NCIS: Hawai’i has confirmed when season 3 is set to start filming.

This third run of the spin-off will begin shooting next week on Monday, December 4, and it’s been pencilled in for a premiere on Monday, February 12, 2024.

Due to the strikes that took place in Hollywood earlier this year, the season is expected to be between 10 and 13 episodes long (as is the rest of the CBS slate), rather than the usual 22.

As reported by TVLine, the production will begin with a blessing led by a Kahu, with an Oli Aloha (welcoming chant) and Pule Ho’oku’u (closing prayer), as is Hawaiian tradition.

The blessing ceremony will reportedly centre around “the connections that the number three represents with the past, present and future, as well as togetherness, completeness as a team, and moving forward as a family.”

All the main cast members, including Vanessa Lachey, Alex Tarrant, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Noah Mills, and Tori Anderson, are all set to return, while LL Cool J’s Sam Hanna will also be back for a stint in a handful of episodes after a cameo appearance in the season 2 finale.

Executive producers Matt Bosack, Jan Nash and Christopher Silber previously opened up about the star’s return.

“All of us at NCIS: Hawai’i have been huge fans of LL Cool J for years and couldn’t be more thrilled or honored to be adding his spectacular talent to our ohana (family) for season 3,” he said in a statement.

Lachey added: “One of the most beautiful things about working on NCIS: Hawai’i is the show’s ability to bring the franchise together. We have had so much fun spreading the aloha to NCIS and NCIS: LA with the triple crossover.

“Now, we have the amazing opportunity to bring Sam Hanna to Hawai’i to help the island solve some cases and maybe have a few laughs in the process. Welcome to the ohana, Todd! It’s going to be a fun ride!”

As fans of the franchise will know, LL Cool J has played Sam Hanna on several iterations of the show, including NCIS: Los Angeles and the NCIS/Hawaii Five-0 crossover.