What you need to know
- Michael Weatherly returns to NCIS for a season-long storyline of 24 seasons.
- Katrina Lowe shared a video of the table read, and the presence of his badge suggests when he will first appear.
NCIS This fall welcomes Michael Weatherly back for a full season. But what wasn’t said when his return as Tony DiNozzo was announced was how many episodes he’d be in and when his first would be. Well, thanks to a look at the first table read Katrina Lowe gave for Season 24 on her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, July 14, we may find out.
Lo shared a video of herself, Gary Cole, as well as their badges and the rest of the cast – Sean Murray, Wilmer Valderrama, Brian Dietzen, Diona Reasonover and Weatherly. This suggests that Weatherly will appear in the Season 24 premiere, although it’s always possible that they read multiple scripts or will film out of order. See screenshots below.
Weatherly was last seen on NCIS as a series regular in the Season 13 finale. He then made a special guest appearance in the Season 21 episode “The Stories We Leave Behind”, dedicated to the late David McCallum and his character Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. He appeared at the end and shared a scene with McGee (Murray) and Dr. Palmer (Dietzen).
Katrina Lowe/Instagram
Weatherly then starred in a one-season Paramount+ series. NCIS: Tony and Ziva spin-off with Cote de Pablo in 2025. The series saw the main characters reunite in Paris in flashbacks and then attempt to make their relationship work – they almost got married! – before they parted. They are currently raising their daughter Tali (Isla Gi) together until they were framed and ended up on the run. By the end of the series, they cleared their names and got back together. Weatherly said that he NCIS return will not repeat the events of this show.
But we don’t know much about Tony’s return to Washington other than it’s a season-long storyline. If he is indeed present in the premiere, he could be involved in the resolution of the Season 23 finale. Torres (Valderrama) confronted McGee’s son, Mateo (Patrick Keleher), about his suspicious behavior and saw that the teenager was armed. Mateo warned that “they” might be watching, then the episode ended with a gunshot, but it was unclear who fired or who was “hit,” executive producer Steven D. Binder confirmed to TV Insider after someone did.
NCISSeason 24, Fall 2026, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS