Mark Harmon leaves NCIS after 18 years on the show
It's officially the end of an era for the crime drama
Aux News Mark Harmon
[This piece contains spoilers for last night’s episode of NCIS]
After serving as the face of the CBS criminal drama NCIS for over 18 years, Mark Harmon is officially stepping away from his leading role.
His character, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, departs in the fourth episode of season 19, which aired last night. Gibbs makes the decision to not to return to his job in NCIS, instead choosing to stay in Alaska where the team were tracking down a hitman. Despite the rather dire circumstance which brought him there, Gibbs shares that he feels a sense of peace not felt since the death of his wife and daughter.
“I’m not going back, Tim,” Gibbs says to coworker Special Agent Timothy McGee (played by Sean Murray) as he casts his fishing line into a picturesque lake.
While it is the end of Harmon’s time as a regular cast member on the series, executive producer and showrunner Steven D. Binder indicates that Gibbs may return at some point down the line. Behind the scenes, Harmon will remain onboard as an executive producer.
“As an executive producer and dear friend, Mark continues to be an integral part of the fabric of the show,” Binder said in a statement to Variety. “Our North Star has always been staying true to our characters, and that truth has always guided the stories we tell and where those characters go. So regarding the future of Gibbs, as long-time fans of the show may have noticed over the years… never count Leroy Jethro Gibbs out.”
When the wildly popular series received renewal earlier this year, news of Harmon’s potential departure was already swirling. Despite these rumors, fans were no less shocked at his sudden yet perfect goodbye. The fate of NCIS as a series may be up in the air, but for now it’s certain Gibbs is getting a well deserved retirement.
Now it’s time to call your mom and check in on how she’s coping with this information.
94 Comments
I’m also leaving NCIS. I joined the Navy on accident
1. You hit the nail on the head about our Boomer mothers. She has already texted me today about this. 🤣🤣2. But the offseason chatter about Harmon was that he might appear less minutes in the season overall, not bow out entirely at Ep 4. I’m sure it was genuinely shocking for fans.
I haven’t seen the show in a long time and just thought of the fact that Sasha Alexander’s Kate is so firmly part of my memory of the show even though she was only a regular for the first two seasons, wasn’t she?
Yup.
I stopped watching because whenever they needed a ratings boost, they would kill off a woman.
Don’t feed me that misogynist crap.
??? Probably the only female main character to die strictly for a ratings boost was Jenny, and that was during a season finale. Kate and Ziva’s actresses left the show (the former due to not wanting to work 21-hour shooting days and the latter due to contract negotiations) and while I’m not sure why Bishop’s actress left the show, she wasn’t killed. Even then, Ziva came back a few seasons later for a season before jetting off to live with Tony. And Bishop’s departure wasn’t even advertised beforehand.I agree that the show’s female main characters get the short end of the stick, but it ain’t due to ratings boosts.
I dunno. Other shows allow actresses to leave without killing off their characters.
I’m just sayin’
At least 5 women have left the show (Kate, Ziva, Jenny, Bishop, and Abby) and only 2 have been killed, and Jenny went out like a badass, taking 4 people with her. Lauren Holly was probably ecstatic to leave like that.
Yup. She quit due to how chaotic production was when Bellisario was in charge. The whole reason Harmon became Executive Producer to begin with was because he told CBS “Either me or Bellisario” after Season 4.
Same here for your point 1 except I think they record the new ones and watch ‘em later. I expect to hear about this in a few days.
The last couple of seasons has been building up to him leaving so for me it was more about damn time feeling to it.
Oh no, all those cast members won’t get to deal with his shitty behaviour anymore…
At least it’s not all bad news.
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/mark-harmon-and-his-wife-have-the-best-car-rescue-story-in-hollywood/
I don’t know if you’re being ironic or not. I can only find one, ONE instance of someone who thought he was acting shitty, and one who got attacked by his dog on set.
I think that was the other guy.
People can be complicated. I’ve heard both sides of the fence.
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/mark-harmon-and-his-wife-have-the-best-car-rescue-story-in-hollywood/
What shitty behavior?
What happened to Sam and Maddie?
Have never seen an episode.But Harmon was pretty good in “Summer School.”
Mr. Shoop.
… and his dog WonderMutt.
That film introduced me to my favourite actor of all time Dean Cameron. Also that film made me realise that Young!Mark Harmon’s a dead ringer for John Barrowman and Tom Cruise.
He’s seen too much.
Does this mean that NCIS can finally end already?
They’ve jumped the shark so many times before that I assume that by now the producers have cloned a megalodon.
Well, they moved the show from the Tuesday 8pm slot it has been in from the start to Monday at 9pm, so if this isn’t the last season, it’s not that far off.Of course, even in the new timeslot, NCIS is still doing better than every other broadcast show in the ratings so…
While NCIS New Orleans ended, they still have NCIS LA and now NCIS Hawaii besides the OG NCIS.
Other than the character showing up for guest spots I half-suspect that CBS/Paramount/Harmon will try to use the popular character for a Longmire or Cade’s County type show (or series of TV movies). A modern western exclusive to Paramount Plus, set in Alaska with Gibbs as some sort of lawman.
Eh, I was always more a CSI: Miami boy myself. Hello, Adam Rodriguez in his wetsuit….rawr…Meanwhile…I wasn’t aware there was chatter about Harmon being a dick. I always thought it would be Weatherly (who always struck me as cretinous) would be the one.
Weatherly was kind of an asshole towards Cote de Pablo when she first arrived, but they eventually smoothed things over. Pauley Perrette apparently always had issues with Harmon, with the dog incident the last straw, but AFAIK, she hasn’t elaborated on specifics.
What I heard was that Perette & Harmon didn’t have issues until after his dog attacked her on-set.
Even then, it wasn’t the attack itself that caused the rift. It was his the fact that he continued to bring it on set afterwards that made her decide to quit.
Apparently she had issues with him even back during Season 1. She also hinted that somebody high up the ladder (not Harmon, who hadn’t gotten his promotion yet) had sexually assaulted her but the head honchos at CBS kept it quiet. Again, she hasn’t given any more details.
Though Perrette is not altogether… there, so whether any of these past incidents are true or not is still to be determined. Supposedly, she doesn’t want to make any of her former cast and crewmates that she likes unemployed, so we likely won’t hear any details until after the show ends.
The makers of Michael Weatherly’s show Bull apparently had to pay out Eliza Dushku her entire contract for $10 million because of behaviour on set leading to her planned run being cut very short and she took them to court, I believe. Supposedly their attempt to use behind the scenes footage to make her look bad made them look worse.I did find it funny that apparently his family (which was very rich) disowned him when he became an actor if I’m remembering things correctly. Fortunately, it worked out for him.
Yea, Bull has tons of stories, but nothing has come out regarding NCIS proper regarding him outside of the aforementioned early conflict between him and de Pablo. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he was cranky during the first few seasons due to the extra long work days that forced Sasha Alexander to quit.
https://ew.com/tv/2018/12/19/eliza-dushku-cbs-bull-sexual-harassment-breaks-silence/
“I wasn’t aware there was chatter about Harmon being a dick.” This isn’t new. Harmon’s attitude and behavior was just one of the reasons series creator Donald Bellisario left the show.
That is about the opposite of what I’ve heard. Everything I’ve ever read about it said that Harmon got tired of the chaotic filming schedule that had already caused Sasha Alexander to quit, and made an “either he goes or I go” ultimatum about Bellisario. Apparently there were not only ridiculously long filming days, but they would get to set and the script wouldn’t be finished, or it would be changed mid-shooting. It was a high stress environment that was running everyone into the ground, and Harmon took a stand for the entire cast and crew.As far as other accusations about him, I am agnostic on that. He might be an asshole, and Perrette is almost certainly a Froot Loop, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she is wrong, or lying.
I just realized that even though I’ve known of Mark Harmon since the 80’s from magazine covers and mentions in shows like ET, I’ve actually never seen him act. He’s just been around in the outskirts of pop culture articles, but I have zero idea what his voice sounds like (I’m guessing low-ish?).
I can’t think of any actor who’s been somewhat known for that long but never really seen by most people.
I think you’re overestimating the number of people who have never seen at least one episode of NCIS. It may not be a buzzy show, but at least half the US has caught it at one point or another and has caught some of his acting (not to mention other gigs like St Elsewhere or Chicago Hope).
You found me! I’ve seen exactly one episode of this show. I’ve never seen those other shows you mentioned, either. I did see that movie he was in where he played the (summer?) school teacher. For me, he does seem to land on jobs I have no interest in.
Oh, I’m aware that NCIS is very popular. I just don’t know anyone among my friends or family who watches it. Though I’m sure my mom has channel surfed it many times in the past.
I’ve also lived in and out of the US (to Mexico and Asia) in the past 13 years, so that may be a factor.
The specific number may have gone down a lot this season, but NCIS still gets more viewers than literally anything else the Big 4 puts out, and that includes Masked Singer and The Voice. The only exception is 60 Minutes.
Yes, I know NCIS has a huge following. Just not in my circle. I’ve also never seen The Masked Singer and The Voice (but I’ve seen clips of The Voice on social media), but I’m aware of them. Nothing against the shows, just haven’t watched them.
Did you watch West Wing? He did a stint on there for a bit
I guess I’m beginning to expose myself here with my tv watching (don’t judge me). I’ve watched a lot of stuff, but admittedly not The West Wing. I think because I was a working college student at that time and didn’t have the time.
Same. Clicked because the name was familiar, recognize the face, and the only other concrete thing I know about him is that he’s leaving this show I’ve never seen.
I know him as that guy who made People Sexiest Man cover and my sister had the magazine. I remember thinking that he’s the People’s SM who I thought (and I could be wrong) wasn’t “movie star famous.”
Actually, I think he was the magazine’s first Sexiest Man Alive. Then he went and smashed the dreams of females across the country by hooking up with, and eventually marrying, Pam Dawber.
You’re likely correct. I grew up in a house with stacks of entertainment, news magazines and tabloids, so 12 year old me most likely wasn’t paying attention to the publication dates.
I’d probably notice the covers with the stars of Mad Max, Top Gun, and Ghost first before finally reading the Harmon cover.
Time for you to watch Summer School!!!
The most interesting character in Summer School was Wondermutt. Oh, and Bob.
He’s been in so many random things. I first saw him in “Summer School,” a wacky 1980s teen farce that you could actually show on prime time TV with no cuts. (It’s actually pretty good, from what I recall.)
Mark Harmon was on the original cast of St. Elsewhere. His character was a notorious womanizer, so they gave him AIDs from heterosexual intercourse and he went through some treatment and became sicker as he left the show.My memory is that his was the first major television character to be HIV positive.(I’ve never seen NCIS, but I was a big fan of St. Elsewhere.)
I’m in that no man’s land age where I was a bit too young for St. Elsewhere (born in 1976) and, well, still not in the age demo for NCIS. But I was definitely familiar with his name and face.
He wasn’t in the original cast – they brought him and Nancy Stafford in for season 2 to, presumably, have a sexy young couple whose romantic relationship would get attention – but he was definitely one of the most prominent and popular. The story arc where started taking more and more risks in his sex life was harrowing yet incredibly well-done – the episode where a hookup sliced his face with a razor blade as “Eye in the Sky” played in the background in particular. His last scene, walking out of the hospital with a fireman’s helmet he had been given by a patient a year earlier, was also very moving.
Wasn’t Mark Harmon added to Moonlighting as a foil to Bruce Willis? That’s the last thing I saw him in.
I first saw him in both the movie Summer School and a guest arc on Moonlighting.
I’ve seen ‘Summer School’ enough times to feel like I’ve watched a lot of his output, but other than that, ‘The Presidio’ and his stint on ‘West Wing,’ (and I did watch NCIS for a few years when it started) I guess I actually hadn’t.
There it is. I’ve seen Presidio. But that was a looong time ago and I don’t remember much of it (or if any). I only remember that movie because of my SF roots. At least that’s one thing I’ve seen that he was in.
Remember the first season when it was called Navy: NCIS til someone realized the N stood for Navy. Good times.
And it was a spinoff of JAG. NBC canceled JAG after one season and CBS picked it up. Just think if they didn’t, NBC could be the home of several naval crime spin-offs!
And if y’all out there don’t remember JAG, and you’re the type to be interested in attractive ladies, just look up Catherine Bell and you’ll understand a bit of the show’s popularity
I remember her photo shoots from the lad mags in the early aughts.
And Howard Stern asking “Are those real?” and Catherine cupping them through her top, no bra, jiggling them and saying “Yup!”
Now Catherine Bell is The Good Witch (https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/good-witch/cast/catherine-bell) on Hallmark — a long-running series, which was finally cancelled this year, where she plays a still-gorgeous middle-aged single mom who falls in love with, and eventually marries, the hunky town sheriff PI doctor. (James Denton, who plays Dr. Sam Radford, is a dead ringer for Colin Ferguson who played Sheriff Jack Carter on EUREKA.)
Her character’s “witch” powers are largely insight and intuition, so no expensive special needed…or cheap special effects, either!PS: Another reason to hate Kinja — their link option’s so badly borked it loses your link and fucks up what you’ve written!
Are you sayin’ it was a JAG-off?
It’s not that they didn’t realise, I heard executives or something insisted on it because back then they thought the audience wouldn’t know what NCIS was so stick the word “Navy” on it so people would know it was about … well, the Navy.
It’s actually lampshaded in the first episode (one of the TSA officials thinks they’re CSI people), mainly because, yea, nobody even knew there WAS an NCIS before the show dropped. Though the real NCIS is absolutely nothing like the show, especially the spinoffs.
I have seen reruns and it always hits me that they run into a place flash their badge and shout NCIS! and nobody says “What the fuck is NCIS?” It would actually would have been a funny recurring bit.
I like how the lead picture contains actors and actresses all no longer on NCIS save for Brian Dietzen (plays the now permanent M.E.).Back to the show, I honestly can’t imagine the show going past this season or next because I believe CBS stated they were on the fence unless Mark Harmon did come back. Now with NCIS Hawai’i starting up and arguably no big name actors still on the show (David McCallum was another good actor but he stepped back years ago and he’s 88), I cannot imagine the show lasts past season 20 (which would mean the series finale in 2023).
It’s finished. Once a show goes past the fifth season, it becomes too expensive to maintain.
In all honesty, Gibbs as a character has been superfluous for many, many seasons now. He barely got involved in the investigations and since so many of the baddies in the show are tech-savvy, he was way out of his element. At least he went out with a decent final arc instead of the garbage fire that was last season.
For those curious, the role of “cranky and snarky old white guy” on the show will be played by Gary Cole, who plays FBI agent Alden Parker. He semi-worked with NCIS in this season’s arc, but got fired from the FBI when he refused to arrest Gibbs in the end.
And since I know people will jokingly make the connection, no, this show is not in the same universe as CBS’ “FBI” shows. Those are in the same universe as Law & Order and the Chicago shows.
At first I read that as “Gary Coleman” and had all kinds of questions…
I guess I’m glad Gary Cole is working but dammit he’s one of our best comic actors and he’s wasted in something like NCIS.
“IS THAT A HUFFY? THAT’S A NICE BIKE.”
I’m sure the steady working hours and nice paychecks suit him fine at his age.
When they said he was fired by the FBI I figured that was going to happen. But if he is put in charge of the team I feel bad for McGee. Talk about getting the shaft. And even Sean Murray should be a little upset. With Harmon gone this was essentially his show. He is the only original regular left.
So, his character is just abandoning his home, his car, all his stuff? He’s working on a military salary, isn’t he? He can’t afford to just … not go home, even to pack it up and sell.
Holy shit, was NCIS an urban fantasy show or something and no one ever told me? That damned goth-lite character should have been my first clue!
Gibbs lived a legendarily spartan lifestyle. He didn’t even have a modern TV, and he cooked in the fireplace. The only “stuff” he had would be the tools in the basement.
Besides all that, he’s got any number of trusted friends that could repair and sell the house for him, and pack up his tools and send them to Alaska.
So, that’s a yes to this being a stealth urban fantasy show.
I guess I don’t get what you mean. Living for decades in the same house while not spending money on anything more than the basics, with no family to support, and what I assume is a pretty good salary is a recipe for being able to pull up stakes pretty easily. My sister is probably in a similar financial position to him, and she could pull up stakes tomorrow with a phone call to me and her lawyer.I assume that with that small house that he has lived in for over 25 years, and a salary of about $100,000, he probably has a couple million put away by now, or more.
On top of all that he is now selling a house located in Northern Virginia. In todays market he is going to get a big chunk of change even with all the upgrades it will probably need.
He’ll definitely make a lot of money on that sale. (My parents have done that sale and it is a big chunk of change.) That doesn’t make it more likely that he won’t be involved, IMO.
Outside of fiction, I’ve never known anyone to not come home to sell it and clear everything away. Even if people could do it, people have personal connections and other things to untangle.
I hate to be the first one to claim that a CBS procedural might be poorly written, but this feels like a character move scripted by a writer’s room in Los Angeles made up of folks under 30 who’ve never owned a home.
While you’re generally correct about basically every procedural character living an urban fantasy when it comes to money, Gibbs is one of the few where abandoning his house and all of his belongings holds well with his character. One of his agents could fit all of his personal memorabilia in a shoebox and it wouldn’t be shocking is he gave the house to some young marine. The only real issue is figuring out how to get the boat out of the basement.
He’s not on a military salary. He would be a civilian government employee and they can make bank, especially once you get up as high as Gibbs likely was. Plus, he’ll now have a pension (he has certainly worked there long enough to qualify for that.) Plus, like Bruce said, he hasn’t exactly lived an extravagant lifestyle.
My mom had no idea this was still a thing.
Is this show like Matlock?
Program, I should have said program, not show.Dammit…
My Mum watched this show for a decade without realizing it was about the Navy.
The whole concept seemed a bit limiting, like it’s a crime show but every crime needs to involve the Navy somehow. But they’ve gotten decades out of it…
Is David McCallum still there? Talk about staying power.
Finally he can make a sequel to Tuareg, The Desert Warrior, if he doesn’t mind blacking up again….
How hard is it to get a recent stock photo of the cast? Three of the five people in that photo haven’t been on the show for years.
If you want to know what your out of touch aunt and uncle have been doing for the past 18 years the answer is they’ve been watching NCIS……and probably Criminal Minds as well