Category: NCIS

Ahh, fall. That time of year when the first winds from the north make one’s heart leap in anticipation…of the new TV season!

It is also the time when we faithful and loyal viewers await to see if the inevitable changes made during the off season will affect our favorite shows for the better or mark the beginning of their demise. The case can be made that this is the situation NCIS (known affectionately around here as the Leroy Jethro Gibbs Show) finds itself and loyal fans have a great deal to be concerned about.

In a much publicized war of wills at the end of last season, NCIS producer and co-creator Donald P. Bellasario stepped down from his perch after show star Mark Harmon threatened not to return for a fifth season. Harmon openly complained (to anyone who would listen) about Bellasario’s muddled and frustrating management style and refused to work under those conditions any further. Bellasario had much the same reputation on his previous series JAG and had come close to losing star David James Elliot on that one. It is unclear what precipitated the resolution, whether CBS forced the issue of keeping Harmon at all costs or whether Bellasario simply tired of the consternation and decided to move on.

Harmon is a known commodity and is the public face of NCIS. The effect of losing him is unknown in the long run but there would definitely be a shift in viewership if he were to have left. The impact of Bellasario’s leaving is harder to predict. Bellasario has a long history of building shows that command fierce fan loyalty from the ground up (Quantum Leap and the aforementioned JAG.) How much of NCIS is a reflection of Bellasario’s direct control and can the staff he has built carry on? I, for one, will be watching the early episodes for a change in direction…and hoping not to find one.

Stay tuned!

This post was Authored by Rob Walley, Our Resident Authority on all things NCIS

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