‘NCIS: New York’: Premiere Date, Cast and How Sam Hanna Fits In

• NCIS: New York premieres Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
• LL COOL J returns as Special Agent Sam Hanna, his character from all 14 seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles, now partnered with Scott Caan.
• The first case is personal: a friend of Sam’s, Navy reservist Jack Halloway, is found dead.

LL COOL J is back as Special Agent Sam Hanna. NCIS: New York, the newest series in CBS’s NCIS franchise, premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, with new episodes every Tuesday after that.

The show sends Sam, who spent 14 seasons in Los Angeles, back to his hometown and into a newly created NCIS field office in New York City, where the team’s job is protecting one of the country’s busiest ports.

How can I watch NCIS: New York?

It airs on CBS. On Paramount+, the Premium plan streams each episode live as it airs, and any plan, including the cheaper Essential tier, has it on demand the next day.

One gap for newcomers: NCIS: Los Angeles, where Sam’s story started, is not available on Paramount+, according to the streamer. The network says new viewers can start with New York without it.

Who is in the NCIS: New York cast?

LL COOL J plays Sam Hanna and is also an executive producer. Scott Caan, who previously starred on CBS’s Hawaii Five-0, plays Special Agent Nick Schaeffer, Sam’s new partner. CBS describes Nick as a roguish agent and Sam as by-the-book.

Jennifer Beals plays Robyn Wells, the Assistant Special Agent in Charge who runs the New York office and has authority over both men.

The rest of the team is new to the franchise: Jacqueline Byers as Addison “Addy” Ross, an agent with something to prove; Shane Harper as agent Wyatt Sellers; and Devin Druid as Sean Sullivan, the team’s tech specialist.

Is Sam Hanna the same character from NCIS: Los Angeles?

Yes. LL COOL J played Sam in all 14 seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles, from 2009 to 2023, and later brought him to NCIS: Hawai’i and the original NCIS.

Sam was introduced through a backdoor pilot, an episode of an existing series built to launch a new one. His aired on NCIS in 2009, and NCIS: Los Angeles debuted that fall.

New York is not a reboot. CBS calls it an expansion of the NCIS universe, and it is the franchise’s first series set in New York City, shot on location there.

The show was created by Byron Balasco, its showrunner, and R. Scott Gemmill, who ran NCIS: Los Angeles. CBS released the premiere trailer on Sept. 15.

What happens in the NCIS: New York premiere?

When Sam’s friend Jack Halloway, a Navy reservist, is found dead, Sam asks Robyn Wells for permission to investigate. She pairs him with Nick, who introduces him to the rest of the team, according to CBS’s description of the episode.

Other NCIS characters are on the way. Balasco told reporters that Brian Dietzen‘s Dr. Jimmy Palmer, the medical examiner from the original NCIS, is “popping up right away.” He and Sam have shared the screen before, in a three-show crossover.

More premieres this fall: what to know before Marshals Season 2 on CBS and the cast of American Horror Story Season 13. More TV in Movies & TV, and everything on LL COOL J is on his page.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Paramount+ (Joseph McCabe, “NCIS: New York: Everything You Need To Know,” updated Sept. 23, 2026); CBS, series premiere logline and photos; CBS, official series premiere trailer (Sept. 15, 2026); TV Insider (Meredith Jacobs, Sept. 1 and Sept. 16, 2026). Photos: Cara Howe/CBS, Emily Aragones/CBS and Michael Greenberg/CBS; frames from the official trailer on the NCIS YouTube channel.