NCIS is airing its season finale tonight on CBS at 8p and last week executive producer Gary Glassberg talked about the #1 scripted show on TV.
NCIS celebrated it’s 200th episode a rarity in primetime and it did while being the most watched show on TV which is unheard of. So how does a show that has been on the air for nine years do that? Well here is what Glasberg said on that, “I think the real reason that this show is the success that is, is that cast. It’s a phenomenal group of actors and they know how to do this television show better than anybody. I know I can hand them material and we as a group will figure out how to make it work best. To me that is why it works, really.” It’s definitely working according to the numbers.
And there is someone/thign else that the show works with it and that is the N part of NCIS. Glasberg told us, “We are constantly in touch with the Department of Defense, our Navy friends and our friends at the Marine Corps. We are trying to tell a series as close to real time as we can.” He let us on some fast editing they had to when something major broke in the military world with this story, “In the instance of Osama Bin Laden, when that situation was handled, we were actually successful with the Most Wanted Board that is there on the wall. We actually put a line through that, but the episode was long filmed so we had to digitally go back in and put that line in. We did it 24 hours before it aired.”
But it isn’t only real world events that influence the show, as he told us “The Secretary of the Navy and I talk relatively often and he actually periodically comes up with things they would like us to talk about.” When asked for an example he added, “It can be anything from, like two years ago it was all about the Green Initiative. They were switching over to Biofuels and things like that, so we touched on that in an episode. I try to be as truthful to that as I can periodically through the year. It means a lot to them. It grounds the show.” He also made sure to mention that this show means a lot to the Navy, so they do what they can to make them happy.
And what makes the fans happy is the great people they get to guest star on the show. Glasberg said that the Ryan aka Jamie Lee Curtis’ storyline will be addressed tonight and we will know where her future stands with the show. Now I had to know about a celebrity family that two of the members were on the show this year and I wondered if more of them will appear. Glasberg said that Mackenzie Astin could not come back, his other brother Sean could and he would love to have their mom Patty Duke on NCIS. We will have to tune into to season ten to see if that is possible. But before we get to that tune in for the season nine finale tonight.
Tonight at 10p Hawaii Five-0 airs its second season finale on CBS and the show’s producers described it as “jaw dropping.” Peter Lenkov and Elwood Reid aren’t kidding because someone high up on the force will be shot and killed within the first few minutes of the show. Then while looking into his murder one them will be shot. But it doesn’t stop there, the police station will blow up and they will barely get out in time. And wait there’s even more, one of them will have to deal with two of the people in their life being held hostage and their lives are in danger. Will that person be able to rescue at least one of them in time or will they lose them both? Oh and did I mention that the name of the episode is Ua Hala which means Hawaiian “Death in the Family.†Lenkov said that we should be prepared to say goodbye to someone, but who you will have to tune into to find out.
Another thing Lenkov said is that tonight’s season finale, which they made with the intention of topping last year’s, will leave you “pissed where it ends.” Now even though you will have to wait all summer to find out what happens next, he promised that the new season will pick up right where this left off. In fact a lot of what happens tonight is setting things up for next year.
So now we know how the second season will end, how did this reboot begin for Lenkov. He told us why he jumped at the offer of working on this show. He said he did it because it was his dad’s favorite show. He then reminisced by saying, “I remember back then, television used to be with your families. You sit down with your mom, your dad and your siblings and you all watched TV together…I don’t think that family viewing exsists anymore. But I remember as a little boy sitting by my dad, who took the couch, and I’d sit on the floor next to the couch and I’d watch the show with him.” Adding, “I don’t remember the stories, I could not tell you one episode…but I just remember palm trees, the wave, the hula girl. I remember all these different moments, I remember the car, I remember Jack Lord’s hair. I remember Danny to me always looked like an outsider. I wondered what is this blonde haired, blue eyed guy doing in Hawaii. I remember bits and pieces of it. It was really formed over the twelve years it was on because my dad would watch it religiously, every week. So I remember how important it was to him and that was really the reason why I wanted to do it. I knew if he was a fan there were millions of other fans just like him out there.” And they are out there and they are still watching along with a new generation of fans.
Here are some tidbits he told us about how the original plays in today’s version. There are a few writers and crew member’s (including Jack Lord’s driver) from the original who work on the show now. Also Lenkov and Reid go back to the original for character’s, back stories and locations, but not for plots. And on that note we have not seen the last of Wofat, he will be back but you will have to wait until September to see how…
Tonight at 10p Unforgettable has its season premiere on CBS and it is unforgettable. All season long the big mystery on the CBS drama was who killed Carrie’s sister in the woods all those years ago. Well when another child dies like her sister in Syracuse, Carrie and Burns head north to see if there is connection. While looking into the young girl’s murder, Carrie comes face to face with the man that has been haunting her memories. What will she say him? Is he the man who killed her sister or is there another reason why he was there? You have to tune in to find as one of he biggest mysteries of the show comes to end, so what will be the mystery for next season. All will be revealed and then some.
Tonight at 10p NYC 22 debuts on CBS and you are going to want to get caught up with this arresting show.
NYC 22 follows six rookie police officers with different backgrounds working as beat cops in Harlem and they are going to mess up big time. Adam Goldberg plays Lazarus a reporter who lost his job and decides to become a cop a little later on in his life. Stark Sands is Kenny McLaren, a legacy in the NYC police force. Leelee Sobieski stars as Jennifer Perry, a pretty but tough cop. Judy Marte as Tonya Sanchez is a woman who watched her family get arrested by cops when she was a teen. Harold House Moore plays Jackpot, when he was growing up he hung out with the people he is now arresting, but he chose to do good with his life. Finally Tom Reed plays Ahmad Khan who immigrated from Afghanistan and decided to work as an in officer in NYC.
Each week they will walk the streets and try to fight crime as best as they can. These are real life scenarios that play out on the show and they are exhilarating to watch. I have to admit the show starts off slow during the first few two episodes, but it really starts to pick up in the third so did give up on it just yet.
Before NYC 22 begins its rookie season, Matthew Perry is back as Mike Kresteva on The Good Wife at 9p and he is so very good at being bad. Kresteva visits Alicia Florrick to tell her the results of their Blue Ribbon Hearing together, but he had an ulterior motive. He is running for governor and he claims that Alicia invited him to her office to get immunity for her husband. She never did, but he is so sleek there is nothing she can do. Will this stop her husband from running for the state’s top position? You will have to tune in to find out because at the end of the episode Peter Florrick makes his decision on whether or not he will run.
Mac (Gary Sinese) is texted a picture of a dead woman on tonight’s CSI: NY at 9p on CBS, and when he goes to investigate the body he realizes she is someone that works with him. The lab tech appears to have been murdered exactly the same way as a woman who was killed 55 years earlier at the same location. This case has just became personal and they are going to do everything they can to find her murderer, even if it is one their own. There will be twist and turns in trying to solve her death like was she killed by the person who killed the other woman half a century earlier. The CSI will get some help from the cop who worked the first case and that officer is played by Lee Majors. He will give a clue that will solve her murder and who did it will shock you.
Tune in for another suspenseful episode of CSI: NY.
