Every NCIS Show, Ranked from Worst to Best

One of the longest-running and most enduringly popular crime procedurals on American network television is NCIS. The series has blossomed into a full franchise, with a whole host of spinoff series. Here is every NCIS series, to date, ranked from worst to best.

Ranking Every NCIS Show from Worst to Best

5. NCIS: Sydney

The first NCIS series positioned primarily as a streaming series in international territories and international co-production, NCIS: Sydney made its debut in 2023. The show follows a joint task force between the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Australian Federal Police working together on crimes involving U.S. military personnel throughout Australia. Featuring a blend of American and Australian actors, NCIS: Sydney was renewed for a second season, beginning filming in 2024.

In capturing the nuances of its Australian setting and the intermingling of American and Australian law enforcement agencies, NCIS: Sydney is off to an awkward start. While faithful to the general NCIS formula, Sydney throws too much at the audience too quickly, with overstuffed episodes packed with subplots and character arcs. Hopefully, as the series continues, it will find its own more confident and unique voice, but the show remains the most uneven of the franchise.

4. NCIS: Hawai’i

The fourth NCIS series on this list is also the franchise’s shortest-lived show to date, with NCIS: Hawai’i only running for three seasons before its sudden cancellation in 2024. The show follows the NCIS branch based out of Pearl Harbor, led by Special Agent-in-Charge Jane Tennant and her team. Working alongside the FBI and DIA, Tennant’s NCIS division not only handles crimes related to the U.S. Navy but contends with greater threats to national security.

The biggest shame about NCIS: Hawai’i’s comparatively brief run is that it felt like the show was just starting to gain momentum before it got the ax. After about a season-and-a-half of growing pains, the show was really beginning to gel behind series star Vanessa Lachey and distinguish itself from its sister series. Buoyed by crossovers with NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles, Hawai’i is an uneven but largely solid entry in the franchise.

3. NCIS: New Orleans

The first in the franchise to end its run, NCIS: New Orleans premiered in 2014 and ran for seven seasons before concluding in 2021. Led by Supervisory Special Agent Dwayne Cassius Pride, this NCIS branch investigated crimes involving U.S. Naval and Marine personnel throughout much of the Gulf of Mexico Delta, from Louisiana to North Texas. From internal friction to the changing of command, this NCIS office’s personnel experiences changes before the show ends with the investigators enduring the COVID-19 pandemic.

The most underrated and overlooked of the NCIS series, NCIS: New Orleans really leaned into the vibrant Cajun culture around its Louisiana home office, giving the show plenty of unique energy. Series stars Scott Bakula and CCH Pounder anchored the main cast, with Bakula’s Pride among NCIS’s more charismatic lead characters. The most colorful and playful of the NCIS series to date, NCIS: New Orleans deserves more love than it usually gets.

2. NCIS: Los Angeles

The first NCIS spinoff, NCIS: Los Angeles proved to be enormously successful, running for an impressive 14 seasons before coming to its eventual end in 2023. The show follows two undercover agents, Sam Hanna and Grisha Callen, who are assigned to the Office of Special Projects in Los Angeles. With this office specializing in undercover criminal investigations, Sam and Grisha take on terrorists and other nefarious criminals while working with the U.S. Navy and LAPD.

Los Angeles rivals the original series in quality, especially its enduring partnership between series leads Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J. Effectively filling out the ensemble are co-stars Daniela Ruah and Eric Christian Olsen, who bring a sense of camaraderie that really elevates the show. The most overtly action-packed of the NCIS series, NCIS: Los Angeles paved the way for a whole line of subsequent spinoffs.

1. NCIS 

The show that started it all, it’s impossible to deny the impact NCIS has had on modern network television, especially networks’ long-standing reliance on crime procedural programming. Originally a spinoff of JAG, NCIS has long surpassed its predecessor as its own television phenomenon and, after 21 seasons and counting, shows no signs of slowing down. Primarily based out of Washington, D.C., the show depicts the Major Case Response Team investigating naval related crimes around the country.

Led by Mark Harmon, NCIS featured one of the longest-running and widely beloved ensemble casts for over a decade, including Pauley Perrette and Michael Weatherly. Over the years, this ensemble has gradually changed, but the winning formula and incoming actors have kept NCIS alive and well since 2003. While not as flashy as some of its spinoffs, the original NCIS has consistently been a reliably entertaining show and one that stands the test of time.