Earlier this week, CBS announced that Mark Harmon will reprise his role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS: Origins. Today, they shared a photo of him dressed up as the character he played for over 18 years, and I can’t believe we have not seen him like that for four years.
So what would bring Harmon out of on-camera retirement (he is the narrator on the prequel)? His return is for a crossover episode between NCIS: Origins and NCIS: OG.
When a naval officer mysteriously dies in the ‘90s, Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and the team travel to the small dust-blown town of Serenity, Calif., where they encounter secret-harboring residents, an uncooperative sheriff and an investigation that will reverberate for decades.
Before Mark Harmon was famous in his own right, he made his on-camera debut with his dad, NFL Player Tom Harmon, and his mom. How cute was that 1972 commercial?
To hear what he told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos about this advertisement, then click here!
Before Mark Harmon was fighting crime in DC in NCIS, he started out doing it in LA in 240-Robert. How much did you love hearing the 27-year-old sing in that 1979 episode?
NCIS is taking it back to the beginning for its latest spinoff from the beloved franchise.
Since 2003, we have seen NCIS branch off with NCIS: LA, NCIS: NoLa, NCIS: Hawaii, and NCIS: Sydney. And coming to the 2024-2025 season on CBS, we will see where it all began with NCIS: Origins.
NCIS: Origins begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS and follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, narrated by Mark Harmon. In the series, Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.
“We are elated and honored to continue the expansion of the NCIS universe in such a unique and unexpected way,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “Viewers can look forward to Mark Harmon returning to CBS to narrate the complex and mysterious backstory of Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ early years in NCIS: Origins, which will build on the rich legacy of this character while reintroducing fan-favorite characters and meeting new ones.”
CBS has not begun to cast the show, so who do you think should play young Leroy Jethro Briggs? I think Gale Harold would be a good choice.
This is the second new series that CBS announced for next season. The first was Watson, based on Sherlock Holmes’ partner, who is back working as a doctor.
There are shows that are ensembles that can go on without their lead star, and then there are shows that can’t. We will find out in a few months if NCIS can survive without its leader Mark Harmon.
That is because the 70-year-old actor unceremoniously left the drama that he called home for 18 years yesterday.
“As an executive producer and dear friend, Mark continues to be an integral part of the fabric of the show. 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,” Steven D. Binder, NCIS Executive Producer/Showrunner, said in a statement. “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.”
So we might see him again in May for the show’s possible series finale. We shall see. It all depends on how much of a hit it takes in the ratings due to his departure.
Are you going to miss him? And do you think he needed a better send-off? I do, and I don’t watch the procedural.
