NCIS: Origins Loses Showrunner After Season 2 in Shocking Off-Screen Exit

NCIS: Origins is the latest CBS series to undergo off-screen changes – with the prequel losing a showrunner after two seasons.

Co-showrunner Miss Lucita Monreal East departure of the show at the end of the current season, according to TV line And Deadline. David J. North will remain and will now serve as sole showrunner.

“Gina has been a beloved and important member of the ‘NCIS’ family for many years,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment and president of CBS Studios. David Stapf said in a joint statement on Wednesday, January 28. “We are incredibly grateful to her for helping launch and lead NCIS: Origins, and for bringing these incredible characters and stories to life. We look forward to working with her again in the future on new projects and know that the creative foundation she helped build will continue to thrive.”

Montreal released its own statement about the surprise release. “It has been the greatest 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, “Having the 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 has in store for Season 3.”

NCIS: Originswhich premiered in October 2024, follows a young Gibbs – a role created by Mark Harmon — years before the events of NCIS. The new series picks up less than a year after the murder of Gibbs’ wife and daughter. During season 1, Gibbs started a new job as a special agent in the NIS Camp Pendleton office while continuing to take care of business. in the aftermath of the loss of his family.

Harmon, 74 years old, made his NCIS debut as Gibbs in 2003 and played the lead role for 18 years. His last appearance aired in late 2021 and Harmon has not returned to the flagship show since. He did, however, sign on to become the narrator of the prequel series and served as executive producer on the project alongside his eldest son, Sean Harmon.

“It’s a daunting task to recreate Gibbs and go back and try to tell this story while being respectful to the fans and the storyline of the original series,” Stowell, 41, said exclusively. Us every week in November 2024 before Harmon films the current scenes in Season 2. “We want to do our best as actors, artists, writers and storytellers. Even though there can be a lot of pressure, Mark Harmon makes us feel comfortable and he makes us feel justified in our decisions.”

The actor revealed that he It didn’t take long for Harmon to share his thoughts on Stowell’s performance.

“He gave it to me right in the room,” Stowell joked. “He was talking – maybe not about what to do – but certainly [he was] guiding me more in terms of posture and mindset, things I have learned to inhabit more and more over time.

Harmon, however, “never gave” Stowell any grades on his acting. “He leads by example. He’s a guy that I learned a lot more about being a human being from than I learned about being Gibbs,” Stowell continued. “He’s been very welcoming, not just to me and not just to the rest of the cast, but the whole crew. He’s really a wonderful leader for us because he makes everyone feel comfortable.”

Before NCIS: Origins back for season 2 Late last year, Monreal and North revealed their approach to the prequel.

“That was really our ultimate goal from the beginning, was to make a show that fans of the original series loved and felt satisfied with. But [it is] Also [a show] that new viewers can arrive from the start of NCIS: Origins,” Monreal explained exclusively to We in April 2025. “Viewers can jump in without being confused and really engage with our characters and their stories. We’ve always approached things from that point of view. I feel like we’ve succeeded.”

She continued: “We really want to stick to canon. [events]. We are strict about this. We want to pay homage to the mothership. We both wrote about the Mothership and love that show. But we also love jumping into our new characters and diving into their emotional lives.

NCIS: Origins returns Tuesday, February 24 on CBS at 9 p.m. ET.