'NCIS: LA' Series Finale: CBS to Air ET's Retrospective Special

'A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles,' hosted by Kevin Frazier, will air Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT following the final episode of the series.

NCIS: LA has one last mission.

The long-running CBS procedural, starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, says goodbye Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT with its very last episode. Following the series finale, Entertainment Tonight's one-hour retrospective special, A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles, hosted by Kevin Frazier, will celebrate the show's 14-season run at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The special will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

In the final episode of the series, "New Beginnings, Part Two," which ET exclusively premiered a first look clip, the NCIS team continues its case with the ATF and the stolen military-grade weapons, while Callen (O'Donnell) and Anna (Bar Paly) decide to get married in an impromptu wedding. 

Meanwhile, A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles will be hosted by Frazier from the NCIS: LA set. The one-hour special includes footage and interviews with cast members from the past 14 seasons, new interviews, favorite memories and behind-the-scenes moments from the ET vault.

It's a fitting end for the team at NCIS: LA, which debuted Sept. 22, 2009 and follows the Los Angeles-based Office of Special Projects, an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments.

The second series in the NCIS franchise, the show will have aired 322 episodes over the course of its impressive run and has averaged more than 6 million viewers every week, making it the top scripted program in its regular Sunday 10 p.m. time slot. 

The ensemble includes Linda Hunt, Daniela Ruah, Eric Christian Olsen, Medalion Rahimi, Caleb Castille and Gerald McRaney. Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, John P. Kousakis, Frank Military, Kyle Harimoto, Andrew Bartels and Shane Brennan, who created the series, serve as executive producers.

"It's a weird sensation because it doesn't hit you in one big slap. I think it'll hit me when we don't come back in July to shoot another season," Ruah says in the A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles special.

Olsen recalled his drive home from work after his last day on set when "the first round of it really hit me, which is like, 'I'm not going to be driving to work on NCIS: Los Angeles anymore.' And that's just a full cornucopia of emotions."

"We made a show that made so many people happy and that built up such a following around the world, it was pretty amazing," O'Donnell says, with LL Cool J promising in the special that the fans that have been with them since Day 1 "should feel really, really good about these characters."

ET spoke to the NCIS: LA cast in March as they reflected on saying goodbye after a 14-season run.

"It was an amazing run. I'm just so grateful. So grateful for the opportunity and the success and the fans tuning in and for the friends that I made along the way," O'Donnell said.

"There were a lot of emotions. People were definitely feeling it," LL Cool J said of their "bittersweet" last day on set. "At the same time, there was a lot of gratitude. Because we know that we put a lot of work in. We know that we put together a body of work, a body of art that people can watch and enjoy for many, many years to come."

Co-star Gerald McRaney credited the writers for ending the series in a satisfying way for longtime viewers. 

"I think the writers did a very good job of wrapping this show up," he said of the final episode. "They've always been good but a lot of the shows that I've seen here lately, when they come to an end, they just stop. This one has an ending and it has a beautiful ending."

The series finale of NCIS: LA airs Sunday, May 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, followed by A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles, an Entertainment Tonight primetime special hosted by Kevin Frazier, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

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