Origins Showrunner Leaving After Season 2, Gina Lucita Monreal

“NCIS: Origins” is getting a major shake-up behind the scenes.

Co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal will exit the CBS prequel at the end of the current Season 2, TVLine has confirmed. (Deadline first reported the news.) Her co-showrunner David J. North will remain with the series and serve as sole showrunner going forward.

“Gina has been an important beloved member of the ‘NCIS’ family for many years,” CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf said in a joint statement. “We are incredibly grateful to her for helping launch and steer ‘NCIS: Origins,’ and bringing these incredible characters and stories to life. We look forward to working with her again in the future on new projects, and know the creative foundation she helped build will continue to thrive.”

Monreal added her own statement as well: “It’s been the biggest honor of my career to write ‘NCIS: Origins’ alongside my incredible co-showrunner and friend David North. I want to thank Amy Reisenbach, David Stapf, and everyone at CBS Network and Studio for their support. To have had this opportunity to work again with the incomparable Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, our writers, and the best cast and crew in the business — how lucky am I? I can’t wait to see what this extraordinary group cooks up for Season 3.”

A prequel to “NCIS,” “NCIS: Origins” stars Austin Stowell as a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs and follows his early days as a Navy investigator in the 1990s. (It earned a Season 3 renewal last week.) Monreal — named one of TVLine’s Women to Watch last year — co-created the series with North and has served as co-showrunner ever since. Before that, she was a writer and producer on the original “NCIS.” Her other TV credits include “Paradise” and “Griselda.” 

Season 2 of “NCIS: Origins” will return with new episodes Tuesday, March 3 at 9 pm. What do you think of the shake-up behind the scenes? Give us your take in a comment below.