NCIS Celebrated Hitting Its 500th Episode, And I Love Wilmer Valderrama's Video From The Party

23 seasons in, NCIS is still going strong during the 2025 TV schedule, and, come 2026, the series will be crossing its 500^th episode. It’s hard to believe the procedural is nearing such a major milestone, and Sean Murray even told CinemaBlend why he thinks the show is still so popular, noting that they’re always telling new stories and really pushing the limit. Now, the 500^th installment is being celebrated by the creative team, and I love the video Wilmer Valderrama shared from the celebration that was held.

While the series won’t be airing its 500^th episode until early next year, the cast and crew recently celebrated the big milestone, presumably once filming wrapped on the episode. Valderrama, who has portrayed Special Agent Nick Torres since Season 14, took to Instagram to share a video from the party. And, via his caption, the actor told his followers that he and his colleagues are grateful to them:

Along with the sweet caption, Valderrama also got in on a TikTok trend where people look back at a specific time in their life and say how important it was that their younger self did something that they ended up doing. With Valderrama having almost 10 seasons under his belt, it’s hard to imagine NCIS without him, and he's definitely become an important part of the show's legacy.

Not only is it fun seeing what happens at these celebratory parties, but I just love how these NCIS milestone cakes also include the characters. I honestly wonder if those figures edible as well and, if they are, do the actors eat their characters, or would that be too weird? Regardless, 500 episodes is a big feat, and I’m just getting emotional thinking about how far NCIS has come since 2003.

Considering Mark Harmon’s exit was once thought to be the “death knell” for CBS' long-running IP, the series still seems to be doing relatively well four years later. Additionally, it also still manages to keep fans on the edge of their seats, more recently with the mystery surrounding Parker’s mother. There's no telling what will come of that storyline and what will happen in the 500^th episode. Considering how the Eye Network drops images and synopses, it's likely that more details surrounding that milestone installment will likely be released in the coming weeks. Let's hope it's worth the wait!

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Regardless of what happens in the episode, though, NCIS will soon be joining the ranks of shows such as The Simpsons, Law & Order: SVU, Gunsmoke, Family Guy, and Lassie, which have all surpassed 500 episodes. And, if you combine the entire franchise, there are well over a thousand episodes. The NCIS shows collectived celebrated 1,000 episodes in 2024, so now that the Mothership is going to be half of that just by itself is pretty impressive.

New episodes of NCIS air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, and fans can also stream the showing using a Paramount+ subscription.