5 shows to watch while you wait for NCIS to return

There are plenty of older episodes of NCIS to work through during the summer. This could be worthwhile doing considering the spin-offs NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva are on their way.

It doesn’t mean there’s only NCIS to watch, though. There are a lot of great other crime dramas out there. The question is where to start.

Our list has a mixture of new and old shows. There’s something with plenty of episodes to binge-watch and something for those who need a weekend binge. Here are five shows for the NCIS fans out there.

NCIS: Hawaii

I’m salty this series was canceled, and I would love to see CBS make a U-turn on it. To do that, we need people watching it. So, while you wait for NCIS to return, it’s time to turn to this unfairly short-lived spin-off series.

Hawaii takes place in, well, Hawaii. I don’t think that needs any explanation. We follow Jane Tennant as the Agent-in-Charge, as the team deal with hostilities of the local people, various Naval crimes, and their own personal lives getting in the way.

There are some crossover episodes with the flagship series and the epic three-way crossover with NCIS: Los Angeles. So, you’ll want to pull up the corresponding episodes to all of those as you work through the series.

Tracker

Are you in the mood for a weekend binge-watch? Tracker has you covered. This is a new CBS series that brings some of the procedural elements that are favorites of NCIS fans, but includes a bit of a serialized element to it.

Justin Hartley stars as Colter Shaw, a rewardist. He isn’t searching for people (or horses!) for the good of them. He wants the reward money. Of course, there are times that he will do something for free when it involves friends, and he does find personal connections here and there. He has a heart when it comes to some people and situations.

There are 13 episodes to work through right now. Spend the summer catching up while you wait for the second season in the fall.

The Blacklist

When you need something with a lot of seasons to work through, turn to NBC’s The Blacklist. James Spader stars as Raymond “Red” Reddington, or does he? That’s a question that you’ll have throughout the series.

The Blacklist starts with Red turning himself in at the FBI office. He has a list of names for the FBI to catch, but he will only do it if a new agent called Liz Keen is part of the team. Yes, he asks for her personally, making it clear that they have some sort of connection.

The series brought some excellent cases of the week to work out. We also got some serialized elements of the story, such as questions about Elizabeth’s husband Tom, Red’s real identity, and what Red actually wanted.

Found

NBC brought a great new show in fall 2023, Found. It was all about a team of not-police finding missing people. The police don’t always work that great at finding some types of people, and Gabi Mosely knows that first-hand. So, she decides to create her own private firm to help people find their missing children, parents, and more.

Gabi has a personal story that plays a role throughout the series. She was one of the missing as a kid. Now it turns out that she has her abductor in her basement. She uses him to figure out where the missing people are.

Of course, there are questions about what Sir wanted when Gabi was young. There are also questions about how long Gabi can keep Sir locked in her basement.

Accused

Fox brought a new show in January 2023 that was a take on a British series of the same name. There is one season out so far, but a second in the works. This one is an anthology series, as well.

We start off each episode in the courtroom. We know who is on trial. What we don’t know is why. That’s something that plays out throughout each episode, showing us the events that actually happened and what the person on trial is accused of doing. Of course, there’s a verdict at the end.

Not all crimes are murder. This is a great series that encourages you to check your bias throughout the episodes.