"NCIS" was renewed for a 12th season last March, and it's expected to return sometime in September this year. Here are some things that you need to know about the upcoming season.
According to TV Line, five series regulars (Rocky Carroll, David McCallum, Sean Murray, Pauley Perretteand Michael Weatherly) whose contracts will expire this Spring will return for season 12.
Brian Dietzen, Mark Harmon, and Emily Wickersham will also be returning.
It is not yet known if Cote de Pablo's character Ziva will be back. Last year, De Pablo announced that she will be leaving the show for personal reasons. She said in a statement that she has "eight great years" with "NCIS" and huge respect for the cast. "The idea of leaving was not something I toyed around with for a long time. It was an overwhelmingly hard thing -- at times terrifying," she told TV Guide.
Fans who would still like to see De Pablo on TV shouldn't worry, however: She just recently signed a four-hour Mark Burnett and Roma Downey CBS miniseries "The Dovekeepers," a show based on a novel by Alice Hoffman.
Season 12 will be focusing more on the characters. Showrunner Gary Glasberg said that the third episode of season three, for instance, will focus on Ducky--where he's from, and how he ended up working in the lab.
In an interview with TV Fanatic, Glasberg said: "Episode 3 is a Ducky origins story, which we're going to find a young David McCallum and I'm very excited about that. Steve Binder is writing that and we're going to learn things like why the bow tie and all kinds of stuff. It will be a lot of fun."
"NCIS," which aires every Tuesday night at 8pm, will likely have its 12th season in late September.
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