‘NCIS’ Oral History as Show Turns 20

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...bs-1235593222/

The CBS hit's creative minds open up about losing Mark Harmon, Pauley Perrette and others; the tough casting process (Harrison Ford as Gibbs?); and finding its audience after a slow start: "A streaming show would never go 21 years."

BY RYAN GAJEWSKI

Although NCIS was well-liked from the get-go, not even an elite investigation could have foreseen the show becoming a hit that would span decades and launch a franchise.

It began in spring 2003 as a backdoor pilot for CBS’ sturdy military-law procedural JAG. Co-created by JAG mastermind Donald P. Bellisario (Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap) and Don McGill (Numbers, CSI), NCIS follows special agents from D.C.’s Naval Criminal Investigative Service, led by Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The show’s initial core cast included Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo), Sasha Alexander (Caitlin Todd), Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto) and David McCallum (Ducky Mallard). Twenty years later, the series continues to thrive, as it stands as CBS’ No. 1 broadcast drama for five straight seasons and has launched four spinoffs, with the first international entry, NCIS: Sydney, debuting this fall on the network.

In celebration of the series’ premiere on Sept. 23, 2003, The Hollywood Reporter sat down for an oral history with the creative forces behind the show’s impressive run. This includes Bellisario and McGill, in addition to fellow executive producers Charles Floyd Johnson and Mark Horowitz, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach and former presidents Nina Tassler and Glenn Geller, CBS Studios president David Stapf, former CBS head of casting Peter Golden, casting director Susan Bluestein and others.

Among the topics discussed are how Harmon stood out among a high-profile list of potential candidates for Gibbs, the circumstances surrounding Bellisario exiting the show, the much-discussed — and sometimes controversial — departures of its initial stars and more recent additions like Cote de Pablo (Ziva David), the politics of its viewers, why NCIS would be much different had it launched on a streamer and how it gets fans to keep coming back amid all the changes.

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NCIS Producer Explains Abby Star Pauley Perrette's Exit From Long-Running Show

As part of an oral history on NCIS, executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson discusses why Pauley Perrette asked to leave her popular role as Abby.