History Series / NCIS

* A fourth spinoff, ''NCIS: Sydney'', was announced in February 2022 to air in November 2023.

* ThatOneCase: Ducky in ''Lt. Jane Doe''.

* TherapyIsForTheWeak: Their initial attitude towards seeing a therapist, though eventually the team gets some long overdue therapy. It . . . seems to help. [[BunnyEarsLawyer A little.]] [[DysfunctionJunction Very little.]] See below.

* TitleDrop: In an emotional conversation with Ziva, Tony reminds her of a Navy lieutenant she'd fallen for and refers to him by a common phrase, a phrase which happened to be the episode in which he appeared: [[spoiler: "Dead Man Walking"]].

* CelebrityIsOverrated: It's a RunningGag that Gibbs is awarded NCIS's service medal year after year, but never even shows up to the awards ceremony, and Tony always accepts on his behalf. This was first introduced in Season Three's "Model Behavior", and made exceptionally poignant in Season Six's "Murder 2.0", after the team has just caught a serial killer who murdered three people in the flashiest possible way for the sake of ''"fifteen minutes"'' of fame. Lampshaded by Ducky:

* DrillSergeantNasty:
** Gibbs has shifted into this mode more than once to intimidate suspects, especially if they're Marines.
** S3 Ep 11, "Model Behavior" had an actual Marine drill instructor, though he wasn't training Marine recruits. He was part of a reality TV show.

* QuoteMine: In season Three "Model Behavior" when supermodel Taylor Shane was found dead on a Marine base, the press were all over the entrance trying to get in or talk with someone. When Gibbs was going through, they were shoving themselves in the way and knocked his coffee out of his hands. Very angry but holding it in, he kept on the "No comment" line. When one complained about their story not having much if they don't get answers, Gibbs replied "I don't care." Later, the reporter took that line and added the question "Don't you care about the victim?" or something to that effect and added Gibbs' line to the shot of him walking away. Gibbs is able to convince the station to make a retraction and apology.

** Gibbs once asked Tony for help with the crossword puzzle clue "TV Drama" and Tony answers "Series/StElsewhere," which Mark Harmon appeared on.

* A fourth spinoff, ''NCIS: Sydney'', was announced in February 2022 to air in 2023.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Lampshaded by Gibbs in Season Seven's "Ignition", when McGee takes the lead in investigating the death of a Navy Top Gun who died while test-flying a jet pack. Unfortunately, being lead means he has to stay in the squadroom while Tony and Ziva head out to interview the suspect jet pack engineer at his laboratory.
-->'''Gibbs''': The price of being in charge.

--->'''Tony''': Run for your life, Probie! Run!\\
'''[=McGee=]''': What's going on?\\
'''Tony''': I'm just trying to save your life!\\
'''[=McGee=]''': What did you do?!\\
'''Tony''': ''(laughs indignantly)'' Why do you assume it's me...? That's a good point, but in this case, actually-\\
'''Ziva''': MCGEE!\\
'''Tony''': Too late.

---> '''Gibbs''': The worst mistake you made...\\
'''Fornell''': You tried to shoot our agents.\\
(''Fornell gets up and takes off his jacket'')\\
'''Gibbs''': Hey, let me hang that up for you, Tobias\\
(''Gibbs tosses Fornell's jacket over the security camera while Fornell rolls up his sleeves. Cue the OhCrap look on the suspect's face as he realizes he's in serious trouble.'')
* PersonAsVerb: Tony, frequently.

-->'''"Spandaxia"''': We would appreciate a little professional courtesy!\\
'''Tony''': [''over personal loudspeaker''] You are not professionals!

* ProperlyParanoid: [=McGee=] never tells anyone where he works. He'll give out cell numbers, pages, etc, but he never mentions NCIS. Which is how he knows, when his new girlfriend shows up to pick him up after work, that she's not who she says she is. Overlaps with INeverSaidItWasPoison.

--->'''Abby''':'''''[[BadAssBoast I am the government.]]'''''

* RunningGag: Many.
** In fact, they've evolved over the years.

* {{Southies}}: See trope entry.

* SpannerInTheWorks: The StrangersOnATrainPlotMurder in "Alibi" fell apart because a drunken Marine stole one of the conspirator's truck and accidentally killed somebody with it in a hit-and-run.

* StaggeredZoom

* StockFootage: Largely averted. For a show involving the US Navy, its hardware doesn't really feature all that much, although earlier seasons had many an obvious stock clip of various ships and sometimes planes.
** But it is liberally used in the 200th episode to fill in for past NCIS characters who can't make it to filming. I'm looking at you, Kate and Jenny.

* AmmoralAttorney: The frequency of this would make you think anyone attempting to defend a criminal would likely be in cahoots or outright bedding them. There are a handful of exceptions contrasting the sheer number of people who are usually in on the schemes or even using the perp to commit a crime ''for'' them. Usually the exceptions [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness then get targeted or even outright killed]].

** In Season Two's "SWAK", Tony and Kate are quarantined at Walter Reed under the care of Dr. Brad Pitt, who is accustomed to explaining: 1) yes, that's really his name, and 2) no, he's [[Creator/BradPitt no relation]].

** In Season Seven's "The Inside Man", Gibbs and Tony meet with a SEC investigator whose name is... UsefulNotes/BenjaminFranklin:

* CelebrityParadox: In ''The Meat Puzzle'', Kate asks Gibbs what Ducky (played by David [=McCallum=]) looked like when he was younger. His answer?

---> '''Ziva''': "I once killed a man with a credit card."

** In the most literal meaning of the words in Season Seven's "Flesh And Blood": the victim is hurled backwards and smashes into the ground when a bomb that he is later revealed to have planted himself explodes prematurely.

** In Season Seven's "Flesh And Blood", the VictimOfTheWeek has been literally HoistByHisOwnPetard, hurled into the air and backward when a bomb detonated in front of him. For bonus points, Tony remarks that he didn't know someone could actually get ''"blown out of his shoes."''
--->'''Ducky''': Now if the explosion had "knocked his socks off", that would be impressive, wouldn't it?

** In Season Two's "[[Recap/NCISS 02 E 22 SWAK]]", Ducky describes the variety of plague that Tony has contracted, pneumonic plague, as by far the worst. There are three main varieties of plague - bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic - and the last (which involves the plague bacilli infecting the bloodstream) is regarded as the worst.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Most of Season 18 takes place during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and is referenced in multiple episodes. However, the show barely attempts to showcase the cast living in the same lockdown conditions as real people are. Masks are rarely worn on the show and nobody employs social distancing procedures, either inside or outside. There are also multiple scenes set in hospitals where nobody, whether visitors or staff, are wearing masks or face shields or anything of the like. The characters also mention how much they're sick of being locked at home, but given how little we see of the characters' home lives, it rings hollow since they work like normal. The only indicators we get that COVID has an effect is the addition of a clear divider in the interrogation room and having every other seat taped off in the diner Gibbs frequents.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: In "Power Down," a scene in Abby's lab starts out with her music, but ends with the music slowing to a stop as the CD player runs out of battery.

* BlandNameProduct: The team's big monitors often tune in to the '''c'''able '''n'''ews '''n'''etwork ZNN.

* InverseDialogueDeathRule: {{Subverted}}. Kate Todd, one of the lead special agents, gets sniped straight in the center of her forehead and dies abruptly.