EXCLUSIVE: CBS’ NCIS prequel NCIS: Origins is set to return for a third season after scoring an early renewal last week. It will do so without one of its co-showrunners, Gina Lucita Monreal, who will be leaving at the end of the current season to focus on new projects. Fellow co-showrunner David J. North is staying on and will be the sole showrunner for Season 3.
This is the second time Monreal will be leaving the NCIS universe. She was a writer-producer on the mothership series for 10 years before departing in 2021 to work on other series and became writer/co-executive producer on Hulu’s Paradise Season 1 and Netflix’s Griselda before being lured back for NCIS: Origins, produced by CBS Studios.
“Gina has been an important beloved member of the NCIS family for many years,” CBS Entertainment President and Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf said in a joint statement. “We are incredibly grateful to her for helping launch and steer NCIS: Origins, and bringing these incredible characters and stories to life. We look forward to working with her again in the future on new projects, and know the creative foundation she helped build will continue to thrive.”
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Monreal and North — both NCIS veterans — created the prequel about young Leroy Jethro Gibbs after being approached with the idea by the two actors who portrayed the character on the mothership series, Mark Harmon and his son, Sean Harmon, both executive producers on NCIS: Origins.
“It’s been the biggest honor of my career to write NCIS: Origins alongside my incredible co-showrunner and friend David North,” Monreal said. “I want to thank Amy Reisenbach, David Stapf, and everyone at CBS Network and Studio for their support. To have had this 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 cooks up for Season 3.”
Before transitioning to NCIS: Origins, North spent a total of 10 years on NCIS, including a stint as a co-showrunner. He worked with Monreal for most of her tenure there.
“Long before Gina was my incredible writing partner on NCIS: Origins, she was, and remains, one of my closest friends,” he said. “I couldn’t have imagined launching this show with anyone else, and even though Gina won’t be working with us on a daily basis next season, the characters and stories she helped create will live on. I can’t wait to team up with her again in the future.”
NCIS: Origins second season returns with new episodes on CBS March 3.
The is the second CBS drama series renewed for next season that will be undergoing a showrunner change. Fire Country showrunner Tia Napolitano also is leaving at the end of the season after four years on the firefighter show.
Monreal, who participated in the CBS Writers’ Mentoring Program, the NHMC Writers Program, NBC’s Writers on the Verge and the Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship,e began her television writing career on Brothers & Sisters before joining NCIS. Her credits also include Star Wars: The Bad Batch.