NCIS (TV series)

NCIS
File:Ncis cast main.jpg Left to right: McGee, Duckie, Shepard, DiNozzo, Abby, Gibbs and David
Created by	Don McGill
Starring	Mark Harmon Michael Weatherly Cote de Pablo (2005–present) Sean Murray (2003–present) Pauley Perrette David McCallum Lauren Holly (2005–present) Sasha Alexander (2003–2005)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	83 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Donald Bellisario
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 23, 2003 – present
Related
JAG

NCIS is a CBS network television series about a team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Navy. The concept and characters were initially introduced in a two-part episode of the CBS series JAG (episodes 8.20 and 8.21). The show premiered on September 23, 2003. Its executive producer is Donald Bellisario.

Overview

NCIS follows a team of Naval Criminal Investigative Service Major Case Response Team (MCRT) special agents, headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

As NCIS is a federal law enforcement agency with jurisdiction on crimes involving persons and property associated with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, the team is frequently assigned to high-profile cases such as the death of the President's nuclear missile aide, a bomb situation on a U.S. Navy warship, the death of a celebrity on a reality show set on a USMC base, terrorist threats, and kidnappings.

Characters

Main Characters

	Name	Portrayed by	Occupation/Status
File:NCIS1.jpg	Leroy Jethro Gibbs	Mark Harmon	NCIS Supervisory Special Agent
File:NCIS2.jpg	Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo	Michael Weatherly	NCIS Senior Special Agent
File:NCIS3.jpg	Ziva David	Cote de Pablo	NCIS officer; Mossad Special Agent
File:NCIS5.jpg	Timothy "Probie" McGee	Sean Murray	NCIS Junior Special Agent
File:NCIS4.jpg	Abigail "Abby" Sciuto	Pauley Perrette	NCIS Forensic Specialist
File:NCIS7.jpg	Donald "Ducky" Mallard	David McCallum	NCIS Medical Examiner
File:NCIS6.jpg	Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard	Lauren Holly	NCIS Director

Recurring characters

Gerald Jackson (Pancho Demmings, Season 1)

Dr. Mallard's assistant until being incapacitated by Ari Haswari after being held hostage in the morgue. While recuperating, his position was filled by Jimmy Palmer. Approximately a year and a half later, he was again captured by Ari Haswari in an effort to secure Dr. Mallard's audience. Gerald cannot drive a manual transmission, much to the dismay of Ari and Ducky.

Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen, Season 1 – present)

After Gerald was incapacitated, Mr. Palmer became Dr. Mallard's medical assistant both in the field and in the morgue. Jimmy is frequently nervous, but very proficient in his field of study. He is also particularly clueless when it comes to women, although in Season 4 he appears to have a relationship with Agent Lee.

Paula Cassidy (Jessica Steen)

A criminal profiler for NCIS. An expert on Middle Eastern terrorists, she once worked as an interrogator at Guantánamo Bay. She and DiNozzo were intimate with each other in the past (according to the Season 2 episode "Heart Break"), but by season 3 she was significantly more antagonistic to his characteristic constant advances.

Special Agent Tobias Fornell (Joe Spano)

A senior FBI agent who is often involved in "inter-agency turf wars" with Gibbs' NCIS team. He was framed for revealing the identity of an undercover agent to the Mafia, but was cleared with help of Gibbs. He married one of Gibbs' ex-wives, despite warnings, and is now divorced from her too. He and Gibbs consider each other very good friends, despite their arch-rival business association. Their friendship is close enough for Gibbs to delay his retirement in the second episode of Season 4 in order to come to the aid of Fornell and his daughter.

FBI Special Agent Ron Sacks (Don Franklin)

Sacks is the FBI equivalent of NCIS Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Humorous, a natural disregard for policy and a fierce love of his job, as well as being a slight 'movie-buff' all contribute to making him the near perfect image (and, thus, natural enemy) of DiNozzo. Sack's name is often parodied by DiNozzo who calls him"Special Agent Sucks". Tony also harbours a resentment for Agent Sacks as he was the leading investigator in the episode "Frame Up" (Season three, ep. 9), where Agent DiNozzo was framed for murder. Tony and Sacks also both enjoy making life for each other difficult.

Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman (Alicia Coppola)

A prosecutor for the Judge Advocate General's office, Coleman first appeared in an episode of JAG and went on to make several appearances (to date) on NCIS, assisting Gibbs and his team. Her "neat freak" mannerisms — such as keeping a holder full of finely sharpened HB pencils on her desk — amuses Tony.

Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)

Introduced in the fourth season as DiNozzo's new girlfriend, Jeanne has appeared in several episodes. Not much is known about her yet, except that she is in the medical profession and that Tony is trying to make his relationship with her a success.

Special Agent Michelle Lee (Liza Lapira)

Joined NCIS at the start of the fourth season in the "probie" position after Gibbs' resignation resulted in DiNozzo and McGee moving up in the team hierarchy. She was later moved over to the legal division when Gibbs' return resulted in the hierarchy reverting. Lee has subsequently appeared in several episodes, most notably in "Once a Hero,” when she went undercover to help break an Asian sex slavery ring. The character is currently part of a running joke involving a clandestine sexual relationship with Jimmy Palmer; the two have been shown making love in a number of inappropriate locations related to the medical lab, including a refrigerator, the medical examiner's van, and in the autopsy room itself.

Former characters

Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd (Sasha Alexander, Season 1 – Season 2)

A former Secret Service agent who often questions authority, Gibbs included. Kate was frequently an object of DiNozzo's interest, although no action was ever taken by either; Kate was usually disgusted by Tony's habits — to include his chauvinism, his interest in the trivial, and his eating habits. She was killed in the line of duty at the end of season two by Ari Haswari who was alleged to be on a personal mission to assassinate Gibbs.

Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin)

The terrorist who wounded both Gibbs and Gerald Jackson when he infiltrated the NCIS morgue during the first season, causing Gibbs to become obsessed with discovering his identity and capturing (or killing) him during the second half of the season. NCIS initially identified him as an undercover Mossad agent; he was, in fact, a rogue agent and working for Hamas. After his murder of Kate Todd, and several further attacks on NCIS members (including Gibbs), he was killed by his half-sister, Mossad officer Ziva David.

Charles "Chip" Sterling (Michael Bellisario, Season 3)

Abby's unrequested lab assistant, whom she nicknamed Chip against his wishes. Chip is socially awkward, a condition exacerbated by Abby and Gibbs as a result of his unrequested status in the lab. Much like McGee was when he started, Chip too, is harassed by Tony as "the new guy." It was eventually discovered that Chip took the job at NCIS to implement revenge on DiNozzo by framing him for murder — he was found out and summarily incapacitated by Abby after he threatened her with a knife.

Director Thomas "Tom" Morrow (Alan Dale), Season 1 - Season 2)

Was director before Jenny Shepard. Left the agency to take a Deputy Director's position with the Department of Homeland Security. He didn't have a big role in the series but he stepped in when "inter-agency turf wars" were going on and was referenced on multiple occasions.

Naming the show

Prior to the launch of the first season, advertisements on CBS identified the show as "Naval CIS." By the time of the launch of the first episode, NCIS was airing under the name Navy NCIS, the name it held for the entire first season. Since the "N" in NCIS stands for "Naval,” the name Navy NCIS was technically redundant (an example of RAS syndrome). The decision to use this name was reportedly made by CBS, over the objections of Bellisario, in order to:

• Attract new viewers (particularly those of JAG), who might not know the NCIS abbreviation.
• Disambiguate between NCIS and the similarly-themed and similarly-spelled CBS series CSI and its spinoffs. (The original title, for instance, was often misquoted as Navy CSI.”)

After its successful first season, the name of the series was shortened to NCIS.

Trivia

• In the second season episode "The Meat Puzzle,” Gibbs tells Kate that Ducky looked like Illya Kuryakin when he was younger; this was the name of the character that David McCallum (who plays Ducky) played on the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. A similar metafictional reference occurs part 1 of the 2005–06 season finale "Hiatus" in which Michael Weatherly's character remarks (when referring to an unlikely event) that he'd have a better chance of hooking up with Jessica Alba. In reality, Weatherly was romantically involved with the actress and co-starred with her on Dark Angel.

• Whether by writing or by casting coincidence, some of the actors have attributes or skills that match their roles. Michael Weatherly's father is a Swiss Knife importer. In an episode in Season 1, "The Good Samaritan,” one of the serial killers' victims, a Naval Aviator, was the heir of a Swiss Knife importer.

• Abby Sciuto was raised in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; Pauley Perrette was born in Metairie, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans. Perrette also has a Master's Degree in Criminology, and has toured the real NCIS offices to meet with the real forensic specialist. McGee is a computer specialist; as a hobby, Murray has built computers from scratch.

• According to the behind-the-scenes featurette on the 2006 DVD release of season 1, McCallum took it upon himself to become an expert in forensics in order to better play the role of Dr. "Ducky" Mallard, including appearing at medical examiner conventions. Bellisario says McCallum's knowledge of the subject became so vast that Bellisario (at the time of the interview) was seriously considering making him a technical advisor for the series.

• Some of the producers are longtime fans of The X-Files. NCIS tips their hat to that series in season 1's "The Truth Is Out There,” which featured a murder mystery involving sailors who were named for X-Files writers (as well as a bogus UFO scare). In season 3's "Head Case", one of the characters says "It's like we walked into an episode of the X-files."

• In the season 3 episode "Frame Up" Special Agent David L. Brant, the soon-to-be-former Director of NCIS, had a cameo appearance and joked with Gibbs about retiring.
• Michael Bellisario, who played the recurring character of Charles "Chip" Sterling in several episodes in season 3, is the son of Donald P. Bellisario, the executive producer of the show.

• Troian Bellisario, who played McGee's sister Sarah, is the daughter of Donald P. Bellisario. Originally, the nature of her role was kept ambiguous, as she was only known as a girl in McGee's room in episode 2x20, and of whom pictures are shown in episode 3x16.

• Mark Harmon and Lauren Holly had previously co-starred on Chicago Hope.

• This is not the first time Mark Harmon has played a detective investigating a crime at a Military establishment. In the 1987 movie The Presidio, Harmon played an MP turned SFPD detective investigating the murder of one of his former colleagues.

• The License plate (724 - TJA) of the NCIS Medical Examiners Van (Seen in episode 4x10) is the same plates seen on Ari's SUV in episode 3x02.

• The NCIS team carry SIG Sauer pistols, presumably the same type carried by the real NCIS (P228). After he leaves NCIS, Gibbs sometimes carries a M9.

Episodes

For an overview see List of NCIS episodes.

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of NCIS on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
1st	Tuesday 8:00PM	September 23, 2003	May 25, 2004	2003–2004	#25	11.84
2nd	Tuesday 8:00PM	September 28, 2004	May 24, 2005	2004–2005	#22	13.57
3rd	Tuesday 8:00PM	September 20, 2005	May 16, 2006	2005–2006	#16	15.27
4th	Tuesday 8:00PM	September 19, 2006	May 2007	2006–2007	#	#

The second season finale, ending with the Agent Todd murder cliffhanger, propelled the series to become one of the most-watched programs throughout the summer of 2005, which then led to a growing audience throughout its third season. The series has been a solid performer in the ratings, especially for the latter half of the television season when it airs opposite FOX's mega-hit American Idol.

International Broadcasters

NCIS has been shown by the following stations around the world:

Region	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
Asia		Star World
Australia		Network Ten (first run) TV1 (syndication)		Tuesday 8:30pm , Sunday 8:30pm respectively AEST
Belgium	Navy NCIS	VT4		Sunday 19:45 CET
Brazil		AXN
Bulgaria	Военноморски Специален Отдел ("Naval special service")	Nova Television
Canada		CH	September 23 2003	Tuesday 8:00pm ET
Chile		AXN
Croatia	Navy CIS	Nova TV		Thursdays, approx. 10:30 pm
Denmark	Navy CIS	TV3		Every weekday at 7pm CET
Finland	NCIS Rikostutkijat ("NCIS crime investigators")	Nelonen	September 2 2006	Saturday 11:30pm EET
France	NCIS : enquêtes spéciales ("NCIS : special investigations")	M6	March 3 2004
Germany	Navy CIS	SAT.1	March 17 2005	Thursday 9:10pm , Sunday 8:15pm CET
Hungary	NCIS - Tengerészeti helyszínelők ("NCIS - Naval Investigators")	TV 2		Monday 9:15pm CET
Iceland	NCIS	Stöð 2		Tuesday 8:55PM GMT
India		Star World		Friday 9:00PM
Ireland		FX and RTÉ One
Israel		The Hallmark Channel
Italy	Navy N.C.I.S. or NCIS: Unità Anticrimine	Rai 2		Sunday 21:00 CET
Japan	NCIS: Navy Crime Investigation Team	FOX
Lithuania	Specialioji jūrų policijos tarnyba	LRT
Macedonia	Нејви	Sitel		Mondays 8:00PM
Malaysia	NCIS	Star World, 8TV		8TV: Mondays 9:30PM
Netherlands		Veronica		Wednesday 8.30 CET
New Zealand	NCIS	TV3		Not Currently Screening As Season Three Has Concluded.
Norway	Navy CIS	TV3
Philippines		RPN 9
Poland	Agenci NCIS ("Agents of NCIS")	TVN
Portugal	Serviço Naval de Investigação Criminal ("Criminal Investigation Naval Service")	TVI, AXN
Quebec (Canada)	NCIS: Enquêtes spéciales ("NCIS : special investigations")	Historia
Saudi Arabia and Arab World		Showtime Arabia, Tv Land, Tv Land +2 (Subtitled) and MBC 4
Serbia	Маринци (Marines)	RTV Pink		Monday to Friday 12:00pm
Slovakia	NCIS : Námorny Vyšetrovací Úrad ("NCIS : Navy Investigation Service")	Markiza
Slovenia	Preiskovalci na delu: NCIS ("Investigators on work: NCIS")	TV3
South Africa		SABC 2
Spain	Navy: investigación criminal ("Navy: criminal investigation")	La Sexta, AXN
South Korea		XTM
Sweden	Navy CIS	TV3	June 20 2004
Switzerland	NCIS : enquêtes spéciales ("NCIS : special investigations")	TSR
Taiwan	NCIS 重返犯罪現場 ("NCIS - Return to the Crime Scene")	PTS
Turkey		Dizimax
United Kingdom		FX (First run and repeats) and Five (Re-runs)	January 16 2004	Saturdays 7:40pm, Fridays 9:00pm (Five), Weeknights 8pm (FX)
United States		CBS	September 23 2003	Tuesday 8:00pm ET

DVD Releases

Main article: NCIS DVD releases

DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Season 1	June 6 2006	July 24 2006	August 10 2006
Season 2	November 14 2006	October 16 2006	October 12 2006
Season 3	April 24 2007	February 5 2007	March 15 2007

The first season DVD release omits the two-part pilot episode that aired as part of the eighth season of JAG; those episodes may be released when that season is eventually distributed on DVD.

U.S. Broadcast History

• September 2003 – present — Tuesdays 8:00pm/7:00pm

External links

• CBS official site for NCIS
• Pauley Perrette's behind the scenes blog at CBS.com
• Numeriklab wrote the Main Title Theme from NCIS