NCIS season 11

The eleventh season of the police procedural drama NCIS premiered on September 24, 2013, in the same time slot as the previous seasons, Tuesdays at 8 pm. Special Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), departs during the season with her final appearance being in "Past, Present and Future". The episode "Crescent City (Part I)", which aired on March 25, 2014, serves as the first of a two-part backdoor pilot of a second spin off from NCIS called NCIS: New Orleans based in New Orleans.

Main

 * Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) of the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) assigned to Washington's Navy Yard
 * Michael Weatherly as Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS Senior Special Agent, second in command of MCRT
 * Cote de Pablo as Ziva David, NCIS Special Agent (episodes 1–2)
 * Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto, Forensic Specialist for NCIS
 * Sean Murray as Timothy McGee, NCIS Special Agent
 * Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer, Assistant Medical Examiner for NCIS
 * Emily Wickersham as Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop, NCIS Probationary Special Agent and Former NSA Analyst, loaned to NCIS on Joint Duty Assignment (episodes 9–24)
 * Rocky Carroll as Leon Vance, NCIS Director
 * David McCallum as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, Chief Medical Examiner for NCIS

Recurring

 * Alan Dale as Thomas Morrow, Homeland Security Section Chief and former NCIS Director
 * Joe Spano as Tobias Fornell, FBI Senior Special Agent
 * Colin Hanks as Richard Parsons, DoD Inspector
 * Marina Sirtis as Orli Elbaz, Mossad Director
 * Damon Dayoub as Adam Eshel, Ziva's contact
 * Gabi Coccio as young Ziva David
 * Hugo Armstrong as Eugene Coyle, from the NCIS Inspector General's office
 * Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Carrie Clark, former FBI Special Agent, turned criminal attorney
 * Meredith Eaton as Carol Wilson, immunologist and friend of Abby
 * Susanna Thompson as Hollis Mann, DoD Special Agent, Gibbs' former girlfriend and former Army CID agent
 * Wendy Makkena as Dr. Rachel Cranston, a psychiatrist and Caitlin Todd's sister
 * Ralph Waite as Jackson Gibbs, Gibbs' father
 * Robert Wagner as Anthony DiNozzo, Sr., Tony's father
 * Michelle Pierce as Breena Palmer, Jimmy Palmer's wife
 * Jackie Geary as Susan Grady, NCIS Polygraph Specialist
 * Diane Neal as Abigail Borin, CGIS Special Agent in Charge
 * Marco Sanchez as Alejandro Rivera, incarcerated former official in the Mexican Justice Department and enemy of Gibbs
 * Akinsola Aribo as Jared Vance, Leon Vance's son
 * Kiara Muhammad as Kayla Vance, Leon Vance's daughter
 * Melinda McGraw as Diane Sterling, Gibbs' and Fornell's ex-wife
 * Leslie Hope as Sarah Porter, new Secretary of the Navy
 * Margo Harshman as Delilah Fielding, DoD Computer Specialist and McGee's girlfriend
 * Juliette Angelo as Emily Fornell, Tobias Fornell's daughter
 * Kelli Williams as Maureen Cabot, NCIS Special Agent

Guest appearances

 * Muse Watson as Mike Franks, deceased retired Senior Special Agent for NCIS and Gibbs' former boss
 * Scott Bakula as Dwayne Cassius Pride, NCIS Senior Special Agent in New Orleans
 * Lucas Black as Christopher Lasalle, NCIS Special Agent in New Orleans, second in command
 * Zoe McLellan as Meredith Brody, NCIS Special Agent in Chicago
 * C. C. H. Pounder as Loretta Wade, Jefferson Parish Medical Examiner for NCIS in New Orleans

Production
On February 1, 2013, CBS renewed NCIS for this season. The same date Mark Harmon extended his contract on the show with a new "multiyear deal" with CBS. It was announced on July 10, 2013, that Cote de Pablo, who plays Ziva David, had chosen not to return for the eleventh season as a regular. She will appear in enough episodes to close out her character's storylines. Because of de Pablo's exit, showrunner Gary Glasberg had to change his planned storyline for season 11. "Someone asked me if I was planning for this, but I really wasn't, so basically the minute that this became real, I had to throw out a lot of what I was planning to do and start from scratch". Glasberg has stated that there will be rotating characters coming to fill Ziva's role.

The theme for the season is "unlocking demons", both figurative and literal according to Glasberg. A "pretty interesting adversary" about the theme will be introduced, and "that will carry through the season".

Casting
Colin Hanks returned for the premiere episode as Defense Department investigator Richard Parsons, a character introduced at the end of the tenth season, while Marina Sirtis returned in the second episode as Mossad Director Orli Elbaz. Joe Spano also reprised his role as Senior FBI Agent Tobias C. Fornell in the first two episodes. Muse Watson (as Mike Franks) appeared in the fourth episode. Ralph Waite (as Gibbs' father Jackson Gibbs) and Robert Wagner (as Tony's father Anthony DiNozzo, Sr.) are also confirmed to return. Diane Neal reprises her role CGIS Special Agent Abigail Borin in episode six "Oil & Water".

The second episode includes a character named Sarah Porter, played by Leslie Hope, who is the new Secretary of the Navy, while Margo Harshman has been cast in a potentially recurring role as Timothy McGee's girlfriend, Delilah Fielding. The third episode introduces retiring NCIS Special Agent Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia) who has known Gibbs for many years.

On August 13, 2013, "casting intel" on a new female character named Bishop was published, with filming scheduled to mid-October. Bishop is described as a "twentysomething female[;] bright, educated, athletic, attractive, fresh-faced, focused and somewhat socially awkward. She has a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance, fierce determination and idealism. She's traveled extensively, but only feels comfortable at home." Emily Wickersham was cast to play the character, named NSA Analyst Ellie Bishop. Wickersham was promoted to the main cast, two weeks prior of her debut appearance. Her first appearance is in episode nine, "Gut Check".

Scott Bakula was considered for an undisclosed recurring role this season. He was later cast as Dwayne Pride in NCIS: New Orleans.