"NCIS" at 500: Cracking the code

It's award season again in Hollywood, and the cast and crew of "NCIS" are celebrating maybe the rarest prize of all in television: Longevity. On Tuesday, March 24, the 500th episode of "NCIS" will air on CBS. In its 23 seasons on the air, then syndication and now streaming, viewers have watched some 3.3 trillion minutes of the show. And with multiple spinoffs, it's the #1 franchise in the world.

Yet early on, the joke was that "NCIS" was just "CSI" mis-spelled.

Longtime showrunner Steve Binder says, for the first several years he worked on "NCIS," his response to the question "Where do you work?" would be, "Your mother's favorite TV show." "I never said the name, 'cause they'd go, 'Huh?' And then I'd feel bad about myself," Binder said. "Season 7, I started to think like, 'This thing can go forever, you know, as long as these actors wanna keep doing it.'"

For those that haven't watched it, "NCIS" stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. But the show that's spun many other shows actually began in 2003 as a spin-off itself, of the show "JAG."

Legendary TV producer Don Bellisario created and ran "NCIS," with a strong ensemble cast led by Mark Harmon. But the show struggled, until Sasha Alexander, who played Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd in the first two years of the show, wanted to leave.

Sean Murray (who plays Special Agent Timothy McGee) said the exit of Special Agent Todd was significant: "Don got the great idea of, 'Well, I think what we'll do is we're gonna kill you in the season two finale in a close up – take a bullet right in the close up.' And that was something that you just never saw happen on network TV."

Of course, plot twists – like the elaborate departure of key characters – on other shows could end a series. But for "NCIS" fans, speculating which character might be the next to go became all part of the show. "It's sad to say goodbye," Binder said. "but the new people coming in is actually a feature, not a bug. And I think it was, 'Oh, okay, we can try these different things and do these different things.' And as long as we follow a certain set of guidelines and rules, the evolution that comes from new characters, and new energies, and new relationships, the audience seems to still like."

After Michael Weatherly left the show in 2016, Wilmer Valderrama joined as Special Agent Nick Torres. His backstory was inspired by Valderrama's actual life, growing up in Venezuela. "I was raised there for about ten years," he said. "I grew up watching, you know, 'CHIPs' and 'Charlie's Angels.' I used to watch them all in Spanish. But I will say that the impression I had of the United States, the American flag, the way of service, the American dream, for us in Latin America, coming from where I was coming from, you know, a place that was fracturing politically and economically, this did feel like the happiest place on Earth."

According to Katrina Law, who became a series regular in 2021 as Special Agent Jessica Knight, the chemistry between cast members has been a key ingredient to the show's success: "I'm not gonna lie, that's one of my favorite things about being on the show, is that we have amazing chemistry on-camera, off-camera. And it just makes coming to work so much fun."

"I definitely thought this was going to be more of your standard procedural, definitely more like a case of the week," said Diona Reasonover (Forensic Specialist Kasie Hines). "And seeing these relationships develop, that's what keeps me coming back, and I think it's what keeps the audience coming back, too."

Brian Dietzen plays Dr. Jimmy Palmer, the show's medical examiner. For him, those off-screen friendships were all the more important when he had a near-fatal dual embolic stroke. "I've been very fortunate, very lucky to be here," Dietzen said. "But to see people step up and say, 'What do you need? How can we help?' And Diona, she lived down the street from me and so she would give me rides to and from work. It was incredible."

Surely it blew the minds of people at a stoplight to see these two characters from "NCIS" driving somewhere. "Yeah, keep our lab coats on!" he laughed.

But just what is it that's made "NCIS" a success? Is it the story arcs? The easter eggs for fans in every episode? The cast chemistry? Don't ask Gary Cole, who plays Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker: "I'm superstitious about it," he said. "It's like the old baseball metaphor. You don't talk to the guy who's throwing the no-hitter. You sit on the other side of the bench. You know, you just let him do his thing until it's over with."

You may just have to tune in March 24 to find out. 

Cole said, "You cannot be in an environment like this and get the work done successfully, and be sane, unless there is love involved. That's what I saw when I got here. That's what I still see. There's a vibe, for lack of a better word, that is positive, supportive, just the old corny phrase that we're in this together."

     
For more info:

• The 500th episode of "NCIS" airs March 24 on CBS and will stream on Paramount+

     
Story produced by Anthony Laudato. Editor: Jason Schmidt.

See also:

• Mark Harmon, a hero on-screen and off ("Sunday Morning")
• Pauley Perrette on life beyond "NCIS" ("Sunday Morning")
• "NCIS: Los Angeles" star LL Cool J ("Sunday Morning")