NCIS: Los Angeles: 14 Seasons, 323 Episodes, and a Middling 5.9/10

“NCIS: Los Angeles” ran for 14 seasons and 323 episodes on CBS, from September 22, 2009, to May 21, 2023. Shane Brennan created it. It was the first spin-off of “NCIS” and the second series in the franchise. Metacritic gives it 5.9/10, a score of 59/100.

Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J Anchor the OSP

The show follows the Office of Special Projects, an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service based in Los Angeles. OSP specializes in undercover assignments. Chris O’Donnell plays G. Callen, a former foster child who became a legend under Operations Manager Henrietta “Hetty” Lange. LL Cool J plays Sam Hanna, an ex-US Navy SEAL and former member of SEAL Team Six. The two form the central partnership, and the series was built around them.

O’Donnell and LL Cool J debuted as Callen and Hanna in a two-part back-door pilot during season six of “NCIS,” then returned as the leads of the spin-off. The concept was revised to focus on the two of them. Louise Lombard played Special Agent Lara Macy in the pilot episodes and did not continue into the regular series.

A Cast That Kept Turning Over

The first season featured Peter Cambor as Nate Getz, Adam Jamal Craig as Dominic Vail, Linda Hunt as Hetty, and Barrett Foa as Eric Beale. Daniela Ruah played Kensi Blye, a hand-to-hand combat specialist, trained sniper and forensic whiz. Cambor was demoted to recurring status. Craig’s character was killed off at the end of season 1, after being abducted by terrorists and held hostage. Foa was written out at the end of season 12. Hunt was demoted to “special guest star” status at the beginning of season 13.

Eric Christian Olsen joined as LAPD Detective Marty Deeks in season 2, replacing Vail as Kensi’s partner. He held the liaison position until departmental reforms in season 12 terminated it. He then completed FLETC training and officially joined NCIS as an Investigator. Deeks and Kensi moved from partners to lovers and married in season 10. In season 13 they became foster parents to immigrant teenager Rosa, and the series finale revealed they were expecting their own baby.

Renée Felice Smith joined as intelligence analyst Nell Jones after season 1. Miguel Ferrer, Nia Long, Medalion Rahimi, Caleb Castille and Gerald McRaney also had starring or recurring roles. Rocky Carroll recurred in the first three seasons and appeared in season six.

Fourteen Seasons and 323 Episodes

The run itself is the story here. A spin-off that launches from a two-part back-door pilot and then holds a network slot for 14 years is a machine, not an accident. The episode count — 323 — puts it in rare company. The cast churn shows how the machine was maintained: characters written out, actors demoted, new faces folded in, a marriage, a foster child, a pregnancy in the final hour.

The dates tell the same story. The show premiered on September 22, 2009, and closed on May 21, 2023. That is a full generation of television, and it spans a period in which the broadcast procedural was supposed to be dying.

Louise Lombard’s Lara Macy Did Not Carry Over

“NCIS: Los Angeles” never escaped its parent. It arrived through “NCIS” and it carried “NCIS” cast members with it. Rocky Carroll’s recurring role in the first three seasons was continuity, and continuity is also a leash. The show had its own premise — undercover work, a Los Angeles office, a team built around a partnership rather than a single lead.

The back-door pilot is the clearest evidence. Louise Lombard’s Lara Macy was designed as a counterpart to Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a bridge between the two shows. Brennan revised the concept and Macy did not continue. Callen and Hanna as a pair gave the series a spine that a Gibbs stand-in would not have.

Kensi’s Skill Set and Hetty’s Desk

OSP as a unit that specializes in cover identities gave the writers a reason to change the shape of an episode week to week. Kensi’s skill set — hand-to-hand combat, sniping, forensics — made her a field agent rather than a support figure. Deeks arrived as an LAPD liaison, and the reforms that ended his liaison post in season 12 pushed him through FLETC training and into a full NCIS post as an Investigator.

Hetty is the other piece that mattered. Linda Hunt played the Operations Manager who watched over Callen, and the show kept her as a “special guest star” from season 13 rather than write her out.

Where the Show Fell Short

Fourteen seasons is not the same as fourteen good ones. The cast turnover was constant, and not all of it was graceful. Demoting a founding cast member to recurring status, killing a rookie at the end of season 1, writing out a technical operator after 12 years — the record shows a show that kept rearranging its own cast.

The franchise structure shaped the early run. Being the first “NCIS” spin-off meant the series arrived with a parent show’s audience attached, and it had to build its own case for staying.

What the Score Reflects

The 5.9/10 from Metacritic is the number to carry into any argument about the show. It marks a series that held a network slot for 14 years and 323 episodes and drew a middling critical score while doing it. That gap — long run, average reviews — is the fact worth weighing.

The detail that will outlast the score is the back-door pilot. Two episodes of another show’s sixth season launched 323 episodes of this one, and the character built to bridge the two, Lara Macy, was cut before the first season aired.

CBS · Chris O'Donnell · LL Cool J · NCIS Los Angeles · series finale · TV procedurals