NCIS has remained strong over the last two decades and continues to do so as the series prepares to head into its 24^th season on the 2026 TV schedule. Even with Mark Harmon’s exit believed to be the “death knell” of NCIS, it’s definitely managed to hold its own. Harmon had joined NCIS as Leroy Jethro Gibbs when it was still just a JAG backdoor pilot, and when it came time to cast the character, a co-creator’s wife made a spot-on prediction about Harmon.

When they were casting for NCIS, plenty of A-listers were being tossed around for the role of Gibbs, such as Harrison Ford. Not surprisingly, Harmon was on the short list for potential actors to play Leroy Jethro Gibbs that CBS had sent out. What is surprising is that one particular person had a feeling that if Harmon got the role, NCIS would go far. Co-creator Don McGill shared on the NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast that his wife actually predicted the show’s success:

Of course, it’s hard to predict how far a show will really go, especially one that is the spinoff of an already successful show. And NCIS struggled during its early years, so you couldn’t really tell just how long it was going to last. Obviously, McGill’s wife turned out to be right, and I am so thankful that she was. I can’t imagine NCIS without Harmon as Gibbs, and he’s still such a big part of the franchise, so much so that he’s returning for NCIS: Origins’ upcoming third season.

There was no way of knowing just how much of a success NCIS would turn into, and I’m sure even McGill’s wife couldn’t have predicted 24 seasons and seven spinoffs by 2026. There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that have made it successful, between the cast and the storylines, but you can’t argue that Harmon was definitely a big part of that, at least during the first half of the run.

Meanwhile, McGill’s wife may have predicted NCIS’ success because of Harmon, but Harmon admitted to being shocked that NCIS is still on the air. It did not do well when it was first starting out, struggling with ratings and trying to really find its footing. But knowing that it’s doing as well it is today is pretty remarkable. After over two decades, the NCIS franchise remains one of the most successful television franchises ever, and it doesn’t seem to be dying any time soon.

During the fall TV season, fans will be getting three NCIS shows, including Season 3 of NCIS: Origins, which will see Harmon reprising his role as Gibbs for all 10 episodes. Additional details about his appearance should be revealed in the coming weeks, but fans can watch the first two seasons of the prequel and all seasons of NCIS with a Paramount+ subscription.

Throughout NCIS’ 23-season run, the CBS procedural has had a lot of guest stars gracing the halls of HQ. A lot of them were actors who were not quite stars yet, such as Zac Efron and Glen Powell, while others were already pretty big names, including Mark Harmon’s Freaky Friday co-star Jamie Lee Curtis. Bob Newhart is also on this impressive list, but he did more than just guest star. He gave Mark Harmon an F-bomb-laced piece of advice, too.

The late great Bob Newhart guest starred in Season 8, Episode 12, “Recruited,” back in 2011. He portrayed Dr. Walter Magnus, a retired chief medical examiner who trained and mentored Ducky. He was only in one episode, but he left a mark on the show and is one of the greatest NCIS guest stars. He also made quite the impact behind the scenes too, as executive producer Scott Williams recalled the advice he gave Mark Harmon on the NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast:

Newhart would know. The comedian had two very successful programs that ran for well over 100 episodes: The Bob Newhart Show and the subsequent Newhart. (The latter of which had one of the most memorable TV endings of all time.) Still, the fact that Newhart said that during Season 8, and now the show is gearing up for its 24^th season, is mind-blowing.

Ultimately, Mark Harmon hasn't been on board this specific train this the entire time, as he departed as Leroy Jethro Gibbs at the beginning of Season 19, but technically, he still followed Newhart’s advice. He has since become an executive producer and narrator on NCIS: Origins, where he has appeared on-screen a few times. He is also set to be in all of Origins’ third season this fall. So, he is still very much riding not just the show but the franchise "into the ground."

However, Harmon is not the only one who took Newhart’s advice. Williams admitted that his perspective about NCIS changed when he heard it too. To this day, the NCIS franchise remains a worldwide phenomenon and a very successful television franchise. Williams credits Newhart for the inspiration, and it’s made me love NCIS even more:

Despite the prescient advice, I don't think anyone could have predicted during Season 8 that NCIS would still be going on 15 years later -- and with even more spinoffs added to the lineup. Clearly, they really are doing exactly what the comedic legend urged them to do.

While NCIS is returning for Season 24, along with three spinoffs, during the 2026-2027 season, it’s hard to tell just how much longer the franchise will run. As of now, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, so perhaps Williams really is riding it until he no longer can. CBS has not announced when the new seasons will premiere, but the first 23 can be watched with a Paramount+ subscription.

As NCIS prepares its return to the 2026 TV schedule and is (hopefully) ready to resolve its huge cliffhanger, its cast is looking back at some of the other big mysteries of the series. Co-stars Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover recently did an interview with EP Scott Williams and finally got into the mystery surrounding Gibbs' boat.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs enjoyed building boats, and while NCIS: Origins got into the reason behind that, Williams was a guest on Partners and Probies to discuss a question fans had for a long time. For years, Gibbs was building a boat in his basement. For those who were unaware, here's a picture:

It's a beaut, but the hosts had to put Williams on the spot because it felt similar to building a ship in a bottle. Fans couldn't figure out how Gibbs would remove the boat from the basement after he built it, though the EP revealed they did cheekily address that in an episode a while back:

As revealed in Gibbs' final NCIS appearance (Mark Harmon will return in NCIS: Origins), the character broke a hole with a sledgehammer in his wall just large enough for a boat to fit through. The boat ultimately blew up, but we know that Gibbs escaped with his life and even recently returned off-camera to deal some vigilante justice to the killer of Director Vance.

The answer to the boat mystery wasn't the most exciting explanation, but as Scott Williams pointed out, the mystery was never really the point of the boat storyline. The process of building a boat, and what it meant to Gibbs, was the real story, so Williams wasn't too worried about any explanation of how it would be removed:

I also like that, and think it adds more depth to the already mysterious Gibbs. I do think it's weird he never had a better plan for removing the boat, however, especially for a guy who prides himself on following a strict set of rules. Do you think after he had to break a wall, he added "Never build a boat in a basement" to his list?

With Mark Harmon showing up in NCIS: Origins, I do wonder if this means we'll also see him in a new episode of NCIS in the future. As previously mentioned, he helped Alden Parker break the law and bring Director Vance's killer to justice. There were suspicions that Parker and Gibbs were involved in the murder, but an investigation into the issue was never officially opened.

We'll see what's in store when NCIS returns to CBS on the fall schedule. In the meantime, fans can revisit past episodes with Gibbs over on Paramount+, and see him working on that boat from time to time.

What's old is new again, and what was already new is...maybe irrelevant? Whatever the case, it's clear that CBS' NCIS-verse is making a concerted effort to bring absent fan-favorites back into the fold in big ways both on- and off-camera. The latest gobsmacking update? Michael Weatherly is now set to reprise the role of Tony DiNozzo when Season 24 hits the 2026 TV schedule, and it won't be a mere "special guest" role, either.

One day after CBS and NCIS: Origins revealed that Mark Harmon's Leroy Gibbs will be back in the mix for a season-long present-day storyline — and seven months after Paramount+ canceled the spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva — the network let the cat out of the bag that Weatherly is already signed on to bring DiNozzo back. And this video announcement, complete with amusingly self-serious narration, is a hoot.

What will bring Tony back to working alongside the minimal former colleagues who are still around? It's unclear for now, and we'll probably have to wait until Season 24 trailers are dropping before learning any major details. But we do know that he'll be around for the bulk of the new episodes, so expect him to get to know characters who were introduced after Tony's exit, such as Gary Cole's Parker and Wilmer Valderrama's Nick Torres.

Are We Really Getting Tony Back Without Cote De Pablo's Ziva?

Without a doubt, the most prominent reactions on social media to Michael Weatherly's return are positive and welcoming. But butting right up against all that blanketed positivity are two sets of other reactions. One is a continued distaste and judgment against Paramount+ for NCIS: Tony & Ziva having ever been canceled in the first place, with plenty of "#SaveTonyAndZiva" tags as comments.

The other wave of replies is mainly iterations of the all-important question: will Weatherly's DiNozzo be accompanied by his TV wife and child, or is this going to be a solo mission? Here are just some of the many comments clamoring for Ziva to also be on board.

• This is great news. What about Cote? - @pattimarinoara
• We need Ziva too!!! - @sere_balistrieri89
• wait?! what?! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!! and Ziva better be with you lol - @natedagr8t
• There is no Tony without Ziva and their daughter so maybe just give us our own show back? - @tivaswiftie99
• I miss you and ZIVA I stopped watching after ziva was gone. 😢 - @michaela_jones_
• Michael this is only allowed if you bring Cote De Pablo with you 😘 - @rachel_jamrose
• He MUST bring Ziva and Tali along! 🤞🤞🤞 - @cheernanna
• Yea idgaf if ziva isnt with him WTF - @jesslovinggg

Considering NCIS: Origins is also bringing in NCIS: LA vet Eric Christian Olsen as an executive producer, and Olsen's former co-star LL Cool J is heading up the new NCIS: New York spinoff, the time couldn't be more perfect for Cote De Pablo (and anyone else, really) to make plans to return for Season 24. Because otherwise, I'm sure the writers will attempt to breezily justify why he's able to just leave his family behind for months on end, and I doubt fans will freely allow that to happen without any blowback.

The one way Tony returning for a solo seasons would work, at least in my mind, would be if he's being groomed to take over as Director. If that ends up being the case, then it's at least feasible that Ziva and their daughter would move back to be with him at a later date. Here's hoping we get more details in the coming weeks.

All seasons of NCIS and the lone Tony & Ziva season are currently available to stream via Paramount+ subscription.

As the NCIS franchise prepares to return on the 2026 TV schedule this fall, fans are going to be seeing some big changes. Perhaps the biggest and most exciting change is that Mark Harmon will be back as Gibbs for the upcoming third season of NCIS: Origins. He’s not the only NCIS alum making a comeback, as I’m pumped that another familiar face is joining forces with the franchise again but in a different capacity.

NCIS: Los Angeles star Eric Christian Olsen (who played Marty Deeks) will be joining Origins as an executive producer, according to Deadline. The actor will serve as EP under his Cloud Nine Productions banner, alongside showrunner David J. North, Harmon and his son Sean, and Michele Greco. Of course, Olsen is no stranger to executive producing, as one of his few EP credits includes fellow CBS drama Matlock, which he’s been attached to since the first season.

Even though NCIS: LA ended three years ago, that hasn’t stopped the cast from returning to the franchise in some way, shape or form. Olsen’s on-screen wife and real-life sister-in-law, Daniela Ruah, directed an episode of NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i and reprised her role as Kensi Blye in the franchise’s 1,000^th episode. LL Cool J, meanwhile, has had a more prominent role since LA, recurring on Hawai’i and appearing in multiple episodes of NCIS. He’s also set to permanently return as Sam Hanna in the upcoming spinoff, NCIS: New York, this fall.

It makes me so happy to see Olsen following in his former co-stars’ footsteps by returning to NCIS. Of course, since he’s going to be an EP on Origins, it feels like fans probably shouldn't expect Olsen to reprise Deeks. Though I would still love to see Olsen cameo as Deeks on the mothership show at some point. That aside, Olsen's work on the prequel show should help ensure additional creative continuity behind the scenes.

As far as we know, it doesn’t seem like Origins will interfere with Olsen’s work on Matlock. On top of that the former show has been confirmed to receive a shortened season and will run for just 10 episodes this fall. Also, Matlock has also been pushed to midseason 2027 due to creator Jennie Snyder Urman opting for a delayed start to give writers more time to flesh out a new story. With that, the Kathy Bates-led show's third season will only have 13 episodes.

But, all in all, it appears Eric Christian Olsen could be quite busy with producing work for the foreseeable future. Of course, here's also hoping that his NCIS producing gig is a small step towards him playing Deeks again at some point.

A premiere date for NCIS: Origins Season 3 has not been announced. Still, between Mark Harmon returning as Gibbs for every single episode of the season and Eric Christian Olsen joining as an executive producer, there's a lot to look forward to. That doesn’t even count the cliffhangers at the end of the Season 2 finale. So catch up on the show by streaming the prequel show by streaming the first two seasons with a Paramount+ subscription.

I can’t remember which rule says “Always wait several years before reprising your most beloved character on the small screen,” but it’s quite relevant this week, as CBS formally announced that NCIS vet Mark Harmon is returning to the hit franchise as its rule-making former head honcho Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing to be had, seeing as how it’ll fully make five years in October since the character self-exiled in Alaska in Season 19.

Understandably for such a huge update, details are pretty light as far as what viewers can expect to see or hear when the return hits the 2026 TV schedule, but the post below actually does put the focus on Gibbs for a line after laying out that he’ll be back not on the mothership series, but on the prequel spinoff NCIS: Origins.

I do think it's interesting that the video shows off Mark Harmon in full, since that has to be an implication that fans will legitimately see current-era Gibbs in the flash, as opposed to only hearing his voice utilized for reflective narrations. Those voiceover bits weren't as prominent in Season 2 as they were in the first, so maybe this is a way to give fans more of the character they've been missing.

Speaking of the fans, there were more than a few abundantly excited reactons to the Gibbs news, despite some sporadic gruff about the appearance happening on Origins instead of NCIS proper. Here are some of the ones that stood out to me.

Some Of The Most Excited NCIS Fans' Reactions

• Our prayers have been answered!! 😭🙏 - @rebecca1356
• Wait ah min…. I’m hyperventilating… GIBBS… YESSSSSSS!!!!!! - @cutfromadifferentcloth_
• I love NCIS, Origins! The cast is phenomenal and the writing is superb, but having Mark Harmon narrate brings everything full circle. It’s a brilliant concept, flawlessly executed! - @michelle.federico11
• Best news ever!! Gibbs has been missed for sure!!! - @maryjanesdesk
• we're NOT gonna be surviving this I fear 😭😭😭😭 - @austin.h.abbas
• My Heart🤩🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 - @behindthefavor
• can you hear me screaming - @official.emmagrace
• What about the actor playing young Gibbs? He’s out now? I liked him! - @brittbach35

Anybody who reacts to anything with dozens of party emojis can't be all bad, amirite? Also, that last comment isn't celebratory, but it amused me that the commenter seemed to think that Mark Harmon would be replacing Austin Stowell as "Young Gibbs" in the prequel, which is a hilarious concept in and of itself.

Mariel Molino Weighed In With A Very Promising Comment

NCIS: Origins star Mariel Molino, who portrays Gibbs' partner Lala Dominguez, shared a comment below the post that could potentially give fans something they've wondered throughout the prequel's run to date: where was Lala during the timeline of NCIS proper? Here's what she chimed in with, which sparked a fun response from co-star Caleb Foote.

• MARIEL MOLINO: I hear Alaska’s nice this time of year…
  • CALEB FOOTE: save Randy first! Get yo head outta the future

It's a fair cop from Foote, whose tech-savvy Randy was kidnapped in the Season 2 finale, leaving his fate totally up in the air ahead of the third season. For what it's worth, at least one other fan shared that learning about Randy's safety was at least as important as learning about Gibbs.

Regardless, Molino's comment sets up the speculation that NCIS: Origins will jump forward in time to the current day, possibly to show fans that Lala is still alive and in contact with Gibbs, without him needing to come out of hiding to make it happen. Of course, it might not indicate that at all, but I'm keeping the faith.

As exciting as it is to know that Gibbs will be around in some capacity, there's the caveat that NCIS: Origins Season 3 will be one of several CBS series whose season orders were cut down. So don't expect to see Harmon's Gibbs for, say, eleven episodes, as we're only getting ten.

Both of the prior seasons, as well as all 23 seasons of NCIS, can be streamed in full via Paramount+ subscription.

NCIS has been through a lot over the course of its 23-season run, and this includes numerous cast changes. Perhaps the biggest casting change came when Mark Harmon exited at the beginning of Season 19, with his departure thought to be the “death knell” of NCIS (at least at the time). Seasons later, Sean Murray has recalled learning about his co-star's decision to leave... and the phone call that made him feel better about it.

Murray has been on NCIS as Special Agent Timothy McGee since the very first season. So, both he and Brian Dietzen, who has been playing Jimmy Palmer since Season 1, have been on hand to witness all the casting changes. While speaking with Dietzen and Diona Reasonover on the Partners & Probies podcast, Murray reflected on the switch-ups, noting change is always hard.

Harmon's exit is one of the biggest changes the show has ever been through, but the McGee actor explained the phone call that made it easier to deal with:

Considering how important a character Gibbs was and how important Harmon was to NCIS, it was probably hard to imagine anyone else coming in as the team’s leader. However, Gary Cole’s Alden Parker has been doing a pretty great job, and Murray seems to have been pretty happy to get that call about his new on-screen boss.

The team has definitely changed up more than a few times, and every time someone new joins, they fit right in. Of course, it’s never easy saying goodbye to a character and seeing someone new come in. However, in Cole’s case, there was no one better to step in after Harmon left. Plus, cycling through team members over the years probably helped Murray come to terms with Harmon’s departure. Knowing Cole would be coming on made it even better.

Unfortunately, the casting changes are continuing. Season 23 of NCIS killed off Rocky Carroll’s Director Leon Vance after 18 seasons, and the season finale might have killed off another beloved character. NCIS is never predictable, and even after all these years, the shakeups are still happening. While it keeps the show fresh, it’s also keeping fans and the cast on their toes.

Meanwhile, Harmon has returned to the NCIS franchise since then. He currently serves as executive producer and narrator on prequel series NCIS: Origins, which follows a young Gibbs. He’s appeared on the show a couple of times, most recently with the NCIS crossover last year. It’s unknown whether he’ll ever return to the Mothership, even if it’s brief, but at least the team is in good hands.

If anything, fans can always watch their favorite Gibbs episodes with a Paramount+ subscription. NCIS Season 24 will premiere this fall on CBS.

The 2026 TV schedule recently marked the end of NCIS Season 23, but the show definitely isn't done for good. CBS' long-running procedural is coming back for Season 24 this fall and will be joined by three spinoffs next season as well. It’s hard to believe the flagship show is still going strong after all this time, and even Mark Harmon is OK admitting his shock over the once-struggling series still being on the air.

Some may not remember (or even know this), but NCIS is actually a spinoff of the military legal drama JAG, which ran for 10 seasons and ended in 2005. NCIS has gone on to become even more successful than its predecessor, spawning a whole franchise, but the Mothership took a while to really find its footing.

It’s known that NCIS struggled very early on, and Harmon, who played Leroy Jethro Gibbs for the first 18 seasons before departing at the beginning of Season 19, recently recalled the struggles. While appearing on Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover’s Partners & Probies podcast, Harmon shared what it’s been like seeing NCIS grow and evolve into what it’s become after not knowing how well it would do all those years ago:

The fact that NCIS struggled for ratings early on is not so surprising, as even some of the most popular shows in TV history don't start as overnight success stories. And, of course, the show also had the added burden of being a spinoff an already successful series that could've overshadowed it. Who knew that over 20 years later, NCIS would still be going, and Harmon would be narrating and executive producing a prequel series centered on his character?

Obviously, Harmon had no idea that it would grow into this massive phenomenon. Heck, even Dietzen even revealed that during the early years, whenever Harmon was asked how long he sees the show going, he would just say that he’s hoping for another season.

That being said, even with NCIS heading into its 24^th season, it's hard to say when the end will come. Sure, the show is a staple of CBS, which clearly has a lot of confidence in the franchise since it surprise-ordered yet another spinoff for the 2026-2027 season, NCIS: New York starring LL Cool J. However, the future isn’t always set in stone.

I can only imagine how Harmon and maybe even many others who worked on NCIS in the show’s early years feel seeing what the series has evolved into, given those earlier hurdles. To this day, fans are loving the show, and they may even be rewatching it with a Paramount+ subscription. While it's unknown just how much longer NCIS will go on, at least fans can look forward to Season 24 later this year. Who knows, maybe it’ll go for another 20 years?

Mark Harmon admitted he uses one of Gibbs' rules in his everyday life, but before anyone goes wild thinking about which ones would possibly factor into his real life, it's #9. During what I assumed would be a throwaway interview moment, I was impressed to see him answer a burning NCIS question with zero hesitation, addressing how the notion to "always carry a knife" has served him well.

Harmon was a guest recently on the NCIS podcast Partners & Probies, where co-host and Jimmy actor Brian Dietzen asked the former lead if he followed any of Gibbs famous rules in his everyday life. Here's what Harmon said as he started reaching for his pockets:

The actor went on to say that he never used it as a means of defending himself, clarifying it's a tool he uses and not something he carries for protection. That made me chuckle, considering the 2026 TV schedule gave us at least two examples in which Gibbs murdered someone in cold blood.

NCIS: Origins showed Gibbs' murder of the cartel leader responsible for the death of his wife and daughter, something the flagship show talked about for years. Then the Season 23 penultimate (available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription) heavily implied Gibbs took a break from his retirement to help Alden Parker bring Director Vance's killer to justice.

Mark Harmon is not Gibbs, but I love that elements from the character have made it into his everyday life. I also have to wonder just how many times he's been asked that question to have replied as quickly as he did. Check out the clip below:

In fairness, Harmon recently talked to NCIS: Origins star Austin Stowell about the rules, so maybe they were fresh in his mind. The actor actually confessed he does not have an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules outside of the knife one, so I guess that really resonated with him.

NCIS is finished with its latest season, but fans can watch plenty of old episodes over on Paramount+. There's no better place to learn all of Gibbs' rules, so maybe check it out whilst ordering a pocket knife online.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the NCIS Season 23 episode "Deal With The Devil." Stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription, and read at your own risk!

Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs didn't make a physical appearance in the latest NCIS episode, but it was basically confirmed that he played a key role in bringing Director Vance's killer to justice. Now, a couple of days after he killed former CID Wayne Rogers with a sniper rifle, I still can't get on board with what the CBS procedural did.

For those who missed the episode, it was revealed that while it seemed like Rogers would get away with his crime and go into government protection, the car protecting him broke down on the highway. Once stopped, Rogers was killed by a sniper bullet estimated to have been shot from an incredible distance. Immediately, the NCIS team suspected Gibbs, remembering how he avenged his wife's murder. He was the only person they could think of who could make that shot, and quietly, they were thankful he did.

It was all but confirmed in a separate scene, in which Parker's sister came to ask him if he was responsible for Rogers' death. While he deflected, saying he didn't know how to use a sniper rifle, he didn't say anything about the torn-out alternator for the vehicle, which led to the car's breakdown in the first place. He then asked his sister if she wanted some salmon he got "fresh from Alaska," which is where Gibbs retired to. Without explicit confirmation, it's heavily implied that Parker contacted Gibbs and helped set up Rogers' assassination after he almost walked following Vance's death.

Gibbs Playing Hitman To Avenge Director Vance Doesn't Sit Right With Me

I thought it was wild when Gibbs first mentioned on NCIS that he killed a man in cold blood, but given that it was the man responsible for the death of his daughter and first wife, I can let that slide. What feels more shady is a call-in hit on Wayne Rogers, who is only connected to the late Director Vance through his actions. His actions might've gotten Vance killed, but he did not directly murder him.

I've appreciated Alden Parker for believing in the justice system, but now he's been corrupted and fallen victim to vigilante tactics. It puts him at risk of being labeled a criminal himself, and it felt like a reckless move he didn't have to make. Rogers did threaten him and his sister, saying he could track them down whenever they wanted in the future. Still, I'd like to think there were other ways it could've been handled.

It's Even Worse The NCIS Team Largely Seems To Acknowledge What Happened

What makes Gibbs sniper kill worse is just how readily the NCIS team accepts it. No one is outraged by what happened, nor is there any sort of conversation about needing to at the very least interview their former leader for an alibi to prove he wasn't a part of it.

I get that this is fictional television, but I don't like the real-world implications of law enforcement at any level turning a blind eye to an obvious crime because it serves their best interest to do so. NCIS is the good guys, and catching the bad guy at the cost of their own morality just feels like an icky reality.

Maybe this was done to give a nod to NCIS: Origins, and keep the mythos of Gibbs relevant as the other spinoff tells his story. In any case, it just has me feeling some sort of way, and I'm hoping there's some resolution to it in a future episode.

NCIS closes out Season 23 on CBS on Tuesday, May 12th at 8:00 p.m. ET. While the spring 2026 TV schedule is closing out, summer is on the way, which is still plenty exciting for those who love great television, so check out what's on tap.

NCIS's star Gary Cole is approaching five years as the lead of the CBS hit, and as the series continues on the 2026 TV schedule, he's opening up about how Mark Harmon's exit "baffled" him. Specifically, he was shocked by how it all came together, and he reflected on the suddenness and overall uncertainty that was felt when the former lead decided to step away.

As we now know, there were producers who felt NCIS would die when Mark Harmon announced his exit. The series' heads didn't have a lot of time to make a decision, and Cole spoke to that while appearing on co-stars Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover's Partners & Probies podcast:

As mentioned, NCIS hadn't planned for a reality in which it would continue without Mark Harmon's Gibbs. Some thought it'd just be best to close out the flagship series, and even went to work planning on how to proceed in the early stages after learning about Harmon's decision.

It seems silly in hindsight, but a reality at the time. Gary Cole admitted he couldn't believe that Mark Harmon hadn't thought through what might happen to NCIS if he left, though he admitted he didn't know him as well as others on the cast:

Gary Cole has previously said there were initial discussions to end NCIS after Mark Harmon left, and Brian Dietzen reconfirmed that during this latest conversation. The latter also confirmed the possibility of the show ending weighed on Harmon, and ultimately, he and the team decided on a transitional period in which Gibbs would be phased out as a new head of the team, Alden Parker, was introduced.

This culminated in a four-episode run in Season 19, which concluded in Episode 4 during a mission in Alaska. There were downsides to how it played out, specifically when it came to characters not being able to say a proper goodbye, but ultimately, Cole was happy with it:

Alden Parker's arrival on NCIS wasn't just a success, Brian Dietzen said the CBS series was legitimately performing against ratings heavy hitters like Monday Night Football. Even Gary Cole admitted he was surprised to see viewership rise the way it did, expecting some wane from fans unsure about a new lead character.

That's all in the past, as NCIS fans are now worried more about whether Torres or Jessica Knight will get together, or how LL Cool J's new spinoff will impact the franchise. It's a credit to the writing and Gary Cole's acting that Alden Parker fit in, and the characters got back to solving murders.

NCIS continues with new episodes on CBS on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and episodes are available on streaming for those with a Paramount+ subscription. I'm very invested in where things are going in these upcoming episodes, and how Parker may convince a passing-through Sam Hanna to set up shop in New York.

A little over a week ago on the 2026 TV schedule, NCIS delivered one of its biggest twists ever by killing off Rocky Carroll’s Leon Vance in the landmark 500th episode. Naturally many fans were saddened by the character’s untimely demise, as he’d been part of the show since Season 5, but showrunner Steven Binder said Vance’s death was necessary to remind people that there are “real stakes” on the CBS procedural. Well, according to Carroll, Mark Harmon, who led NCIS for nearly two decades as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was not a fan of this creative decision.

Harmon and Carroll go way back, as even before they shared screen time on NCIS for 15 seasons, they co-starred in four seasons of Chicago Hope. So the former has no trouble sharing his unfiltered thoughts with the latter, hence why he said he wasn’t a fan of NCIS sending Vance to the great beyond. As Carroll shared with moderator Matt Mittovich during a post-“All Good Thing” screening held by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation:

Mark Harmon has been gone from NCIS for roughly four and a half years now, but the show, and franchise as a whole, still means something to him. After all, he’s narrating and executive producing NCIS: Origins, and even reprised Gibbs on camera for the premiere episode and the prequel’s half of last November’s crossover. So between that and him thinking highly of Rocky Carroll, I can understand why Harmon wouldn’t necessarily agree that having Leon Vance fatally shot by a corrupt Army CID agent was the right move.

But it’s like Carroll said, Mark Harmon just has that same attachment to Vance that his cast-mates, both current and former, not to mention the NCIS fanbase, have. And while Carroll’s immediate reaction to the twist was wondering why there was such finality to it, he’s come around, liking both the quality of “All Good Things” on its own and appreciating that Vance’s story came full circle. In any case, the deed is done, and not only will Vance’s death go down as one of NCIS’s most shocking moments, it also gave us the opportunity to see him interact with a young Ducky Mallard, reprised by Adam Campbell, in the afterlife.

Leon Vance may be gone, but NCIS goes on. My hope is that Sean Murray’s Timothy McGee will become the agency’s new director, though the latest episode makes me think that Vance’s permanent replacement won’t be revealed for a while. Rocky Carroll will also continue to direct NCIS episodes, but since this is a show where deceased characters frequently return in flashbacks or hallucinations, I wouldn’t be surprised if there comes a day when we see the actor reprise his role again.

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Origins episode “Feelin' Alright?” are ahead!

Last November, it was announced that NCIS: Origins would introduce the younger version of Dwayne Pride, previously played by Scott Bakula for the entirety of NCIS: New Orleans. Only Murders in the Building’s Shea Buckner was subsequently cast in the role, and tonight we saw the first official meeting of Pride and Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the 2026 TV schedule. CinemaBlend spoke with Austin Stowell, who plays Gibbs on Origins, ahead of “Feelin' Alright?” airing, and he explained to us why he didn’t turn to OG footage of Bakula and Mark Harmon together in order to prepare for this episode.

Back in 2014, the NCIS Season 11 two-parter “Crescent City” served as NCIS: New Orleans’ backdoor pilot, and we learned that Gibbs and Pride had been close friends for a long time. “Feelin’ Alright?” showed the birth of that friendship. Things got off to a rocky start, however, but more on that soon. At the start of my interview with Austin Stowell, I asked him whether he studied previous episodes where Mark Harmon and Scott Bakula were sharing screen time (you can stream those with a Paramount+ subscription), and he responded:

Technically Gibbs and Pride teaming up in this NCIS: Origins episode was their second meeting, as “Feelin' Alright?” revealed that in 1981, they crossed paths in Louisiana under less than ideal circumstances. Gibbs was at a bar to honor his late mother with his father Jackson, and they got into a disagreement with Pride, a sheriff’s deputy in New Orleans, that saw Pride punching Jackson, and then he and Gibbs being tossed out of the bar.11 years later, Pride, now an NIS agent from the Panama office, stopped by the Origins stomping grounds with his boss, Dan McClane, to help investigate a smuggling ring tied to the murder Mike Franks’ team was investigating.

It makes sense that Austin Stowell decided not to watch Mark Harmon’s Gibbs and Scott Bakula’s Pride on NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans ahead of time, because the younger versions of those characters did not have camaraderie with each other for the majority of this episode. Austin Stowell continued in his assessment of what Leroy Jethro Gibbs thinks of Pride and McClane when they come to the NIS Pendleton office:

That perception faded away by the end of “Feelin’ Alright?” after Gibbs and Pride went undercover and busted up the smuggling ring. They’re not exactly the best of friends at this point, but at least there’s respect between the two men now. Additionally, this NCIS: Origins episode also saw Special Agent Felix Betts being brought in to investigate the financial clues in this smuggling ring case. Once it was solved, him, Gibbs, Pride, McClane and Franks were dubbed the Fed Five for the press, although Vera Strickland really deserved Betts’ spot since he barely did anything and she came up with the inter-office coordination idea.

We know the Fed Five will reform in 1994 to hunt down the Privileged Killer, so depending on how long NCIS: Origins goes, it’s guaranteed we’ll see Dwayne Pride, Dan McClane and Felix Betts again. For now, there’s still plenty left in Season 2 to get through. So continue following along with new episodes Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, and check back with CinemaBlend for more content from my interview with Austin Stowell.

By the time Mark Harmon exited NCIS early on in Season 19, his character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, had said goodbye to some of the CBS show’s other important characters, most notably Timothy McGee in Alaska. But Jimmy Palmer wasn’t among them, much to the chagrin of his actor, Brian Dietzen. However, Dietzen did inform CinemaBlend what he’d like to see if Gibbs and Jimmy reunited, be it sometime during NCIS’s run on the 2026 TV schedule or further out.

Having asked Sean Murray back in November what he’d like to see if Gibbs and McGee came face to face again, I posed that same question to Brian Dietzen when I spoke to him earlier this month. The actor, who debuted as Jimmy Palmer in the NCIS Season 1 episode “Split Decision,” shared his thoughts on the subject as follows:

With Jimmy Palmer being the assistant medical examiner to David McCallum’s Donald “Ducky” Mallard for so many seasons, naturally those two characters shared a close connection up until Ducky’s passing in NCIS Season 21. But as Brian Dietzen pointed out, Gibbs was also a mentor/father figure to Dietzen for nearly two decades worth of NCIS episodes. Sure, Mark Harmon’s character usually didn’t have the patience for Jimmy’s enthusiasm, but he also was there to support him during important moments, like when Gibbs hugged Jimmy at the end of “Keep Going” and or when he comforted him in “The First Day” after his wife passed away from COVID-19.

So while it’s easy enough for Brian Dietzen to express gratitude to Mark Harmon, particularly since he’s still part of the NCIS family as NCIS: Origins’ narrator and executive producer, he’s hopeful there will come a day when Jimmy and Gibbs can reunite. Now we just wait to see if Mark Harmon would be game to return to the flagship show. He did reprise Gibbs onscreen in November during Origins’ half of the crossover with NCIS, so maybe there will come a day when he’s game to have Gibbs leave Alaska and make his way back to Washington D.C.

I hope it happens, because as much as I’d like to see Gibbs and McGee catch up, Jimmy also deserves the reunion arguably more so after missing out on that proper goodbye four years ago. For now, NCIS Season 23, as well as NCIS: Origins Season 2 and NCIS: Sydney Season 3, are on an extended break until Tuesday, February 24 because of the Winter Olympics.

Although Mark Harmon has been vocally reprising Leroy Jethro Gibbs as the narrator of NCIS: Origins and even made two onscreen appearances on the prequel series, when it comes to NCIS itself, we still haven’t seen him there since his exit in the Season 19 episode “Great Wide Open.” After he and Sean Murray’s Timothy McGee accomplished their objective in Naktok Bay, Alaska, Gibbs opted to stay there and bid farewell to McGee before he returned to Washington D.C. The two men haven’t spoken since then, but Sean Murray told CinemaBlend what he wants to happen if they reunite.

After chatting about the episode “Page-Turner,” which aired on the 2025 TV schedule Tuesday and included a fun throwback for “longtime fans” with Jessica Knight’s look, I asked Sean Murray what he would like Gibbs and McGee to discuss first if they ever came face to face again. The actor started off by saying:

This question I asked was prompted by how during NCIS’s half of the crossover with NCIS: Origins, Vera Strickland, reprised by Roma Maffia, told McGee that she’s been in contact with Gibbs, and he told her how proud he is of McGee. Mark Harmon and Sean Murray’s characters spent nearly 20 years together, but just like what happened with Tony DiNozzo, Ziva David and more, Gibbs and McGee developed a closer connection beyond mere coworkers. That was certainly evident during their last scene together in “Great Wide Open.”

Factoring in the father issues Sean Murray mentioned, it’s clear that McGee still thinks very highly of Gibbs after more than two decades, which obviously means he values his opinion of him. As Murray explained:

So will we ever see Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Timothy McGee together again? That’s hard to say. In the present day of the NCIS timeline, Gibbs is living a life of solitude out in Naktok Bay, although he did give shelter to a stray dog during the crossover. It’s not exactly easy to reach him, and Vera Strickland didn’t tell McGee how she’s been doing it, although Gibbs was seen repairing a CB radio in his cabin. Mark Harmon also hasn’t given any indication he’s up for returning to NCIS, as he’s keeping busy enough with Origins.

I’d like to think there will come a day where Gibbs and McGee reunite before NCIS is over. For now though, McGee is still thriving at both the title law enforcement agency and with his family. I think Gibbs would approve of how his life is going, no question.

Mark Harmon spent nearly 20 years playing the role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS, and it’s not an understatement to say his performance is a big part of the reason the franchise exists as it does today, with multiple spinoffs over the years. NCIS: Origins, which tells the story of Gibbs’ early career, recently crossed over with the main show, marking the occasion with a rare return appearance from Harmon, his first since leaving the show in 2021.

One of the things that's always made Gibbs such a fun and intriguing character is his list of Rules. Across his life and career, Gibbs created the series of specific guidelines that the O.G. show often referred back to. The recent crossover episode dealt specifically with one of those rules, No. 11: "When the job's over, walk away." Origins co-creator David J. North recently told EW about talking with Harmon while doing voice work for the new episode, and it turns out the Rules are a favorite topic among fans. North explained:

NCIS crossovers have become a staple of the franchise, and see a criminal case that starts on one show cross borders to arrive in another show. This one was something a bit new as it introduced a case early in Gibbs’ career that saw the guilty party get away, only for the case to return to the desks of the modern NCIS agents, giving them a chance to finally catch the bad guy.

Mark Harmon Does Not Know Gibbs' Rules The Way Fans Do

It’s definitely not a surprise that fans would ask about the rules. They were a key part of the character, and learning a new Gibbs Rule was always fun and interesting. Unfortunately, it seems there’s something about Mark Harmon’s relationship to the rules that, according to North, “fans will be pissed off about” because apparently, Harmon hasn't actually kept any of the rules committed to memory. North continued:

I can only imagine fans coming up to Mark Harmon and asking about the rules, only to be disappointed when they realize he doesn’t actually know them. Considering how long the actor played Gibbs, I understand why people might think he’d have them memorized, but for him, the rules were just lines in a script that he read and then moved on.

For the record, the “one about a knife” is Rule 9: "Never go anywhere without a knife." You probably won't need one to watch new episodes of NCIS and NCIS: Origins every Monday night on CBS, but better to be safe than sorry.

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS/NCIS: Origins crossover are ahead!

NCIS and NCIS: Origins may take place in two different time periods, but that didn’t stop CBS from bringing them together in a unique way. The crossover between these two procedurals just finished airing on the 2025 TV schedule, with the connective thread being a case that began in 1992 and was revisited in 2025. One of the highlights of this crossover was Mark Harmon reprising Leroy Jethro Gibbs on Origins on camera for the first time since it began, though he’s remained a steady presence on the prequel as its narrator. CinemaBlend learned the details about Harmon’s big return, as well as where things stand with Gibbs in the present day.

How Mark Harmon Came Back For NCIS: Origins

“Funny How Time Slips Away” began with viewers checking in on Gibbs in Naktok Bay, Alaska, where he was last seen in his final NCIS episode. These days, he’s living a solitary life in his remote cabin, and this Origins episode saw him taking shelter during a snow storm with a stray dog he found. Originally Mark Harmon wasn’t going to appear on camera for the crossover, but showrunners Davis J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal told me they realized this was a prime opportunity to spotlight both the actor and character’s fondness for dogs. North explained:

With the snow storm keeping these two holed up together, Gibbs decided to tell the story of when he and his NIS team investigated a murder in Serenity, California to his new canine friend. This also marked the first time that Mark Harmon has been seen speaking on camera on NCIS: Origins, as he narrated over the footage of him in the pilot. Monreal had this to say about that aspect of his latest appearance:

It’s unclear whether or not that dog will stick around, because frankly, it’s hard to say when we’ll actually see Mark Harmon on NCIS: Origins again. When I asked if Harmon appearances would become an annual tradition on the series, David J. North said they didn’t want to “box ourselves in with anything,” and that they’ll continuing seeing “where the stories take us.” I think it’s safe to say Origins will spotlight the older Gibbs on camera again, just don’t necessarily put money on it happening around this time next year.

Is Gibbs Happy With His Current Life?

When Leroy Jethro Gibbs said goodbye to Timothy McGee in the NCIS Season 19 episode “Great Wide Open,” he said he’d found a kind of peace in Naktok Bay that he hadn’t felt since before Kelly and Shannon, his daughter and first wife, were killed. After watching the crossover, I was curious if Gibbs is still happy given how he’s living these days largely secluded from humanity, or if he still needs to conquer some inner demons. Gina Lucita Monreal had this to say on the subject:

David J. North agreed with Monreal, adding that while Gibbs still has his struggles just like any person does, that peace he found in Naktok Bay still exists. In his words:

You’ll notice that I didn’t say that Gibbs is completely cut off from humanity. We know from NCIS that he at least has some awareness of the outside world, as he learned about Donald “Ducky” Mallard dying last year. However, the NCIS half of the crossover, “Now and Then,” also revealed that he’s also been in contact with someone from the good ol’ NIS days.

Gibbs Has Been Talking With Vera Strickland… Somehow

After reopening the Serenity case following Thomas Mulligan escaping from prison, the NCIS characters were led to Vera Strickland, reprised by Roma Maffia for the first time in 12 years. In the midst of helping out this team on the case she’d worked on in 1992 (her younger self is played by Diany Rodriguez on NCIS: Origins), Vera shared with McGee that she’s been communicating with Gibbs, and he told her that McGee is a far better agent than he was at that age. Here’s what Maffia said to me when I brought up how Gibbs and Vera are in contact:

I’m glad that Gibbs thinks highly enough of Vera that he’s making the effort to talk with her out in Alaska. Only, how exactly is he doing this? It’s never explicitly stated, but when I asked David J. North to provide some insight, he answered:

“Funny How Time Slips Away” did indeed show Gibbs repairing a CB radio in his cabin, so perhaps he and Vera are chatting it up that way rather than sending letters. If Maffia returns to NCIS someday, maybe she can share more things that Gibbs told her about. We check in with him so little that I don’t mind if another character can shed light on how he’s doing in Alaska. Rule 8: never take anything for granted.

With its 23^rd season currently airing on the 2025 TV schedule, NCIS continues to be a phenomenon, and is well beyond its 1,000^th overall episode, which aired in 2023. The franchise has spawned multiple successful spinoffs, including NCIS: Tony & Ziva (now streaming via Paramount+ subscription). But such eventual success wasn't immedaitely evident, as Mark Harmon refeclted on the struggles the Mothership faced during its earliest years on CBS.

For those who don’t know, NCIS is a spinoff of JAG, which aired primarily in the ‘90s for 10 seasons. NCIS got a two-part backdoor pilot in early 2003 during Season 8, where fans were introduced to Gibbs, Tony, Abby, and Ducky for the very first time. When the show eventually premiered later that year without David James Elliott's character in the mix, it actually struggled to get off the ground, as Harmon told TheWrap:

It’s hard for a show to be an immediate success, even when it's a spinoff of a successful and beloved show, which can sometimes hurt more than it helps, since people might not want to give it a chance at first. It sounds like it took a while for NCIS to really find its footing, and it’s a good thing it did because it’s still popular 22 years later.

When NCIS was just starting out as a backdoor pilot, it actually didn’t take Harmon long to say yes to signing up for a serialized project. He previously recalled one thing that helped him realize he wanted to join the series, admitting that Gibbs’ name is what took him in. Only he probably didn’t know that he’d stay with the show for close to 20 years, and his exit was thought to be the death knell for NCIS.

Harmon was on NCIS for the first 18 seasons before ultimately leaving as Leroy Jethro Gibbs at the beginning of Season 19. He’s now back in the NCIS universe serving as executive producer and narrator of the Gibbs-centered prequel series NCIS: Origins. He returned on-screen for the series premiere last year and will be appearing in the upcoming crossover between NCIS and Origins on Tuesday.

The fact that NCIS struggled in its early years and is now 23 seasons deep, with six spinoffs, is impressive. And it makes me so happy that the series was able to come out of its creative slump because television would be a whole lot different without the NCIS franchise. And now there is much to look forward to as the franchise continues. NCIS, Origins, and NCIS: Sydney have taken over Tuesdays on CBS, marking the first time the franchise has taken over a full night on the network, and there is no telling what could possibly be next for it.

The crossover begins on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET with Origins, followed by NCIS. New episodes of Sydney air at 10 p.m. ET.

The 2025 TV schedule is playing host to something pretty special, and that’s a crossover event between NCIS and NCIS: Origins. It was previously announced that the two shows would be coming together via a decades-spanning case that both series' teams work in in their respective time periods. At this point, not too much else was shared, but CBS just announced that Mark Harmon is returning as Jethro Gibbs for the Origins hour. But how exactly did they manage to reel Harmon back in?

I'm not sure just how many NCIS fans expected Harmon to reprise his famous character, during which he'll appear in the Origins hour of the crossover that airs on Veterans Day. In a press release, Harmon recalled how showrunners and executive producers David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal approached him about coming back:

Harmon starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the first 18 seasons of the Mothership after making his debut in the JAG backdoor pilot in 2003. The actor officially departed NCIS in the fourth episode of Season 19 in 2021. He now serves as an executive producer on prequel series NCIS: Origins, and narrates the show as well. Harmon even appeared on-screen in the two-part premiere in 2024. Harmon knows his character and been thoughtful about showing up as Gibbs on camera as of late. So, if he liked the producers' latest idea, it may truly be a good one.

Of course, what exactly will bring adult Gibbs back into the fold is unknown. He could very well just be telling the story, and that’s all that viewers see of him. Conversely, he could have a bigger part. Regardless, it will be exciting to see him again, especially since it was hard to tell if he would ever return on-screen following the Origins series premiere.

When Harmon popped up on Origins the first time, plenty of fans were happy to see present-day Gibbs. It was the first time he had been seen in three years and, despite the character's appearance being brief, it seemed to be enough to keep viewers entertained. That being said, Harmon himself has been a big presence on the set of the prequel show. He's even given advice to the cast, especially lead actor Austin Stowell, who is happy he never has to do the narrations.

As excited as I am to see Mark Harmon back in the franchise, I just hope we get more information on Gibb's personal status and not just a brief, present-day aside from his narration. I would love to know more about his life in Alaska, and how much he still talks to the team. I even wonder if knows what Tony and Ziva have been up to in Europe.

Fans will just have to see what Harmon's appearance means to the when he guest stars in NCIS: Origins on Tuesday, November 11 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS as part of the crossover event with NCIS. All episodes of the Mothership and the prequel are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription as well.

Freaky Friday was a big part of my childhood. Long before a Disney+ subscription existed, I’d watch the movie on TV over and over; however, I hadn’t seen the 2003 classic in a very long time. So, with Freakier Friday set to premiere soon on the 2025 movie schedule, I decided to revisit the OG Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis film for the first time as an adult, and I need to talk about the unsung hero and unexpected MVP of it.

It's Mark Harmon’s Character!

So, as I stated, I watched Freaky Friday a lot as a kid, and it came out when I was 4 years old. I’ve always loved Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis’ shenanigans as Anna and Tess, I wanted to be as cool as Anna, and obviously, I had a crush on Chad Michael Murray’s Jake. I also can’t deny how empowering and loving Anna and Tess’s story is as they switch places and literally walk a mile in each other’s shoes.

However, rewatching it for the first time as an adult ahead of Freakier Friday’s release, I realized I never really truly appreciated Mark Harmon’s character Ryan. Tess’s fiancé-turned-husband is such a sweet, caring and considerate character, and as we’re about to discuss, he’s the MVP of this film.

Ryan Got His Partner A Great Career Opportunity

From the jump, it’s pretty clear that Ryan is a great partner for Tess. He cares about her family, and he’s accepting of their circumstances. However, it becomes abundantly clear that he goes above and beyond for this family when he gets Jamie Lee Curtis’ character on a talk show to promote her book.

Things don’t go great during that moment, because Anna is Tess. However, it’s the gesture that counts! And what Ryan did was really sweet, thoughtful and genuinely impactful.

Ryan Let Anna Go To The Concert And Then Asked Tess To Go Watch Her

My guy Ryan also understands and respects his soon-to-be-stepdaughter’s passions, and he’s very supportive of them. At the rehearsal dinner, when Anna’s friends come to get her for their performance, he encourages her to go. It’s the sweetest thing ever, and I was even more ready for the wedding bells to ring for him and Tess when he said this to his partner (who was actually his stepdaughter):

That kind of speech is such a green flag, and then we got another when he prompted Tess to go watch Anna perform, which ultimately helped them switch back. He didn’t even know they were swapped at the time; he’s just that supportive and caring.

Ryan Stuck Through ALL That Switch Nonsense, And He Did So With Grace And Love

In the end, the reason why Mark Harmon’s character is the MVP of this movie comes down to how well he handles this body-swapping comedy. Think about it, while Tess and Anna’s situation is hilarious, if you were actually there and experiencing it, it would be incredibly weird and hard to handle. If I were him, I would have freaked out.

However, Ryan rode the chaotic waves immaculately, and his love for Tess never ever wavered. He really handled it all with grace and love and more than proved himself as a worthy addition to the family. So, to quote Anna’s friend, “Mr. Dude, you rock!”

Now, I can’t wait to see Mark Harmon’s Ryan back in Freakier Friday and reunited with Jamie Lee Curtis’ Tess. I want to see how marriage has been for them, and I desperately hope we get to see him handle another wild body-swap among his family with the same poise and supportive attitude again, because he really is an MVP.

Most actors would probably agree that getting started in the business can be difficult. One thing, however, that can help tremendously is landing guest roles on television shows, like the many that appear on the 2025 TV schedule. This is exactly one of the ways that Emmy winner/Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown made a living for himself before hitting it big with his work on This Is Us and American Crime Story. Over a decade after appearing in one episode of NCIS, however, the Washington Black star is still thinking about how series lead Mark Harmon treated him.

What Did Sterling K. Brown Say About His Guest Role On NCIS And Mark Harmon?

While 2016 was the year that Sterling K. Brown seemed to burst onto the small screen from nowhere with his highly praised (and awarded) roles as Randall Pearson in This Is Us (which still has fans asking him for hugs three years after the series ended) and Christopher Darden in American Crime Story, he’d been kicking around Hollywood for about 15 years before then.

Brown had a regular role on Army Wives from 2007-2013, but was also filling his work days by guest starring on shows like Supernatural, NYPD Blue, JAG, ER, Alias, Without a Trace, Person of Interest, and yes, he’s one of many actors who popped up on NCIS. It turns out that his one 2013 episode of the ever-popular long-running hit (which will be in Season 23 this fall) really had an impact on him, largely because of how he was treated by then-star Mark Harmon. As he recently told People:

My guess is that, at the very least, coming into a show where the cast has been together for a long time can be intimidating, and at the very worst one could actively be made to feel like they don’t belong or matter. In fact, Brown noted earlier in his interview that he’d been on sets where it was clear “these people could give a flying Fig Newton if I'm here or not,” because he didn’t feel welcome.

So, it makes sense that he would both separate himself from Harmon (who’d starred on the show for eleven seasons at that point) and try not to get involved with the leads even once he was approached by the actor. As we’ve heard from others who worked with Harmon on the procedural, like Scott Wolf (who said the lead “really made me feel welcome there”) and Rocky Carroll (who credits him with making sure the cast and crew were always a “team” and kept them “motivated”), the star stepped up and made sure that Brown felt like he belonged.

This led to him developing a rapport with Harmon (who left the series in Season 19) and being able to get some advice from the actor, who’d made a name for himself on St. Elsewhere in the early ‘80s. Brown continued:

It’s always good to be able to look at and focus on the positives of anything as much as possible, especially when it comes to the amount of time we all spend working every day. Not only is it great to hear that Brown loved his time on NCIS, but that he got some great advice that he still carries with him.

NCIS Season 22 wrapped up earlier this month on the 2025 TV schedule, with the finale delivering a devastating moment for Gary Cole’s Alden Parker in its final moments. Now we wait until Season 23 premieres as part of CBS’ 2025-2026 fall TV lineup, but some of you may find yourself thinking back to when Cole took over from Mark Harmon in NCIS Season 19’s early episodes. The Parker actor reflected on this time of transition with me recently and explained why he thought his character got a “really good entrance.”

After Cole discussed the Season 22 finale’s ending twist and how he expects this will result in Season 23 looking very different for Parker, I asked him what he thought was the biggest way his character had changed since we first met him in the episode “Nearly Departed.” The Office Space alum started off by telling me:

Alden Parker came onto the NCIS scene as an FBI agent whom Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs crossed paths with while looking into Paul LaMere, the man who blew up Gibbs’ boat while he was on it. Long story short, Gibbs, Parker and the rest of the main NCIS characters accumulated enough evidence to arrest LaMere’s boss, though Parker was fired from the FBI for not bringing Gibbs in like he was ordered to do. After Gibbs decided to stay in Naktok Bay, Alaska, Parker joined NCIS to take over his position as team leader.

So like Gary Cole laid out, introducing Parker at the same time as Harmon’s time on the show was winding down allowed for a smoother transition vs. if he’d come in immediately after Harmon’s last appearance. It also quickly became clear that Parker’s leadership style was very much not like Gibbs’, with Cole saying:

Cole then gave me a specific example from one of his earliest NCIS episodes about how Alden Parker acknowledged that Gibbs not being around anymore was weird for everyone, including himself. As the actor laid out:

Hey, address the elephant in the room while you can, right? Gary Cole certainly welcomed this, wrapping up this portion of our interview by saying:

Clearly things have been going well for Gary Cole if he’s heading into his fifth season on NCIS. But while Cole’s still having a good time on the CBS show, Alden Parker is very much not in a good place right now due to the aforementioned tragedy. Additionally, the mystery of the little girl from his past named Lily, which was introduced in the Season 21 finale, still hasn’t been fully resolved.

So Parker definitely has a lot coming up for him in NCIS Season 23, and we’ll keep you apprised of what’s happening with him and the rest of the main cast when the next batch of episodes kicks off. Meanwhile, those of you who are looking for a Leroy Jethro Gibbs would be wise to watch Austin Stowell’s younger version of the character in NCIS: Origins, which is returning for Season 2.

After working together on the medical drama Chicago Hope, Rocky Carroll and Mark Harmon reunited on NCIS in 2008 when the latter came aboard to play Leon Vance in Season 5. The two actors remained cast-mates on the popular CBS procedural (which can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription) until early fall 2021, when Harmon exited in Season 19’s fourth episode. Three and a half years later, Carroll still looks back on his time with Harmon on NCIS fondly, as evidenced by him explaining to CinemaBlend how the Leroy Jethro Gibbs actor went to great lengths to ensure the cast and crew were motivated.

Recalling a story Carroll told last year about when Mark Harmon pranked him in the middle of shooting one of his earliest NCIS scenes, I asked the actor during my interview with him if there any other amusing on-set stories involving Harmon that he could recall. He started off by telling me:

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was NCIS’ lead character for over two decades, and Mark Harmon took on additional duties when he became an executive producer in Season 6. So it makes sense that Harmon had the mindset of a leader during that time. It wasn’t enough for him to just play his character and offer notes or suggestions on each episode. He also needed to look after the cast and crew’s morale and make sure that everyone was working together as a cohesive unit, much like how football players need to jive together as a team. Rocky Carroll continued:

Rocky Carroll certainly still enjoys working on NCIS after all this time, telling me during the interview he’s “excited” to keep his 15+-year streak going because he enjoys both playing Leon Vance and also directing episodes here and there. If that camaraderie wasn’t present, no doubt he not only would have left NCIS long ago, but the show might not even still be on the air. Fortunately that’s not the case, and we can expect to see a lot more of Vance when NCIS Season 23 premieres this fall on the 2025 TV schedule.

As for Mark Harmon, in addition to still being an executive producer on NCIS, he carries out those same duties on NCIS: Origins, narrates the prequel and even briefly appeared on camera in the opening two-parter. Both shows air Monday nights on CBS.

NCIS’ Gibbs prequel series NCIS: Origins has been taking fans back to the ‘90s pre-NCIS to follow a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell. The show, which is now airing amid the 2025 TV schedule, has already offered viewers plenty of thrills and chills while also building on the franchise's mythology. Some of those references include Gibbs’ iconic rules, and Stowell opened up about those as well as the actual lesson he learned from the "sage" Mark Harmon himself.

Throughout Mark Harmon’s run on the first 19 seasons of NCIS, the show would occasionally throw out a Gibbs Rule. Those are collectively a series of guidelines that the agent lives by and teaches the people he works with. Origins has only referenced a few rules thus far, some of which are actually relevant to Austin Stowell. But he tells TV Insider the advice that Harmon has been giving him, and it’s no Gibbs Rule:

While Origins focuses on a young Gibbs with Harmon serving as narrator and EP. However, it seems the veteran actor still has a heavy presence behind the scenes, and it's great to hear that he’s been taking great care of Stowell in such a way. Considering that this a character that has been around for over 20 years, Stowell has big shoes to fill. So it sounds like Harmon is making sure that Stowell knows everything he needs, whether about Gibbs or life.

Even though the prequel series has slowly been introducing the Gibbs Rules, the series has yet to reveal other aspects of Gibbs. That includes when Gibbs started to build boats. Producer and co-showrunner David J. North previously said fans will have to “stay tuned” to learn that answer. At the very least, viewers have been able to learn a lot about Gibbs’ life after losing Kelly and Shannon as well as when he first met Franks.

As the season goes on, more reveals are sure to come to light. The series has yet to be renewed for a second season, but it did recently get a full-season order of 18 episodes. So that could possibly bode well for the production. Whether or not these future episodes will involve another on-screen appearance from Mark Harmon remains to be seen, but I imagine that he'll continue to make an impact behind the camera, whether as a narrator or as a source of guidance for Austin Stowell and others.

NCIS: Origins is still on a hiatus following the holidays, but the series will return in full force this coming Monday, January 27, at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, following NCIS.

NCIS is still staying strong on the 2025 TV schedule, with Season 22 returning with more K.C. mafia drama on January 27. Across its 20-season run so far, the CBS procedural has welcomed loads of great guest stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Abigail Breslin, Bob Newhart, Zac Efron, Glen Powell, Millie Bobby Brown, and many more. Party of Five vet Scott Wolf is also included in that list, and after the actor opened up about working alongside Mark Harmon, I can’t get over his sweet thoughts.

Wolf guest-starred in three Season 9 episodes as Jonathan Cole, a special ops team member and a killer who nearly snuffed Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo. He wound up sacrificing himself in the season finale after a bomb was delivered via car to the Navy Yard. While Wolf can celebrate plenty of movie and TV roles throughout his career, he still can’t help but look back fondly at his villanous turn. He spoke to TV Insider about his brief appearance and how much he loved playing a bad guy, saying:

Wolf recalled his final episode, “Till Death Do Us Part,” where Cole and Harmon’s Gibbs were arguing over diffusing the aforementioned car bomb. After Gibbs realized that the explosive was right next to the lab where Abby (Pauley Perrette) was still situated, Cole told Gibbs to go and save her while he stayed behind with the bomb. That choice is actually Wolf’s favorite part about the character, especially since Cole was quite the bad guy when he was first introduced. As he explained:

Considering Wolf only popped up for a few episodes, he still made quite an impact, which shows just how important his character was to the overall storyline. And not just because he could’ve easily taken out a main character with his very first appearance. It's not everyday that someone gets to save Gibbs, as opposed to the other way around.

Plus, there’s also a very special reason why Wolf loves the redemption storyline so much, even if it did end with his character making the ultimate sacrifice. In his words:

Even though it would have been fun to have Scott Wolf return to NCIS for fans to see that redemption play out, it sounds like he’s pretty satisfied with the grave way things ended for his character. That redemption also gave viewers a really great moment between Harmon and Wolf that the latter will remember for years to come. And that might be the best thing about it all.

At the very least, Wolf has yet to slow down when it comes to acting and can currently be seen in Fox’s new series Doc. He also previously enjoyed a Party of Five mini-reunion with Lacey Chabert, and I'm excited for what could be next for his career. In the meantime, fans with a Paramount+ subscription can watch his Season 9 episodes of NCIS anytime a quick dose of adrenaline is needed.

Although Mark Harmon briefly reprised Leroy Jethro Gibbs during NCIS: Origins’ two-part premiere a few months back, it’s been over three years since the actor made his last appearance in the procedural franchise’s flagship show. In NCIS Season 19’s fourth episode, which you can stream with a Paramount+ subscription, Gibbs bid farewell to Sean Murray’s Timothy McGee in Naktok Bay, Alaska after the two had enjoyed some lake fishing together. Now current NCIS main cast member Gary Cole, who’d debuted as Alden Parker just a couple episodes earlier, revealed how Harmon’s final scene on the show ended up looking better than expected during the shoot.

Cole stopped by Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch to chat with its hosts, Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, who’d both long since departed from NCIS when Cole came aboard, and will be respectively reprising Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David in the aptly-named spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva. While he was going over the “smart” way Mark Harmon’s exit from NCIS led to Alden Parker’s creation, Cole shared the following about how there was an unexpected occurrence of good weather when the cast and crew were filming in Alaska:

I don’t doubt that the NCIS team would have found a way to make the Gibbs and McGee scene in “Great Wide Open” look good had the weather in that Alaskan environment had they not bee able to capitalize on that one hour of good weather and instead had to deal with fogginess and dampness. But fortunately, the fates smiled upon them with that three days of sunniness, resulting in Mark Harmon and Sean Murray being excellently lit as the episode was winding down. After the case they’d been working on wrapped up, Gibbs informed McGee that he’d decided to stay in the Alaskan wilderness, and as his plane was taking off, the latter got one last look at the former as he continued to fish in the lake.

Though it doesn’t look like Mark Harmon will be returning to NCIS anytime soon, if at all, he remains involved in the franchise by executive producing and narrating NCIS: Origins, while Austin Stowell plays the younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs on camera. Meanwhile, Gary Cole and Sean Murray remain series regulars on NCIS alongside Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law, Brian Dietzen, Diona Reasonover and Rocky Carroll. There’s no official word yet on if either show will return for the 2025-2026 TV seasons, though the former getting a Season 23 renewal seems pretty strong.

Both NCIS and NCIS: Origins resume airing Monday, January 27 on the 2025 TV schedule, as the debut of NCIS: Sydney Season 2 will follow on Friday, January 31. Mark Harmon can next be seen in Freakier Friday, which opens in theaters on August 8, 2025.

The 2024 TV schedule saw Mark Harmon returning to the NCIS franchise via the Gibbs prequel series NCIS: Origins after he departed amid Season 19 of the Mothership series. Harmon joined the franchise as Leroy Jethro Gibbs very early on. He was even one of few to appear in the two-part backdoor pilot on JAG over 20 years ago. As one of the franchise's OGs, he's in the know on various BTS tidbits of its conception. With that, Harmon just shared what the original concept for the show was, and it’s quite different from the procedural that made it to air.

Considering NCIS has been airing for 22 seasons now and will continue on the 2025 TV schedule, the current recipe is working well. The flagship series mostly utilizes the case-of-the-week formula that countless shows have implemented. However, there are occasionally multi-episode arcs, personal storylines. On that note,, Harmon told The Hollywood Reporter that the Navy-set drama was initially set to follow a different format:

A lot of procedurals included episodes based on true stories, with Law & Order being famous for doing “ripped from the headlines” cases. And it’s more than likely that NCIS has also taken a page or two of out of the real Navy’s book of cases, but the fact that all episodes were going to be based on real situations is still surprising. This probably would have made the format and overall storytelling significantly different from the jump as well. Why the producers decided to shift to the usual murder/case-a-week format is unknown, but it's hard to argue with the results.

The chosen storytelling approach didn’t seem to stop Mark Harmon from remaining with the show for 19 years and later returning to the franchise to tell even more stories. Plus, he found a different avenue to push out those real stories and to show people what the Navy and NCIS really are all about. It was announced in 2023 that Harmon would release a book inspired by the long-running dram series, with former NCIS agent and the show’s technical advisor, Leon Carroll, Jr. Titled Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, it centers on the organization’s early days. As Harmon explained:

In short, there are a lot of tales that can be told through Mark Harmon's book and the TV show he headlined for so many years. Whether NCIS will depict more real-life cases is unknown, but fans can certainly look forward to that happening with these books, with the latest one, Ghosts of Panama, exploring the U.S. invasion of Panama in the late ‘80s and how the investigation of a murder helped change history.

All the while, the NCIS franchise is moving right along, with Season 22 of the parent series and Season 1 of NCIS: Origins continuing in the new year. Meanwhile, Season 2 of the Sydney is set to hit the small screen as well premiering, and there's also the new spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva that'll be available for Paramount+ subscription holders. This massive IP may have started in a very different place creatively but, as a fan, I'm loving where it is today.

As NCIS: Origins continues to tell Gibbs’ origin story and the story of “her,” fans are learning so much about the agent’s background, and they will continue to do so when the second half of Season 1 begins airing on the 2025 TV schedule. Between learning more about his family, meeting Franks for the first time, and even his infamous rules and fishing, fans are getting to know so much more about him. However, there’s still one thing that the producer is holding off on revealing...for now.

Of course, the Gibbs-centered prequel tells the story of the character pre-NCIS, meaning fans are really seeing the nitty gritty past of Leroy Jethro Gibbs that they only got a brief look at in the Mothership series. Only 10 episodes in, and Origins has done a pretty good job of telling this origin story too, including bringing back some other familiar characters who have shaped Gibbs. However, there are still a lot of things fans want to see the origins for, including the agent’s hobby that was pretty big on NCIS.

Thankfully, co-showrunner David J. North told TV Insider that much more will be on the way:

Anyone who watched NCIS knows that Gibbs working on boats was a passion project of his -- it was something that seemed to take his mind off of everything else. No one knows when he took up the hobby or why he started doing it, and Origins would certainly be the perfect place to address those questions. Thankfully, since the new show is doing pretty well following a full-season order, there should be plenty of time to answer said question and see him working on his boats.

That being said, NCIS: Origins is still very early on, and there is still so much to learn about Gibbs and everyone else at NIS. There is only so much that can be shown in a single episode and it’s not like you want everything to be answered in one sitting.

It’s been fun already seeing what Gibbs was like in the ‘90s after losing his wife and daughter and how some classic Gibbs-isms came to be. And I can't wait to eventually see when and why he takes up his beloved hobby.

With Origins on break until the New Year, fans will have to wait to see what happens with Gibbs’ origin story and whether or not the boat thing will be addressed. However, that wait won't be long, as the show returns to CBS on January 27. Plus, in the meantime, all episodes are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.

With Freakier Friday officially on the way, and premiering amid our 2025 movie schedule the countdown is on. The long-awaited Disney sequel has been a buzz amongst its fans and OG stars. Mark Harmon, who played Jamie Lee Curtis’ love interest, Ryan, is returning to reprise the role. He has been sharing what it’s like to head back to the iconic 2003 movie and how sweet it is to reunite with co-star and longtime friend Jamie Lee Curtis.

Harmon is best known for the family body-swapping comedy along with his involvement in the long-running series NCIS. And although he has strayed from his acting roots, he is still finding the time to balance Hollywood with his newest title, best-selling author. The author and actor opened up about his unexpected path to co-authoring Ghosts of Panama, his ties to NCIS: Origins and the much anticipated Freakier Friday with The Hollywood Reporter.

When asked about his professional and personal relationship with Curtis, the Chasing Liberty alum had to say only great things about her and how he’s thankful for their relationship. He said:

It’s great to hear that he has nothing but love for the Everything Everywhere All At Once actress, and it’s even better to know that she has similar sentimental feelings for their friendship. Longstanding Hollywood friendships that span decades are so wholesome to hear about in such a fast-paced business, and amongst two veterans, no less. Knowing this BTS friendship is still going strong will make watching Freakier Friday all the more fun and sweet.

Harmon's return for the Disney sequel is greatly appreciated by fans like me, especially after he shocked NCIS audiences when he stepped away from the show four episodes into Season 21 in 2019. The actor still has ties to the new Origins series, which is a return to the long-running series characters’ beginnings. And, if you were a viewer you may have caught his name in the credits as a producer of the show or heard him narrating for the show amid our 2024 TV schedule.

I’m glad to see that we can still catch him in various ways on television and in movies, he’s just a reliable face to see. I’m even happier that he has returned as Curtis’ co-star and the two are still enjoying their reuniting moments as much as audiences will be after all these years.

If you’d like to watch or revisit the 2003 Disney Classic, Freaky Friday, you can with a Disney+ subscription or a Hulu subscription.

With the premiere of NCIS: Origins in October as part of the 2024 TV schedule, Mark Harmon signified his grand return to the expansive franchise after exiting the Mothership series at the beginning of Season 19. While he's taken on a step-back role as executive producer and narrator, he did make an appearance as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the prequel’s premiere. As one of the show's OG actors going all the way back to the JAG backdoor pilot, Harmon revealed what exactly drew him to the series that wound up becoming a phenomenon.

It's hard to imagine the NCIS franchise without Harmon, as he was basically the face of the IP for almost 20 years. His work continues through NCIS: Origins, which is a prequel centering on Gibbs that proves just how important the character is. When Harmon told The Hollywood Reporter what really made him take the job years ago, he partially credited it to his character's moniker:

I'd definitely say that if I were to hear the name “Leroy Jethro Gibbs” without any knowledge of who he was, I'd wonder just who is the man behind the name. Those who watch NCIS either on CBS or with a Paramount+ subscription surely know that Gibbs was named after his father’s best friend, Leroy Jethro “LJ” Moore. Of course, there's way more to Gibbs than just his name, though I can still understand why Harmon would find it appealing upon first glance.

The ups and downs of Gibbs' early life may be why Mark Harmon decided to do NCIS: Origins. The Gibbs prequel series takes place in the early ‘90s, not long after the then-newly minted NIS agent loses his wife and daughter. There’s a lot to uncover with his backstory, and Austin Stowell skillfully helps play that out through his role as the younger version of the character.

When it comes to the franchise's flagship show, some are still holding out hope that Mark Harmon will return to the Mothership series following his exit a few years ago. That's especially true now that he’s back with the franchise via the spinoff. He might not opt to return as Gibbs for the parent series but, at least, there’s a possibility that he’ll still pop up on Origins.

There was no telling 20 years ago just how far NCIS would go after the show was greenlit. But the spinoff ended up bigger than JAG and continues to maintain a solid audience. I'm also glad that Mark Harmon decided to sign on and find it so cool that his character's name was a major selling point for him. Here's hoping that the franchise continues to go strong as time moves on and that Harmon and co. manage to deftly expand the story of the man known as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Because NCIS: Origins takes place in 1991, the prequel that’s currently airing on the 2024 TV schedule chiefly serves as a platform for Austin Stowell to play the younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs. However, Mark Harmon, who played Gibbs on NCIS for nearly two decades, is closely involved in Origins as both executive producer and the show’s narrator, and he even appeared on camera during the first episode. While there’s a world where Stowell could have simply narrated in addition to performing on camera, he recently shared why he’s glad Harmon is handling that duty instead.

Stowell sat down with TVLine to talk about an assortment of NCIS: Origins topics, including why he’s looking forward to when his Gibbs and Lucas Dixon’s Tobias Fornell will meet. When the actor was asked about if Harmon comes on location to record his Gibbs narrations or if he handles those from home, Stowell answered that he believes his predecessor is “going to the lot” and doing them in a professional recording booth. Then, after saying he doesn’t hear Harmon’s vocals until viewing the completed episodes, The actor continued:

While I have no doubt Austin Stowell would do an effective job narrating NCIS: Origins, I wholeheartedly agree with him that Mark Harmon was the better choice to do this. Maybe it’d be a different story if the narration was coming from Leroy Jethro Gibbs shortly after he was done with each of his cases in 1991, but that’s not what’s happening here. Instead, we’re hearing from the present-day Gibbs who’s looking back on his life and has collected the life experience his younger self is a ways off from getting. Perhaps more importantly, hearing Harmon vocally reprise the character helps Stowell improve his own performance.

Mark Harmon exited NCIS early into Season 19, and when we saw him again in NCIS: Origins’ first episode, a.k.a. “Enter Sandman Part 1,” he was still living in the Alaskan wilderness. The older Gibbs is now chronicling when he started out at NIS, but in a twist, the story itself isn’t so much about him. Instead, “Enter Sandman Part 1” is telling a story he doesn’t usually like to tell, one about Mariel Molino’s Lala Dominguez. What’s going to happen between these two? It’s hard to say, although there’s already speculation that Gibbs’ relationship with her will lead to the creation of Rule 12.

New episodes of NCIS: Origins, which is getting an expanded first season, air Mondays at 10 pm ET on CBS. After that, all you’ll need is a Paramount+ subscription to stream them to your heart’s content.

There was a time when it seemed impossible for NCIS to keep going without Mark Harmon leading the charge as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Then in Season 18, there were rumblings that Harmon was getting up to leave the popular CBS show, and he ultimately did just that after the first four episodes of Season 19. But NCIS still goes on, with Season 22 airing on the 2024 TV schedule, and Gary Cole’s Alden Parker taking over as team leader immediately after Gibbs’ departure. But it wasn’t an abrupt transition from one character to the other, and Gary Cole talked about how much he liked that while recalling the creation of Parker.

Gary Cole Was Pleased With The Transition From Gibbs To Parker

Gary Cole visited Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch to chat with hosts Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo (who will reprise their characters, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David, for the streaming-exclusive spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva) for the podcast’s season finale. Here’s what the actor had to say about how things unfolded after Mark Harmon decided he didn’t want to be in NCIS anymore:

Executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson admitted in 2023 that he and others initially thought Mark Harmon leaving NCIS was the “death knell,” though fortunately that didn’t happen. Even better, rather than just take off after Season 18, Harmon stuck around for the first few Season 19 episodes, which allowed for a smoother transition from Gibbs to Parker. The latter was introduced as an FBI agent who met Gibbs while they were investigating the same perpetrator, though Gibbs was doing so as a private citizen. While Parker was later tasked with arresting Gibbs, he allowed him to go free in Alaska, which resulted in him being fired from the FBI.

Gary Cole Shared The Key Difference Between Gibbs And Parker

It didn’t take long for Alden Parker to get back on his feet though, as he accepted Director Vance’s offer to lead the team at the end of “Face the Strange.” While there are plenty of differences between Parker and Gibbs, including Parker being more open to modern technology and his co-workers different kinds of pastries, Gary Cole also mentioned during the podcast what NCIS executive producer Mark Horowitz told him about the key thing that separates these two men:

Gary Cole is now in his fourth season of NCIS, and there’s no indication he’ll be leaving the show anytime soon. Season 22 still has yet to further explore the little girl that Alden Parker hallucinated seeing when he was injured in the Season 21 finale. We’ve since learned that Parker has no idea who she is, so answers should be forthcoming as the season goes on. As for Mark Harmon, he’s now executive producing and narrating NCIS: Origins, and he also briefly reprised Gibbs on camera during the first episode.

NCIS airs Mondays at 9 pm ET on CBS. After their airing, new episodes can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription alongside the procedural franchise’s other shows.

After Mark Harmon left NCIS at the beginning of Season 19, the actor finally returned to the franchise for the prequel series NCIS: Origins (which is airing now on the 2024 TV schedule). Harmon serves as an executive producer on the show, which follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs as a newly minted NIS agent at the fledgling Camp Pendleton in 1991 on the heels of the deaths of his wife and daughter. Along with producing, the actor is also the prequel's narrator, even briefly stepping back into Gibbs for the series premiere. However, while fans are ecstatic that Harmon is back, evidently, not everyone is on board with it.

Even though Harmon has a “stepback role” on NCIS: Origins, it’s still been exciting to see him back in the franchise after he had such a big role in it for almost two decades. However, despite being gone for only a few years, he’s allegedly acting like it’s been a lot longer than that and can’t stop snooping around, as sources tell RadarOnline:

As of now, Harmon has only appeared in the first episode of Origins, but he could show up in more, especially since the series was picked up for a full season.

During his time on Origins, we know Harmon has been offering the cast guidance, and giving Austin Stowell some very wise advice for his Gibbs audition. Meanwhile, he has not yet returned to NCIS, and it’s unknown if he ever will. However, the prequel is reportedly keeping him as busy as ever, so much so that people allegedly do not like all of the interference:

Obviously, all this is alleged, and we don't actually know if this is happening on the set of Origins.

So, moving past that for a second, the series has already proved to be a great spinoff, with just a handful of episodes having aired. It includes characters old and new and a story that has never been told before. Overall, it has been entertaining to see this new side of Gibbs, and it feels full circle to also have Harmon involved with this project.

Meanwhile, the prequel is one of two new spinoffs in the NCIS franchise. Fans will also be able to look forward to the highly-anticipated NCIS: Tony & Ziva series, which will be available with a Paramount+ subscription soon. Starring fan favorites Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, the show will follow their beloved titular characters on the run across Europe.

Overall, even amid the rumors about Harmon being overbearing on set, the NCIS franchise is as strong as ever. However, as we learn more about these claims, we'll be sure to keep you updated.

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Origins two-part premiere “Enter Sandman” are ahead!

When NCIS: Origins was announced back in January, it was mentioned that Mark Harmon, who played Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS for nearly two decades, would narrate and executive produce the series following the younger version of his character, played by Austin Stowell. Then in September, it was revealed that Harmon would appear on camera during Origins’ two-part premiere, which aired Monday on the 2024 TV schedule. Now that the public has seen “Enter Sandman,” I’m getting a kick out of reading the fan reactions about the older Gibbs’ return.

The first half of “Enter Sandman” included brief check-ins with Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs writing in his journal next to a campfire, along with the voiceovers we’ll be hearing plenty of in this prequel. Harmon’s total screen time amounted to only a few minutes, but that was enough to get fans excited. @harveystwoface posted:

When we left off with Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS Season 19’s fourth episode, he’d decided to stay in Alaska after finding a kind of peace he hadn’t felt since his first wife Shannon and daughter Kelly were murdered. NCIS: Origins showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North confirmed to TVLine that Gibbs has “been in Alaska for years, in the middle of absolute nowhere,” and while we don’t learn anything specific about what he’s been doing all this time, just seeing Harmon play the character was enough for many viewers. As @lumanicious wrote:

It sounds like we won’t see Mark Harmon back onscreen on NCIS: Origins again, or at least for the rest of Season 1 (assuming it is eventually renewed). Still, at least the actor was willing to reprise one of his most popular characters as a way to help tie Origins back to the flagship show. @sdav743 shared this after seeing Harmon pop up:

As for why the older Leroy Jethro Gibbs appeared in Origins’ first episode, he’s writing about his early days of working as an NIS agent, as the law enforcement agency was known back then. But there’s more to this than just reminiscing about old times. Gibbs says that he’s chronicling a story he doesn’t like to tell, one that is about his coworker Lala Dominguez, played by Mariel Molino. The campfire scene made for a good bookend to the episode, something @bowlingchefs that pointed out in their post:

We know that Gibbs and Dominguez won’t be romantically involved on NCIS: Origins, but evidently she’ll still become an important figure in our main protagonist’s life, albeit one he doesn’t like to mention to other people. That particular picture will become clearer as the season rolls along, but for now, it’s clear that a lot of people were jazzed to see Mark Harmon back in the NCIS-verse. If Origins Season 2 happens, maybe he can be persuaded to briefly appear onscreen again.

NCIS: Origins airs Mondays at 10 pm ET on CBS, immediately after new episodes of NCIS Season 22. The entirety of the NCIS franchise can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription, and remember that NCIS: Sydney Season 2 and NCIS: Tony & Ziva are both on the way.

Despite NCIS: Hawai’i landing on the long list of shows that were canceled in 2024, another chapter from the CBS crime drama is opening via the prequel spinoff NCIS: Origins, which will bring a whopping two Leroy Gibbs to the Fall TV schedule. (At least in the series premiere.) Fans are waiting to see Mark Harmon finally reprise the role years after he first left, while also anticipating franchise newbie Austin Stowell as a younger iteration of the Special Agent.

Fans should be pleased to know that Harmon was involved in the casting process that landed Stowell in the key lead role, as well as the various other characters we’ll see popping up, both familiar and non. In fact, the Summer School vet had only compliments for the Origins actor ahead of what could be his biggest gig to date. As Harmon put it to People:

Now, to be fair, the 39-year-old Austin Stewell has been regularly appearing in both feature films and TV shows since his breakout recurring role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Though he often appears in supporting parts, he's held his own in projects like 2016's creature comedy Colossal, 2019's psychological thriller Swallow, and 2021's rom-com The Hating Game, among others. So there's legitimate truth to the notion that he's a movie star.

But it's presumed that Mark Harmon's anecdote wasn't just pointing to the actor's IMDb page, but rather the innate magnetism and charisma that Hollywood's most elite performers are known for exuding. It'll be interesting to see those star qualities shining through on a broadcast police procedural like NCIS: Origins. (Not saying it's impossible, obviously, considering Kaitlin Olson is doing everything right on ABC's ratings hit High Potential.)

Harmon confirmed that many actors tried out for the role — Arrow vet Stephen Amell was in the running — but Stowell was the one who brought it home. In his words:

No word on whether or not any of the actors auditioning was Michael Weatherly in disguise, though I guess he has his own spinoff on the way with NCIS: Tony & Ziva.

How Austin Stowell Feels About The Responsibility

For all the confidence that Mark Harmon and other NCIS: Origins producers might have, it's up to nobody but Austin Stowell himself to due justice to his performance in building up Leroy Gibbs' backstory as part of the newly forming squad alongside Kyle Schmidt's Mike Franks and others. And the actor is well aware that this is a big responsibility, and it's one that he's embracing with open arms, despite any worries. As he put it:

That 300 million total might be inflating things a bit, but I suppose it's feasible to think that many people have considered themselves NCIS fans since the show began its historic run back in 2003. Pretty sure if that many people tuned into the Origins premiere in its first week, CBS would cancel all of its other programming and throw all of its money at Stowell.

NCIS: Origins airs new episodes every Monday night at 9:00 p.m. ET, ahead of new eps of NCIS' mothership drama, and following new installments of The Neighborhood and Poppa's House. All aforementioned shows are available to stream the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Rocky Carroll has been on NCIS for so long, one wouldn’t be faulted for forgetting he hasn’t been there since the beginning. But with NCIS Season 22 just days away from premiering on the 2024 TV schedule, it’s worth looking back at a time when Carroll’s character, Leon Vance, was the new guy. Vance was introduced in the final chunk of Season 5 as Assistant Director of NCIS, and by the end of the season, he took over as Director following the death of Lauren Holly’s Jenny Shepard. It turns out that while shooting the final Season 5 scene, Carroll was the target of a prank orchestrated by Leroy Jethro Gibbs actor Mark Harmon which, quite frankly, is kind of hilarious.

Rocky Carroll recently stopped by Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch to talk with hosts Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, who acted alongside him on NCIS for many years and will soon be leading their own spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva. The Vance actor laid out how in the final moments of the Season 5 finale, his character broke up the show’s main team in his new office by handing them their “sentence,” as he put it. He also noted how Vance “had this habit of chewing a toothpick,” which was directly taken from NCIS technical director Leon Carroll, Jr., whom Leon Vance was named after. That toothpick habit was the basis for the prank Harmon arranged, with Rocky Carroll first saying:

Although the NCIS Season 5 finale, titled “Judgement Day (Part II),” marked Rocky Carroll’s fifth appearance on the show, he was still a newbie among the group. So when the time came to shoot the scene where he sent Ziva back to Israel, reassigned Tony and McGee, and assigned new team members for Gibbs to oversee, Mark Harmon decided to have a little fun by having him, Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo and Sean Murray stick those toothpicks in their mouth. Well, actually, it functioned partly as an amusing prank, but also as a way for Harmon to prove he was confident that Carroll was a skilled enough actor to not break character at that ridiculous sight, and the was right. Carroll continued:

Kudos to Rocky Carroll for keeping it together that long! Of course, those who’ve been watching NCIS for a long time, or have caught up on the series using their Paramount+ subscription, know that when Season 6 rolled around, it didn’t take long for the main characters to get back together. It took a little longer for Leon Vance to not be viewed so suspiciously, but that time eventually came, and now it’s hard to picture NCIS without him. Even better, he still gets the occasional episode focused on him every now and then, like when he was targeted in the NCIS franchise’s 1,000th episode earlier this year.

NCIS Season 22 premieres Monday, October 14th at 8 pm ET, and the extra-sized premiere of the Gibbs-focused prequel NCIS: Origins will follow immediately afterwards. In addition to the aforementioned NCIS: Tony & Ziva premiering sometime next year (probably), NCIS: Sydney Season 2 is also on the way.

For nearly two decades, Leroy Jethro Gibbs served as the main protagonist on NCIS, and now the character will soon be taking center stage on the 2024 TV schedule. This time around, though, it’s Austin Stowell playing a younger Gibbs, with the prequel NCIS: Origins following along with him in 1991. However, not only is original Gibbs actor Mark Harmon involved in Origins as both narrator and one of the executive producers, word came in today that he’ll also appear in the series premiere, and I’m looking forward to learning what the present-day Gibbs has been up to since he exited NCIS early in Season 19.

Mark Harmon Will Be On Camera During NCIS: Origins' Premiere

As already mentioned, we’ve known that Harmon’s voice will be present throughout NCIS: Origins since the older Gibbs will be recounting his early time working for the title law enforcement agency, known back then as NIS. Today, though, co-showrunner David J. North shared to reporters, including CinemaBlend’s own Laura Hurley, at the CBS Fall 2024 Virtual Press Day that Harmon will briefly appear in Origins’ first episode. He explained:

While it’s nice to know that Harmon will reprise Leroy Jethro Gibbs on camera, don’t expect this to become a regular thing on NCIS: Origins. While North and fellow showrunner Gina Moreal are “open to anything” when it comes to Harmon appearing again, North made it clear that the focus is obviously on Austin Stowell’s younger Gibbs. This lines up with what Mark Harmon said this past summer when the Origins press tour was happening, as he said about his involvement:

Mark Harmon debuted as Gibbs back in 2003 during the JAG episodes “Ice Queen” and Meltdown,” which served as the NCIS backdoor pilot. The actor also appeared in four episodes of NCIS: New Orleans, and he remains an executive producer on the flagship series. More recently, Harmon finished shooting Freakier Friday, which re-teams him with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan following their time together on Freaky Friday, which also came out in 2003.

Where We Left Off With Gibbs In NCIS

NCIS: Origins’ arrival comes three years after Mark Harmon departed NCIS in Season 19’s fourth episode, titled “Great Wide Open.” Having already refused to return to NCIS the previous season after he was suspended from duty for assaulting a suspect who’d killed dogs, Gibbs got caught up in a case as a civilian that brought him to Naktok Bay, Alaska. Once that was handled, he decided to stay in Alaska rather than return to Washington D.C.

Gibbs has been mentioned on NCIS here and there since his exit, and he also sent his condolences when Ducky Mallard passed away early into Season 21, but we still have no idea exactly what’s become of him since Timothy McGee left him behind in the Alaskan wilderness. Again, it’s not like we should expect NCIS: Origins to spend a lot of time catching us up on where he’s at in life now, but I’ll take just getting a look at his new home and learning where he settled in Alaska, assuming he stayed there. I also agree it’s not a good idea to spend too much time with Harmon’s Gibbs, as this is Austin Stowell’s time to shine as the character.

The extended NCIS: Origins premiere arrives on Monday, October 14th, coming right after the debut episode of NCIS Season 22. If you miss either of these shows following their initial airings on CBS, you can use your Paramount+ subscription to stream them afterwards, along with the entire NCIS franchise catalog.

At the beginning of NCIS Season 11, Cote de Pablo departed after eight seasons as a series regular, though she would later reprise Ziva David in the Season 16 finale and a few Season 17 episodes, and is currently working on the upcoming spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Back in 2013, someone obviously needed to take Ziva’s spot on the team led by Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and that person ended up being Emily Wickersham’s Ellie Bishop. It was a unique audition experience, as not only did she screen test for the role on two of the main NCIS sets, Harmon also gave her a special gift to let her know she’d landed the gig, and I applaud what he chose.

In addition to Emily Wickersham going over how much of an adjustment it was for her leaving NCIS during her appearance on Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, Michael Weatherly, the Tony DiNozzo performer who co-hosts the podcast with Cote de Pablo, went over the story behind the actress being cast as Bishop since Wickersham acknowledged that he had a “better memory” of what happened. He started off by saying:

You have to remember that when Emily Wickersham auditioned to play Ellie Bishop, Mark Harmon had been one of NCIS’ executive producers for roughly five years. So in addition to bringing Gibbs to life onscreen, he also had a say behind the scenes in major creative decisions, including castings. Going off Michael Weatherly’s statement, it doesn’t sound like Wickersham had officially been brought aboard when Harmon gifted her the bishop piece, but in his eyes, there was no one more suitable for the role. Weatherly continued:

I like how Harmon had that bishop piece ready to go once he identified who the right person would be to play Ellie Bishop, and once he was impressed by Emily Wickersham, that was enough to convince the other producers that she should be hired. It’s also interesting that Wickerhsam auditioned on the basement and squad room sets rather than just an average meeting room in some office. Whatever the reason was for that, I wonder if Harmon seeing the actress deliver her lines in those settings helped him realize she was the one who needed to play Bishop.

Like Cote de Pablo, Wickersham stuck around on NCIS for eight seasons, making her final appearance in the Season 18 finale, titled “Rule 91”. After deliberately tarnishing her reputation by leaking NSA secrets and getting fired from NCIS, Bishop embarked on an undercover mission for the CIA being run by Odette, the handler who used to work with Ziva. As such, the door is ideally open for Wickersham to reprise Bishop someday once the character’s mission is over, even if it’s just for a guest appearance.

For now, NCIS Season 22 premieres Monday, October 14 at 8 pm ET, and the Gibbs-focused prequel NCIS: Origins will follow immediately afterwards on the 2024 TV schedule. Use a Paramount+ subscription to stream NCIS’ previous 21 seasons and all the other shows in the franchise.

If you watched NCIS in the years when Michael Weatherly was a member of the main cast (and if you missed that era, you can stream those episodes with a Paramount+ subscription), you’ll remember that his character, Tony DiNozzo, would frequently make movie references. His cinephile interests were often a source of humor, but when looking back at the very first episode of NCIS, you’ll notice that Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs drops a very DiNozzo-ish movie reference in the midst of a high-profile investigation.

More 20 years later after that airing, Weatherly has shared his take on why movie references became a core part of Tony’s characterization instead, as well as explained why he decided to do “the opposite” of Harmon with his performance.

Why Michael Weatherly Thinks Tony Inherited The Movie References From Gibbs

“Yankee White,” which was paid tribute to earlier this year in the NCIS franchise’s 1,000th episode, saw Gibbs, Tony and Ducky Mallard boarding Air Force One and working with Secret Service agent Cailtin Todd to solve the murder of a Navy commander tasked with carrying the nuclear football. Upon boarding the President of the United States’ plane, Gibbs made a reference to Harrison Ford in 1997’s Air Force One. Which, let’s be real, any proper cinephile would do, too.

The popular CBS show’s debut episode was discussed on Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch when hosts Michael Weatherly and Ziva David actress Cote de Pablo were chatting with Sean Murray, who’s about to break a cool record in Season 22 thanks to his continuing run as Timothy McGee. Here’s what Weatherly had to say the movie references being shifted from one character to another:

That’s an astute and likely accurate observation. While there were a handful of humorous moments involving Gibbs from the start of the series until Mark Harmon left early into Season 19, Gibbs himself wasn’t know to tell jokes or say something to lighten a moment. Per Weatherly, that’s reflective of Harmon’s real life personality too, so it makes sense that the writers decided to have Tony drop the movie references instead.

I’ll also point out that Gibbs isn’t someone who keeps up with modern pop culture and technology. This was best demonstrated by him continuing to use flip phones even after smartphones became commonplace, but most often all he’d watch on his old TV were black and white Westerns or war movies. A man like that isn’t going to frequently reference cinematic entertainment in everyday conversation.

How Michael Weatherly Did The Opposite Of Mark Harmon When Filming Scenes

Later on in the podcast episode, Michael Weatherly discussed how as he further developed Tony DiNozzo beyond the initial 10-page email he wrote following his JAG debut, he decided to take an “opposite” approach when performing his character opposite Mark Harmon’s Gibbs. As he explained:

This creative choice paid off big time and was a key component in the comedic dynamic Tony had with Gibbs. That all came to an end when Michael Weatherly departed NCIS at the end of Season 13, but he did make a surprise appearance in Season 21’s “The Stories We Leave Behind,” I.e. the Ducky tribute episode. Now he and Cote de Pablo are in the midst of filming their Paramount+-exclusive spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva.

Looking to the months ahead, both NCIS Season 22 and the new, Gibbs-focused prequel NCIS: Origins will both premiere on CBS Monday, October 14 on the 2024 TV schedule. NCIS: Sydney is also returning for a second season, although like NCIS: Tony & Ziva, it doesn’t have a release date yet.

As one of several primetime shows to cross 250 episodes and even pass 450 episodes, NCIS is staying strong with the upcoming 22nd season this fall on the 2024 TV schedule. The long-running CBS procedural has seen rotating cast members throughout the years, but Sean Murray continues to portray Special Agent Timothy McGee. The funny thing is, all he initially wanted was to make it to Season 2.

The actor joined NCIS seven episodes into Season 1, and now he’s about to break a franchise record for appearing in the most episodes. Ahead of the new season, Murray looked back at his time on the show with Variety, recalling he actually told Mark Harmon he had hoped he would be asked back for Season 2:

Instead of being recurring, things definitely worked out for Murray since he was upped to series regular and has remained a mainstay since then. There was a reason he was brought on full time, and it makes me wonder just how different NCIS would have been. Luckily, fans don’t have to wonder, and it just proves he was the only person to play McGee. The actor continued:

There is never a guarantee how long an actor will be on a show for, and even though some characters have died or moved away, Murray has stayed on. There doesn’t seem to be any indication that he’ll be leaving any time soon, but you never know what could happen. With the series having no end in sight, and the franchise continuing to expand, there are plenty of chances for him to return even if he does ever depart from the mothership... as long as it doesn’t happen any time soon.

It is pretty remarkable that Sean Murray was only recurring in the first season and wasn’t even sure he’d be back for Season 2. Even if one NCIS producer thought Mark Harmon’s exit would be the “death knell” of the show, the series is still proving otherwise, and it may help that fans can still look forward to McGee. As of now, not too much has been revealed about the new season, but there is much more to look forward to from the Senior Field Agent.

Hopefully Murray won’t be going anywhere on NCIS any time soon, but it will still be interesting to see what storylines the series is able to come up with if that happens. For now, fans can tune into the NCIS Season 22 premiere on Monday, October 14 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the series premiere of NCIS prequel series, NCIS: Origins. After 1,000 episodes and over 20 years, the franchise is also not going anywhere, and there are plenty more stories to tell with plenty of characters.

As the world awaits the NCIS universe’s first throwback prequel NCIS: Origins, which features the return of former flagship lead Mark Harmon as series narrator, the long-running CBS crime drama’s fan base suffered a big loss behind the scenes. Former showrunner, writer and executive producer George Schenck, who was with the show for many of its seasons before his retirement, has died at the age of 82.

As reported by a CBS spokesperson (via THR), George Schenck passed away in his Los Angeles home on Saturday, August 3. No cause of death was reported.

Upon the sad news being reported, fellow NCIS vet Mark Harmon shared the following statement mourning his former boss’ passing:

Born February 12, 1942, Schenck was long destined for Hollywood storytelling, having graduated from USC with a screenwriting degree alongside his military involvement with the U.S. Navy.

George Schenck first landed on the NCIS creative team back in its first season as a spinoff of JAG, serving as a consulting producer and writer alongside his career writing partner Frank Cardea for the first eight seasons. He was promoted to executive producer going into Season 9.

The team of Schenck and Cardea were promoted to co-showrunners in the midst of Season 14 to replace Gary Glasberg, who passed away in September 2016. The duo took over during the first season without Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo, , and then had to navigate Pauley Perrette’s somewhat controversial exit in 2017.

Schenck ended up retiring from the biz just two seasons later, hanging up his creative hat in 2018. Frank Cardea, meanwhile, continued on as the show’s head honcho until his own retirement in 2022. The duo were responsible for crafting more than 40 episodes of the ratings-topping series during their extended run behind the scenes.

Way before working on NCIS, George Schenck honed his talents on such ‘60s and ‘70s features as Barquero, More Dead Than Alive and the sci-fi sequel Futureworld. He then went on to write and produce for a slew of TV shows, many alongside his writing partner Cardea. Over the years, he penned episodes of Bonanza, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, Crazy Like a Fox, Bring ‘Em Back Alive, and High Sierra Search and Rescue.

Most recently outside of his NCIS career, Schenck wrote episodes for David Morse’s two-season crime drama Hack and Kristanna Loken’s Painkiller Jane, as well as the 2008 TV movie Kiss Me Deadly co-starring the recently passed Shannen Doherty

We at CinemaBlend send our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of George Schenck in their time of mourning.

The NCIS franchise is expanding again, and fans are also preparing for Mark Harmon’s highly-anticipated return. Harmon left the Mothership series at the beginning of Season 19 after portraying Leroy Jethro Gibbs since the very beginning of the procedural's run. There had been hope he might return to the series at some point but, now, he has a new gig in the franchise, as he's working behind the scenes in the upcoming prequel series, NCIS: Origins. We're now getting a better idea of Harmon's exact duties, and he explains how he feels about taking on a "stepback" role.

When Gibbs-centric prequel show was announced, it was revealed that Mark Harmon would be attached as an executive producer and also serving as the narrator. Austin Stowell will play young Gibbs, and it may take some time for fans to get used to seeing him in the role. As for Harmon's involvement in the series, he doesn’t really seem to mind his new role as explained to USA Today:

Mark Harmon was the face of NCIS for almost 20 years, beginning with the backdoor pilot presented in JAG. It was a surprise to fans like myself when he left and an even bigger surprise when it was announced that he’d return to the franchise for Origins. It does make sense that he’d want a new cast to get the spotlight while still being able to tell new stories about some of the characters fans already know and love. Plus, given that Harmon is still providing the narration, he technically still is reprising his famous role for the series.

Since the Chicago Hope alum is also an executive producer, he'll, of course, still be working on the set here and there. He and other OG stars have been greatly involved with Origins. Based on what's been said, they've given advice to the actors and made sure the that characters are being taken care of. It just shows that he still cares about Gibbs and the franchise as a whole. His attitude also indicates that he has no problem letting a new generation help to tell stories about his beloved character and help build on the lore surrounding him.

Amid all of that, there's still the question of whether Mark Harmon will ever actually return to NCIS. He was recently asked about possibly popping up in the show, sharing that he always lets the writers do what they want. That’s certainly not a no, but it’s also not a yes. It sounds like it all depends on where the story goes. Gibbs was written out as having moved to Alaska, and he was at peace with that. There was speculation that he might return for the Ducky tribute episode, but that didn't come to pass. As much as I'd like to see Harmon play the role again, I'm glad that he's seemingly enjoying his new gig with the prequel series.

I'm definitely curious to see how NCIS: Origins turns out, though we're still a few months away from its debut. The two-hour premiere airs on Monday, October 14 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS as part of the 2024 TV schedule.

The NCIS franchise is still going strong after 1,000 episodes across more than 20 years, and is gearing up for yet another spinoff this fall on the 2024 TV schedule. For a first in the franchise, there will be a prequel series centered on Mark Harmon’s beloved character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Harmon is serving as executive producer and narrator on NCIS: Origins, but when it came to casting his character's younger self, the actor only had two words to say to actor Austin Stowell.

Playing an already-established and loved character is not easy, and Stowell has some big shoes to fill taking over for Harmon. With the series taking place in 1991, fans will be seeing a new side of Gibbs. While it may seem a bit overwhelming, during a Television Critics Association panel, Stowell shared the wise advice Harmon gave him. It may be short, but it’s definitely the most important one to remember (via USA Today):

Not only is Stowell joining a long-running franchise, but he is bringing fans into this whole new world that’s only been mentioned on NCIS. Harmon’s advice is probably the best advice he could have gotten because it’s not easy. It’s also nice to know that Harmon has been really involved in the new series and taking care of the cast, and it’s likely that the small piece of advice is not the only thing he has shared with them.

The upcoming Gibbs prequel will see him as a newly minted agent at the fledgling Camp Pendleton and joining a ragtag team under the leadership of the legendary Mike Franks. NCIS: Origins will include both new characters and old ones that fans know from NCIS, meaning that Austin Stowell is not the only one who will have some big shoes to fill, and it’s going to be intriguing to see what happens.

CBS revealed a first look at Stowell’s portrayal of Gibbs back in May, and it made me want the series to be here already. Luckily, it won’t be much longer, because as mentioned earlier, NCIS: Origins premieres this fall. CBS is delaying premieres until October, but the wait will certainly be worth it. There is much to look forward to with NCIS: Origins.

It’s hard to tell how the prequel will go, but it already sounds like it’s going to be a good one. Of course, no one will be able to replace Mark Harmon as Gibbs, but Stowell seems to be doing a pretty good job so far. It will also be fun to see what Gibbs was like in the ‘90s, as well as some other fan-favorite agents. Don’t miss the premiere of NCIS: Origins on Monday, October 14, at 9 p.m. ET only on CBS.

Even though at least one producer thought that Mark Harmon’s exit would doom NCIS, the CBS drama has continued to dominate broadcast TV in the subsequent years since Leroy Gibbs decided to make Alaska his new home. But not even McGee’s growing role or the addition of Gary Cole and others have stopped fans from wondering if and when Harmon could return for one or more appearances. Now, the former lead has at last addressed the issue himself, and he dropped a somewhat surprising detail in the process.

To be sure, both Mark Harmon and Leroy Gibbs will once again be part of the NCIS franchise as part of the 2024 TV schedule, just not through the long-running flagship drama. Harmon will be providing narration duties as Gibbs for the upcoming spinoff prequel NCIS: Origins, which he was on hand to promote during a Television Critics Association winter tour panel (via TVLine). He addressed his exit as being a natural outcome, and not decision that was hammered down from the outset.

And while he also stated he loved the way the creative team handled Gibbs’ final (for now) outing, he’s as aware as anyone that his character’s possible return is a constant topic. When asked about exactly that during the panel, he answered with:

That answer is about what one would expect from Mark Harmon, who obviously doesn’t want to break the fandom’s collective heart by saying he won’t return. He also presumably doesn’t want to make it sound as if he has the final say in the matter, even though one might think his role as an executive producer would allow him such requests.

When speaking to journalists after the TCA panel, the Summer School vet perhaps doubled down on that idea, sharing the surprising (at least to me) detail that no one has reached out to him to have any conversations about it. When asked if he'd been contacted about returning in the years since his exited, he responded:

Now, that answer could potentially mean that someone from the show sent an email to Mark Harmon's publicist or agent, without anything coming out of it. But it definitely doesn't sound like any major attempts were made to secure the actor for Seasons 20 and 21. I guess it's not all that surprising, since it hasn't been that long since he left. But considering how often the topic comes up, and how big this world is getting with both the Origins prequel and the upcoming spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which will be the franchise's first streaming exclusive, via Paramount+ subscription.

Showrunner Steven D. Binder has talked previously about wanting to leave the image of a contented Gibbs in fans’ minds until the point when a storyline is conceived that 100% earns the right to bring the character out of that peaceful setting. So that perhaps explains why there haven't been any talks with the actor about possibly reprising the role in the future.

But then when asked if he'd be down to pop back up for NCIS' series finale, whenever that may come, Mark Harmon didn't exactly come across as highly enthused about it, saying:

That said, if Binder & Co. figure out an A+ story arc that ropes Gibbs back into reteaming with his former colleagues, Harmon may indeed come around to the idea. It's no doubt foolish to hope that he'll be rocking a big burly beard at the time, but I'm still gonna do that just in case.

NCIS: Origins and NCIS proper will arrive with their season debuts on Mondays this fall, following the series premiere of Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr.'s new comedy Poppa's House.

At the top of the week, we received the ultimate update: Freaky Friday 2 is currently being filmed! On top of knowing that Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan would be returning to the fold as the mother-daughter duo who rocked it with the hilarious early '00s comedy, we also learned that many more actors from the original movie are back on set. On the first Friday of filming, Curtis had something particularly sweet to say about her on-screen hubby, Mark Harmon.

Jamie Lee Curtis celebrated the first official freaky Friday on the set of the Disney sequel by posting a picture of herself in front of Mark Harmon’s sweet on-set ride. Check it:

As Curtis shared on Instagram, Harmon has a vintage Airstream trailer that he has been using for at least three decades! With that in mind, it sounds like the actor used the same vehicle the last time they played love interests in a Freaky Friday movie. Curtis loves being parked next to the actor and was feeling reflective about being longtime friends with him.

This isn’t the first time Curtis and Harmon have reunited since the original Freaky Friday either. Curtis had a five-episode stint on NCIS back in 2012 (nine years before his Season 19 exit) as Dr. Samantha Ryan, the head of the Department of Defense's PsyOps Division, who ended up helping Gibbs out on a murder investigation. One has to wonder if her name of “Ryan” was inspired by their Freaky Friday connection!

As you may recall, the events of the first Freaky Friday occur as Jamie Lee Curtis’ Tess is about to get married to Harmon’s Ryan. Her fiancé is not the father of Lohan’s Anna, so she has reservations about him – and certainly doesn’t want to kiss him following her body swap with her mom. But as the story progresses, Anna starts to come around to Ryan and understand that he’s actually a great fit for their family.

With Freaky Friday 2 likely being set 20 years after the original’s events, we do have to wonder what storyline will be in store for Tess and Ryan! Along with Harmon back, Chad Michael Murray is among the OG actors announced to be back as well along with Stephen Tobolowsky as Tess’ high school teacher Mr. Bates, the other members of Pink Slip, Maddie and Peg (Christina Vidal and Haley Hudson), along with the hilarious mother-daughter duo from the Chinese restaurant who initiate the body swap (Rosalind Chao and Lucille Soong).

Additionally, Never Have I Ever’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s Julia Butters and Under Wraps’ Sophia Hammons have been cast.

You can stream the original Freaky Friday now with a Disney+ subscription and check out what other wacky body swap comedies we recommend if you’re excited for this sequel!

NCIS has been one of the most popular TV shows for several of its 21 seasons, and it has at least one more on the way. In that time the show has created multiple equally beloved spinoffs, though NCIS Hawai'i was recently canceled. Now there are so many characters, storylines, and histories that it’s hard to keep track of them all, but even though Mark Harmon has been off the show for several years now, his Agent Gibbs is still the standard bearer. And the character with the most questions left unanswered.

Gibbs was a unique character, an FBI agent who lived a nearly monastic existence, avoided any technology he was able to ignore, and hand-built boats in his basement without even the use of electric tools. However, one of Gibbs' oddest quirks was that he never locked the front door of his house. The reason for this was never entirely clear, but during a segment on the Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch podcast hosted by Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, ahead of their own NCIS spinoff, de Pablo revealed the apparent reason, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking…

Throughout NCIS, we learn a great deal about Agent Gibbs, and that includes the fact that his first wife and his daughter were killed, leading Gibbs on a mission of vengeance where he ultimately murdered the man who killed them. It’s made clear that Gibbs has never really gotten over the experience, and it manifested in part in the lifestyle he has on the show. 

Honestly, if somebody did want to break in and steal stuff, they wouldn’t get much. Gibbs doesn’t own anything beyond the necessities. But that can potentially be traced back to the same reason.

It’s unclear exactly where this information de Pablo reveals came from, since it doesn’t appear the show itself ever directly addressed why Gibbs doesn’t lock the door. This may be something the writers came up with as an idea while building Gibbs' character but never felt a need to say. It could also be something they came up with after the fact to explain what was originally meant to just be a personality quirk. Michael Weatherly had suggested he doesn’t lock the door because he wants it open in case his wife and daughter ever come back, which is maybe a more optimistic take on the same idea.

Unless somebody says otherwise, this certainly feels like a perfectly acceptable canon reason for any fans who need such a thing. With the NCIS: Origins premiere date approaching, a new spinoff focused on the early days of Gibbs, we’ll certainly learn a lot about how he became the man we know, and perhaps this detail will be included officially.  

The NCIS franchise is continuing to expand and, following the surprising cancellation of Hawai’i, two more shows are set to enter the fold. One of them, NCIS: Origins, will be a prequel to the Mothership series and follow a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell, at the fledgling Camp Pendleton during the NIS days. With this new series, the character of Gibbs is on track to break a franchise record, which the character NCIS Director Leon Vance is also in contention for.

Both characters are competing to break the record of appearing in the most shows in the long-running franchise (hattip screenrant). Originated by Mark Harmon, Gibbs was the face of the IP for almost 20 years and will take center stage once again in Origins. Aside from the parent series and the prequel, Gibbs has also appeared on the New Orleans spinoff and JAG, which the parent show itself is a spinoff of. Surprisingly, he never appeared in an episode of the Los Angeles offshoot.

As for Rocky Carroll’s Leon Vance, he made his debut in the fifth season of the OG show but has since become a very important part of the show. (And funny enough, Carroll thought he’d only get two seasons.) Since Vance is the NCIS Director, it would make sense for him to check in on other field offices every so often. Along with the mothership show, Vance has also popped up on LA, NOLA and Hawai’i and, following his name drop on Sydney, it wouldn’t be surprising if he appeared on the Australian-set spinoff at some point as well.

That being said, Sydney also isn’t the only way for Vance to hold the record. Since Origins will already be bringing back some familiar agents, so it’s possible that young Gibbs could run into a younger Vance, even for just a brief appearance. Maybe he can also check in on former agents Tony and Ziva on their upcoming spinoff. All in all, given the role that Vance has in the fictional universe, there are plenty of places in which he can show up.

As it stands, the NCIS franchise has been around for over 20 years now, and it doesn't seem to be losing momentum. One of the best parts about it is seeing characters from the different shows crossing over in various ways. When it comes to Gibbs and Vance, I'm hopeful that fans will continue to see them on their screens for years to come -- whether they're played by Mark Harmon and Rocky Carroll or not. Time will tell who ultimately maintains that record for series appearances, but I'm intrigued to see how it shakes out.

In the meantime, those who are eager to see what NCIS: Origins has to offer should know that it will be part of the 2024 TV schedule later this year when it makes its debut on CBS this fall. In the meantime, you can stream episodes of the parent show using a Paramount+ subscription.

In April 2003, the hit CBS military procedural JAG aired a two-part episode that acted as the backdoor pilot for its successor NCIS. No one could have guessed an eventual behemoth ensemble drama would grow from that moment that would go on to become a 20+ year franchise first led by Mark Harmon, then other big names. As Season 21 of the show closes out its place on the 2024 TV schedule, reflection is the word of the moment, and a longtime NCIS star has spoken out.

Previously, NCIS star Rocky Carroll said he thought he’d have two seasons before the show's cancellation. Yet the actor who’s played the role of NCIS Director Leon Vance since Season 5 has now seen milestones like the 100th, 200th, 400th, and even 1000th installments of the CBS mainstay come to pass, but not without a lot of love and hard work from the cast and crew. 

It may have seemed that the latest milestone came and passed with little fanfare, but Carroll spoke with People about hitting the big 1-0-0-0 and why the lack of "relishing" is one of the reasons the show's made it on the air for so long. 

The actor noted he didn’t even realize he was filming the 1000th episode until it had wrapped and that further revelations says it all. Indeed, when a show’s run is 21 seasons in, and it continues to develop new paths forward like the NCIS Origins prequel series or the Tony/Ziva spinoff that’ll hopefully please Paramount+ subscription holders, things get kind of busy. 

So with so much going on surrounding the characters and their locales, how does a series like NCIS stay fresh after over two decades? Well, part of it is venturing into new territories, even if the results are only a handful of seasons for something like the recently cancelled NCIS: Hawaii. 

Another piece of the recipe comes from Rocky Carroll’s reverence for the powers that be. He actually invoked a bit of Mark Harmon wisdom to explain NCIS' magical trajectory. 

With all of the shake ups in personnel that have happened over the years, keeping NCIS itself as the “star of the show” would appear to be the huge secret that keeps everything else in check. As one of its longest running cast-mates, Rocky Carroll’s echoing of Mark Harmon’s thoughts just reinforces that everyone involved in CBS’s flagship drama has a good idea about what they're doing.

So, maybe it’s not too early to start thinking about where the 1500th episode may bring Gary Cole and his current crew of federal crime stoppers? Then again, when and if that chapter arrives, we'll probably see the NCIS crew celebrate in the same fashion as they did for the 1000th episode: a special lunch of commemoration, followed by heading right back into it.

NCIS Season 21 comes to a close tonight with the episode entitled “Reef Madness.” You can catch it as it airs on CBS, tonight at 9 PM ET; or you can watch it the next day through Paramount+. Which is the perfect resource, should you find yourself wanting to catch up on any naval criminal investigations you may have missed.

As NCIS approaches the 1,000th episode mark, the franchise is continuing to expand. On top of the flagship series and the currently airing Hawai’i and Sydney offshoots, CBS and Paramount+ are making two more spinoffs, including a prequel. NCIS: Origins will see the return of Mark Harmon -- but in narrator and executive producer roles, as Austin Stowell takes over as a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the '90s-set program. Someone who's spoken with Harmon about the show is his former co-star, Sean Murray, who's giving his personal opinion on the upcoming series. 

Sean Murray is currently one of the longest-lasting stars on NCIS, having portrayed Special Agent Timothy McGee since the first season debuted in 2003. The actor worked with Mark Harmon for the bulk of his run on the show, and they've kept in touch since Harmon’s departure at the beginning of Season 19. When Murray told TV Insider that he's talked to his former co-star about the prequel series, he also shared some optimistic thoughts about the production:

It’s honestly great to hear the actor be supportive of Origins, and I echo his opinion that the show will do well upon its release. I also really love the fact that Sean Murray and Mark Harmon still talk to each other, and that's a testament to just how close they became while filming. With that, as a fan, I truly hope that Murray's Timothy McGee gets to reunite with the present-day version of Harmon's Gibbs at some point.

Even though he won’t be appearing on NCIS: Origins, the McGee actor has apparently remained in the know when it comes to the production. He went on to explain just how long he's been aware of the project and further gushed over what intrigues him about him:

As mentioned, the prequel isn't the only offshoot that 's being developed. Paramount+ subscribers can also look forward to a Tony and Ziva-centric spinoff that will see Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo reprise the titular characters, who will be on the run across Europe. The NCIS franchise is continuing to branch out in some exciting ways, and I'm so here for it!

Since the Gibbs-focused show is expected to air sometime during the 2024-25 season on CBS, there’s a possibility it could pop up somewhere on the 2024 TV schedule. Hopefully, fans don’t have to wait too long for it but, regardless of how long that'll be, I'm confident that it'll be worth the wait. Yes, there are still more than a few details we don't know about the production, and we've yet to even see any actual footage. However, Sean Murray's positive thoughts are enough to make me feel pumped about what's to come.

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS episode “The Stories We Leave Behind” are ahead!

When David McCallum died last September at the age of 90, it went without saying that NCIS, the show he’d been on for 20 years, would need to say goodbye to his character, Donald “Ducky” Mallard, too. That day finally came on February 19 with “The Stories We Leave Behind,” the Ducky tribute episode that saw the team taking on one of the character’s last cases as they mourned his passing. Although the end of the episode did feature a surprise appearance from Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo, NCIS co-showrunner Steven D. Binder explained why Mark Harmon didn’t also return for the special occasion on the 2024 TV schedule, and what he said made complete sense.

That’s not to say Harmon wasn’t technically present in NCIS Season 21’s second episode, as a few clips featuring Leroy Jethro Gibbs were included as part of looks back on Ducky’s life. That said, Binder told TV Line that when he and his team were crafting the story for “The Stories We Leave Behind,” they wondered if they could “get everybody” to appear, akin to all the people who showed up for Tony Stark’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame. It soon became clear that wouldn’t be possible not just for budgetary reasons, but because “actor availability and scheduling issues would have been insurmountable.” Binder then laid out:

While it is true that Gibbs was closer with Ducky than Tony was when they were all still on NCIS’ main cast together, and Gibbs and Jimmy certainly shared a few notable moments together, I get what Binder is saying about why Tony was selected for the cameo. He and Jimmy spent more time together during the former’s 13-season run, and there’s no question he can bring the levity in spades. He did so in this episode by imitating Ducky while tying a bow tie he brought for Jimmy, as well as dropping off one his trademark “Mc” nicknames for Sean Murray’s Timothy McGee. However, Tony also touchingly sprinkled in some words of wisdom about how we don’t just leave stories behind when we die, but also the lives we’ve touched along the way.

“The Stories We Leave Behind” marked Michael Weatherly’s return to NCIS for the first time since he departed the main cast in 2016, although we’ve since learned that he reunited with Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David, and the two are now raising their daughter Tali together. So that explains why Tony was brought back, and on the subject of what would be enough to bring Mark Harmon back into the NCIS fold, Steven D. Binder said this:

Whether that day will ever come remains to be seen, although Mark Harmon isn’t done with the NCIS franchise by a long shot. He’s attached to executive produce and narrate the prequel show NCIS: Origins, which will follow Gibbs in 1991. Looking back to Ducky’s tribute episode, along with the aforementioned clips, Gibb’s presence was also felt through a polaroid picture he sent of him, Ducky and McGee together. We also got a nod to Pauley Perrette’s Abby Sciuto, who sent a black wreath to honor her former coworker.

New episodes of NCIS premiere Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, though as a result of last year’s writers and actors strikes delaying production, Season 21 consists of just 10 episodes. Revisit older seasons of the show with your Paramount+ subscription.