s not a lot of shows that can claim that.

To celebrate the occasion, CBS invited stars from all the franchises—some by satellite—as well as the producers and writers and several network executives to an event on the NCIS stage to speak to the success of the series. They included NCIS EP Charles Johnson, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach, CBS Studios president David Stapf, NCIS: Hawai’i co-showrunner Christopher Silber, and NCIS co-showrunners Steven D. Binder and David North.

In addition, the occasion will be marked with a special episode of NCIS airing on Monday, April 15, which is the official night of the 1,000^th episode.

“It will be especially enjoyable for people who’ve been there from the very beginning I think,” Binder told Parade. “We really wanted to capture the history from episode one on up. There’s going to be a lot of Easter eggs in the show, too, visual Easter eggs, auditory Easter eggs for longtime fans to look around and be like, ‘Oh, there’s whatever.’”

Related: NCIS’ Brian Dietzen Teases What’s in the Tribute to David McCallum and His Alter Ego Ducky Mallard

Here’s what we know so far about the 1,000^th episode so far:

When will the NCIS 1000 episode air?

NCIS' 1,000th episode will air as the seventh episode of Season 21 of NCIS on Monday, April 15.

What time will the NCIS 1,000th episode air?

NCIS' 1000th episode will air in the regular NCIS timeslot at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

What will the NCIS 1000 episode be about?

“We wrote what we believe is a very special episode,” said North. “It’s a tribute to not just this NCIS, the OG NCIS, but all the series that have been launched. In it, we’ll find that one of our own, our most beloved, long-running characters, will be in grave danger, but we’ll also pay tribute to, as I said, all the other series. I think it’s one that the fans are going to really love.”

Related: Daniela Ruah Returns to the NCISVerse

Will there be any flashbacks or surprise return visits from previous cast members?

“No, there’s nothing like that,” Binder said. “We really wanted to focus on the story.”

Who's in the cast for the NCIS 1000 episode?

Gary Cole

Gary Cole as Special Agent Alden Parker

Sean Murray

Sean Murray as Special Agent Timothy McGee

Related: Wilmer Valderrama on Who Nick Torres Is Willing to Die for in the NCIS Season 21 Premiere

Wilmer Valderrama

Wilmer Valderrama as Special Agent Nick Torres

Katrina Law

Katrina Law as Special Agent Jessica Knight

Brian Dietzen

Brian Dietzen as Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer

Diona Reasonover

Diona Reasonover as Forensic Scientist Kasie Hines

Rocky Carroll

Rocky Carroll as NCIS Director Leon Vance

Next, Everything You Need to Know as NCIS Heads Into Its 21st Season