https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/ncis-episode-500-cast-changes-showrunner-steven-binder-1236698004/

The CBS police procedural series, a spinoff of JAG that premiered in fall 2003, tonight celebrates its 500th episode. Showrunner Steven D. Binder thinks the show may yet outlive him, and maybe anyone else currently involved. ”I know this sounds like hubris,” he tells Variety, “but if the sun comes up every day for 20 years, you just feel like there’s a good chance it’s gonna come up tomorrow! And that’s sort of how I feel about the show. It’s not even an adjudication of quality or judgment or how awesome our numbers are or how much people love it. It’s just, literally, there has always been NCIS, it feels like there’s always going to be NCIS,’ and I don’t see any reason why that’s gonna change. Other than the utter and complete total collapse of the network broadcast business model. Other than that.”

NCIS's 500th Episode Delivers Its BEST Death In 23 Years (https://screenrant.com/ncis-season-23-episode-13-leon-vance-dead/)

After over two decades on the air, NCIS hits an ultra-rare milestone (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/158707-s23e13-all-good-things/), and CBS uses the important episode (https://www.reddit.com/r/NCIS/comments/1s2dmbw/ncis_season_23_episode_13_all_good_things_the/) to change the course of its future.

NCIS Episode 500 Is A Sequel To A Classic Season 1 Episode (https://www.looper.com/2132188/ncis-episode-500-sequel-season-1-hung-out-to-dry/)

"NCIS" reached 500 episodes with Season 23's "All Good Things," and it continues a story that started all the way back in the show's second episode.

NCIS Star Breaks Silence After Leon Vance's Shocking Fate In The 500th Episode (https://screenrant.com/ncis-season-23-leon-vance-death-rocky-carroll-comment/)

Rocky Carroll opens up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUWDUBlQSnA) about the fate of Director Leon Vance in NCIS's milestone 500th episode (https://www.reddit.com/r/NCIS/comments/1s3gh67/anyone_else_angry_about_episode_500/), including his first reaction upon learning the twist.


NCIS boss: Vance storyline was “floating around for years” (https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/ncis-boss-explains-vance-death-18-seasons-rocky-carroll-1236699073/)

NCIS Gives Abby Sciuto Fans An Unexpected Gift In Episode 500 (https://www.looper.com/2132539/ncis-episode-500-abby-sciuto-reference/)

Although it's been a while since Pauley Perrette's Abby Sciuto exited "NCIS," the show's 500th episode managed to pay homage to the popular investigator.

NCIS Episode 500's Cast Exit Is The First Of Its Kind In Nearly 20 Years (https://www.looper.com/2132512/ncis-episode-500-cast-exit-leon-vance-rocky-carroll/)

No major character has gone out onscreen on "NCIS" for a long time -- and certainly not in the way that it happens in the show's 500th episode.

NCIS Episode 500 Features A Reunion Fans Will Likely Never See Again (https://www.looper.com/2132681/ncis-episode-500-reunion-leon-vance-ducky/)

The 500th episode of "NCIS" shocked fans with the death of a character who had been around for 18 seasons, but it also gave them a special reunion.

NCIS Star Teases Future Return After Their Shocking 500th Episode Death (https://screenrant.com/ncis-vance-future-return-rocky-carroll-response/)

NCIS could be reuniting with one of its stars after a shocking death in the series' 500th episode, and how the character could return is debatable.