The people behind NCIS are grateful for the millions of fans who make the CBS procedural America’s most-watched drama every week. To say thank you, they are giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the show.

On Monday, CBS is launching “Inside NCIS,” a new web series offering exclusive access to the world of NCIS, on CBS.com and the CBS Audience Network. The eight-episode series will offer an inside look at how the show goes from the page to the TV screen, featuring everything from the music selection process to casting the extras who play the corpses!

In addition to the behind-the-scenes footage, viewers will get insights from cast members, including Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, Pauley Perrette and David McCallum, as well as producers, set designers and crew members. A series of interactive elements, including trivia games about the cast, characters and plot lines, will complement the web series.

“We couldn’t be happier with these behind-the scenes-glimpses,” executive producer Gary Glasberg tells TVGuide.com. “Hopefully they will give fans some real insight into the extraordinarily talented crew I work with each and every day. NCIS is successful because we function as a team. Each department is uniquely gifted, but it’s the way they work together as a cohesive unit that makes this production a well-oiled machine. Watching these segments is like getting a private tour of our stages. We hope people really enjoy them.”

TVGuide.com has your exclusive first look at the very first installment of “Inside NCIS” below, which goes inside Abby’s lab and explores how the music created for those scenes has become a signature element of the show.

Details about the other episodes, including their launch dates, are available below.

Wednesday, Dec. 5: “Squad Room: Center of Attention” features Michael Weatherly and executive producer and showrunner Gary Glasberg taking viewers inside the iconic NCIS Squad Room set.

Friday, Dec. 7: “Autopsy: Bodies of Work” features actors David McCallum and Brian Dietzen, along with executive producer Mark Horowitz, spotlighting the exacting physical demands placed upon the lucky guest stars who portray the “bodies.”

Monday, Dec. 10: “Backlot: Location, Location, Location” spotlights Michael Weatherly and art director Robb Bacon taking viewers to the NCIS backlot, revealing how production transforms the streets and storefronts into recognizable locations from around the globe.

Wednesday, Dec. 12: “Ship Set: Set Afloat” offers interviews with Sean Murray, executive producer Chas. Floyd Johnson and technical advisor Leon Carroll discussing the production challenges of filming in the tight quarters of the ship.

Friday, Dec. 14: “MTAC: Telecommunication” demonstrates how scenes are staged in the Multiple Threat Alert Center, pulling in live feeds from different sets and allowing the actors to interact with each other in real time.

Monday, Dec. 17: “Vance’s Office: Highly Decorated” follows Rocky Carroll and set decorator Lynn Wolverton-Parker discussing the distinct touches in the set that reflect the character and history of Vance.

Wednesday, Dec. 19: “Interrogation: If These Walls Could Talk” explores the show’s cinematography and the tricks employed in shooting in tight quarters, with Cote de Pablo, director of photography Bill Webb, and writers and executive producers George Schenck and Frank Cardea.

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This Tuesday at 8/7c, television’s most watched drama – CBS’ NCIS – will at long last bring together two of Gibbs’ agents in a new and intriguing way.

That’s right, Ziva and Abby are going to split off and work a case together. And Coté de Pablo, for one, tells TVLine she is “really excited” about the must-see match-up.

“It’s the first time they actually put those two characters together in an episode just about them,” the actress notes. “They get Abby outside the lab, we’re in Gibbs’ house…. It was fun working that dynamic with Pauley [Perrette]. She’s great to work with.”

Setting the stage for this alliance of fierce femmes is the abduction of a girl whose friend Lydia (Kyle XY‘s Kirsten Prout) witnessed the incident – as her father died trying to stop it, no less. “We need to keep her protected, and as we do there’s bonding between the three women,” de Pablo previews. Given the subject matter and the trinity of actresses involved, she says, “It’s not a real ‘action’ show. It’s more an emotional show than anything.”

Coming out of this collaboration, de Pablo believes Ziva and Abby will grow closer. “There’s a moment where Abby saves the day… and fans will love it,” she teases. And while this is not the “Ziva and Abby Go Undercover” episode she and Perrette oft have pitched the writers, “We have not given up on that,” she insists.

Speaking of formidable females: This week’s NCIS also introduces viewers to the spectacularly named Miranda Pennebaker, played by ER alum Alex Kingston. Though she figures into a separate part of the abduction storyline, de Pablo describes Miranda – “a well-connected woman with questionable morals,” per CBS – as someone “who doesn’t particularly run in the same world that we work in.”

Miranda does, however, share a mystery history with Gibbs, a connection de Pablo is anxious to see explored down the line. “I would love to know how they met,” she says. “We’re all crossing our fingers that she comes back.”

‘THE YEAR OF TIVA’?
And then there are the men in Agent Ziva David’s orbit. This week’s episode finds Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) curious-slash-jealous about some plans Ziva has with a mysterious man. “It’s a funny bit with a great payoff,” de Pablo promises. “The only thing I can say is that Tony is able to relax when he meets the guy.”

As for Weatherly’s pre-season pronouncement that “This is the year” for “Tiva,” de Pablo can only chuckle the way a sister marvels at her bratty brother. “I think that is maybe Michael and his wishful thinking,” she offers. “I’ve had years in which I thought, ‘Oh my God, this a Tiva year,’ and there have been years he thought were Tiva years…. The truth is, we have yet to find out where that storyline is going to go. I think they’re toying around with us like they always do.”

More One story arc de Pablo can properly tease is the latest appearance by Ziva’s father Eli David (played by Michael Nouri). Set to resurface at midseason, the actress says, “He comes to make peace with his daughter. but then drama unfolds.” I point out that showrunner Gary Glasberg has hinted at an “unexpected reveal“/”big sort of turn” pegged to Eli’s encore. “I’ll agree with him on that,” de Pablo allows. Without revealing specifics, she shares this much about the twist: “It’s an interesting thing to explore – and something we have never seen my character go through.”

All told, as de Pablo forges on with NCIS Season 10 – the final year of her latest pact with the hit drama – she confirms that she is very much still having a great deal of fun. “Always. They’re kicking my butt, but always,” she underscores. “We’re still the No. 1 drama, and that’s crazy to us even!”

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“This is all just a setup,” says Pauley Perrette, walking into the NCIS writers’ room north of Los Angeles. Michael Weatherly fatalistically adds: “This is where we all…” Brian Dietzen finishes the thought: “…meet our end.”

Not bloody likely. Sure, the series did off a couple major characters in the first five seasons (RIP, Lauren Holly’s Jenny), and some significant recurring characters have met their makers in the five years since (Mike Franks, we hardly knew ye!). But the chances of any of these eight diehards going down anytime before the show ends its run are about the same as the odds of Gibbs cracking a sustained smile.

Speaking of which: When we gathered all eight regular cast members of TV’s No. 1 drama for a historic summit, their fearless leader, Mark Harmon, was largely the quiet man out. When his colleagues finally called him on his reticence, he swore he was having too good a time listening to everyone else’s banter. As you read this unprecedented full-cast gabfest, you’ll know exactly what he means.

TV Guide Magazine: How often are all eight of you in the same room?
David McCallum: Table reads, every 10 days.

TV Guide Magazine: Have there been any scenes in which you’ve all been together at once?
McCallum: When Ziva became a U.S. citizen.
Pauley Perrette: Everybody wasn’t there. Michael wasn’t. But for Jenny’s funeral, we were.
McCallum: And that was the last episode of…
Michael Weatherly: Season 5.
McCallum: How do you know that?
Weatherly: Because when she died at the end of Season 5, that’s when we got the Rocket Man.[Points to Rocky Carroll.]

TV Guide Magazine: There have been no major cast changes lately — unless we count Brian Dietzen finally getting bumped up to the main credits after 10 years. [The group applauds.]
Dietzen: I’ve gotten congratulated so often in the last few weeks, and it’s a great recognition. But I’ve never been made to feel like anything but a full cast member for the last decade.
Perrette: It’s a lot easier on the rest of us, too, because people are hollering at me, “Why isn’t he in the opening credits?” “I don’t have anything to do with that — I don’t know!”
Dietzen: When I first did the show, I was supposed to do one day. So I thought, “I’ll wear glasses, hunch over and stammer a bit. I don’t have anything like that on my reel, so that’d be cool!”
Mark Harmon: I remember early on, maybe on the second day, David saying to you, “You come with me downtown to autopsy,” and you going, “All right, I’m there!” I remember right then thinking, “Okay, this is gonna work.”
Dietzen: I spent a lot of that time staring at my shoes and concentrating on not throwing up.

TV Guide Magazine: Do you prefer the stand-alone episodes or the ones that get into a lot of mythology and long-term storytelling?
Perrette, Weatherly and Dietzen: [Almost in unison] Stand-alone.
Sean Murray: Yeah, me too.
Cote De Pablo: Long-term storytelling! You get invested and you want to see the next one, and they get into a lot of character stuff and complex conflict.
Perrette: I sit around and watch the marathons on USA all the time, of course. So if [the multipart episodes] are not in the order of how they first aired, then I’m afraid it’s gonna confuse people.
Weatherly: That’s a very network-executive thing to say. Maybe I’m just incredibly conventional and conservative, but I get very lost in the two-parters. I’m like, where are we? What the hell is going on? Why do I feel like crying? [Laughs]
Perrette: No matter if it’s a one-parter or multiparter, the arc of the show is these characters.
McCallum: The scary part of that is, I find that Ducky and David have combined… [Everyone laughs] No, I’m serious about this. Has it happened to you guys, that your characters influence your own life?
De Pablo: Absolutely. I was saying goodbye to one of my best friends today, and she said, “Give me a hug,” and I gave her a hug like this. [Mimes a half-hearted back pat.] She was like, “No, I need a real hug!” And I gave her a huge hug. I’ve been playing this character that’s not [touchy-feely], and I find myself catching little things that are not me.
Weatherly: The distance between how I feel when I’m in that squad room and when I go home is so different now that I am keenly aware how consistent I used to be. Where work ended and life began was a very fuzzy line for me. And now I think it’s demarcated quite clearly. I’ve already spoken too much. [Laughs]
Perrette: It’s imperative to my survival and my life that the two never fade into each other at any time. Because especially in the past 10 years, I’ve dealt with so many horrific personal struggles that my escape is playing Abby. I put the ponytails in, and it’s like, “Abby doesn’t have that problem.” So literally, for Pauley’s own survival, I have to keep Abby completely separate. Because if I don’t, I have no place to hide. All of my freedom lives in Abby.
Weatherly: It is fun, still, right? People ask, “Are you tired of it? It’s a decade. Do you want to do something else?”
McCallum: I have fun every minute of the day.
Weatherly: [To Carroll] Do you ever bring Leon home?
Perrette: Yeah, your character is so different from your real personality.
Rocky Carroll: No, it doesn’t really work at home. You know that shopping cart with the wheels that lock when you take it past the yellow line in the parking lot? That’s kind of what it’s like.

TV Guide Magazine: I was going to ask who’s least like his or her character, and it sounds like the consensus answer is Rocky.
McCallum: And also Jimmy Palmer and Brian. Brian’s not a blithering idiot.
Dietzen: I’m not?
Perrette: [To Weatherly] I get asked about you all the time—
Weatherly: I’m much thinner in person.
Perrette: When people early on knew we were really good friends off-set, especially women would holler at me, “How can you be friends with him? He’s such a misogynist. I don’t know how you can hang out with that guy.” I’m like, “Do you mean Michael Weatherly? Because he’s actually not DiNozzo in real life.”
Weatherly: Although I have to say, it’s kind of fun to play a total dinosaur in terms of sexual politics, somebody who doesn’t give a flying f—-. The shallow end of the philosophical pool is obviously where Tony paddles around.
De Pablo: However, I have to say this, because my character has feelings for you—
Weatherly: I’m sorry.
De Pablo: No, there’s something deeper about that character. We always talk about the superficial element and the things that make us laugh. But he wouldn’t be doing what he does if he wasn’t really good at it. It’s a complex character, and that’s why people love it.
Weatherly: I’ve been really happy about Season 10. I don’t know how everyone else feels about it.
De Pablo: Ducky’s alive.
Weatherly: That’s a bonus. And I had a great time watching McGee after he got the initial gut blast with the window shard. I don’t know if this is by design or something you and [executive producer Gary] Glasberg cooked up, but I’ll ask anyway. It feels like there’s a little bit of a new wind in the sail. Do you feel that at all?
Murray: Yeah, I think McGee’s toughened up a little bit.
De Pablo: Mark, do you want to say something? [Much laughter over Harmon’s silence]
Harmon: No, I love listening to everybody! You’ve got all these excited people at this table. These guys have all done more than 100 shows, and they’re every bit as motivated as they were in the beginning, and in some cases more so.
De Pablo: It doesn’t come without work, though.
Weatherly: Talking?
De Pablo: Making it good.
Harmon: I just think you can’t forget how hard everybody worked to get here. Most of the time, shows don’t work. If you don’t appreciate this ride… But it wasn’t always a ride. I’m so clear about how we’ve earned this. I’m not confused at all. And I’m not confused about what it’s gonna take to stay here. I don’t think anybody at this table is. I mean, shows all end at some point. But right now, there’s no end in sight for this one.

For more with the cast of NCIS, pick up this week’s issue of TV Guide Magazine, on newsstands Thursday, Nov. 8!

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Pauley Perrette: Abby Sciuto on “NCIS”
On how the team copes in the aftermath of the bombing in the Season 9 finale: “What’s so interesting about the opening of Season 10 is after our explosive season finale, we bring the audience in right after that. So they get to come through this experience with the characters — the feelings and the fear and how shaken up everything is, and having to put everything back together, not just the physical building but ourselves. Abby’s always the heart and the emotional one who worries about everyone else, so she’s certainly extremely shaken up.”

On the season’s guest stars: “Steve Valentine comes in and plays the psychiatrist since we’re all in mandatory therapy, so there’s some really great stuff with him. We’ve got some great guest stars, Billy Dee Williams [as a friend of the Gibbs family]. Michael Des Barres is on our show this year. It’s just been a fantastic season.”

Michael Weatherly: Tony DiNozzo on “NCIS”
On his will they/won’t they chemistry with Ziva (Cote de Pablo) — and how being stuck in an elevator together in the season premiere changes them: “Knowing now what’s actually going to be revealed, I like to think that there may be some things we didn’t show, other things you may be able to glean, but right from the start, it tees up this relationship in a sliver of light that’s very direct and very hard, and it’s basically saying, ‘Pay attention this year, because I think this is gonna be the year of the Tiva, the Tony/Ziva.’ And we’ve done, now, multiple episodes where there’s been stuff going on and I think it all starts in that elevator, and it all starts with them repairing some of the damage that they did to each other over the years.”

On what effect the bombing will continue to have on the team going forward: “I think any time you have that near-death experience, it sort of redefines your existence for a while, but then it’s amazing how quickly things snap back into the baseline behavior. I think we all get back to baseline pretty quickly, but with some new pieces of information about each other. So we all get back to normal, but we kind of know some different stuff. Ultimately, it becomes clear as we’re moving through the season that Gary Glasberg, genius showrunner that he is, has in mind something very specific for the end of the year, and he’s moving us all towards that door. And I do think it’s the best season ever, because I think there’s a concerted effort to stick to a plan. There’s something very natural about it that we’re getting to that’s gonna make this one the one to watch.”

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“NCIS” returns for its tenth season in just a few weeks (Tues. Sept. 25, 8:00 p.m.), but the premiere promises to be worth the wait. In last season’s finale, Dr. Ryan (Jamie Lee Curtis) went into hiding, Ducky (David McCallum) had an apparent heart attack, and a bomb tore apart NCIS headquarters. That explosive ending killed Jonathan Cole (Scott Wolf), while Ziva (Cote de Pablo) and Tony (Michael Weatherly) were trapped in an elevator. While I was only able to talk to de Pablo for a few minutes at the CBS TCA party, I (very quickly) asked her about what’s ahead for Ziva and Tony, a pair who’ve sparked even from the acrimonious beginning of their relationship. Here’s what the Chilean-born actress had to say. Very quickly.

The season nine finale was quite literally explosive. Any hint as to what’s going to happen to Ziva and Tony?

Well, the cliffhanger is that we were stuck in an elevator. The bomb exploded and the next thing you know we’re on the floor. Nothing else is seen. So, we have no idea what happened. The beginning of this year, we’re still stuck in an elevator — you find us there — and we have a nice little bit in the elevator, which is so much fun. Ironically, the writers were around and they just saw the chemistry between these two characters, and they were like, we’ve gotta do more of this, and Michael [Weatherly] and I jumped. Of course you have to do more of this! This is what we love to do, so hopefully they’re going to have more scenes and explore that relationship more. It’s always fun for us.

When you joined the show, Ziva and Tony weren’t so friendly. Which do you prefer — acting out that fractious relationship, or flirting? And how does that affect you both when you’re not filming?

We’re always having fun. Always. And we’re going to go through the ups and downs of whatever they write. So if we’re supposed to be having tension, then we’re gonna go through tension, much like life. But we embrace it all, and whenever there is tension between the characters, Michael and I take distance from each other. We do; it just happens naturally. It just does. And whenever we have to be more connected, we just naturally come together. It’s really funny. So right now we’re getting together, and I think the writers are going, oooh, look at the chemistry there, and him and I are like, it’s always been there. You just have to seize it. Always.

So, are Ziva and Tony finally going to get together?

I don’t know together, but it’s definitely going to be more explored. [Fans] want more things to happen between these characters. And I think the writers are on board, and they want more things to happen. And I think it will.

The show is coming up on its tenth season and you’ve been on “NCIS” for eight years. Looking back, what’s been the biggest change for you?

I’ve been on this show more than most people are on most shows. Being on a show for almost a decade, not only do you go through a lot physically, ten years is a long time. And people change drastically. And if I’m not mistaken, scientifically it has been proven that a person changes cellularly speaking every seven years. So I am a whole new person! And the show is good, on a cellular level.

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Brian Dietzen plays the role of Jimmy Palmer on the CBS hit show NCIS. He was called in one day as a guest star role to play as an assistant to the medical examiner. Nine years later he is still part of the show and just recently got signed to be a series regular. Brian and I talk about NCIS, what to expect for the tenth season this fall, and his own film that he produced called Congratulations.

Art Eddy: NCIS is such a great show and the cast has a great chemistry. You came on the show back in 2004. How did you get to play the part of Jimmy Palmer?

Brian Dietzan: Well I got called in when the previous medical examiner assistant got shot in the shoulder which was part of the storyline. So they needed someone to come and fill in. So I was only actually supposed to be there for one day. I had a one day guest star and I think that is what a lot of actors dream about. When you go in for a one day guest star they always think hopefully they will leave the door open and I can come back next week. So it happens to be nine years later and I’m still working on the thing so it really worked out for me.

AE: How was it to be the new guy on the show back then and was there a hazing process for you as the newbie?

BD: (Laughs) No it was just the opposite. It is actually known by a lot of the guest stars and a lot people that visit our set that it is probably one of the nicest sets that you have ever been on. It is headed up by Mark Harmon. He makes a point to go up to every guest star that we have and sitting down and chatting with them. He doesn’t do it because he feels obliged to do it. It is more of just the tenor of the set. It is very inclusive and we are very blessed that we are ten years into this run for the show, wow it has been a whole decade. Everyone really gets along well. Everyone really likes what they do for a living. We are really, really blessed.

AE: Recently I saw that you were promoted to series regular on the show, which is going into its 10th season. Congratulations on the promotion. How was it to get the news?

BD: Oh it was really great. It was very cool. Gary Glasberg is our show runner now. He has done a fantastic job of pushing the character of Jimmy Palmer to the forefront. Also to show what this guy (Jimmy Palmer) is going through the last couple seasons. I really owe Gary a huge debt for pushing Jimmy Palmer for where he is today. I think with that natural progression of the character’s back story, getting engaged, getting married, and all kinds of stuff the network said let’s make sure we keep this guy around instead of calling up week to week to see if he is free. It was really great and I was very happy to get that call.

AE: Speaking of your character getting married I have to say I loved the story arc where Jimmy has his father-in-law come to the NCIS building was great. How was it to shoot those scenes?

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On the long-running CBS crime procedural “NCIS,” Coté de Pablo’s character, Ziva David, is sexy but lethal, and has a keen spidey sense. In real life, the native Chilean loves the challenge of traveling on the edge: Her favorite journeys are undertaken map-free.

What’s something you never fail to pack in your suitcase for a trip?
Two things: moisturizer and sandals that work whether I’m going to museums or nice restaurants.

Carry-on or check-in?
Depends on the trip. If I’m going for a week at the beach, it’s a carry-on because there’s nothing to pack. If I’m going to Italy for a month, I have to check-in.

Window or aisle
Window.

What’s your idea of the perfect vacation?
I think vacations serve different purposes. There are the kinds where you stay by a beach, have a couple of margaritas and be with someone you love. Those are usually quick ones. Longer vacations are usually in cities like Paris, Rome or New York. They involve a stay at a comfortable hotel that doesn’t need to be luxurious, as well as dinners, lunches, museums, wandering around and getting lost and not using a map, trying to melt into the culture. That’s my favorite thing.

Any great “lost” moments?
Two years ago, we drove through Italy and had no reservations whatsoever. One afternoon, we got lost in this town where everything was closed for siesta. We were starving, so knocked on a restaurant door and got kicked out. Then, this tiny, shriveled up, lovely Italian lady popped out from a back door and said, “Would you like some pasta?” She fed us wine and pasta; everything made in her own kitchen. By not having everything planned to a T, there was spontaneity and magic.

Favorite hotel, resort or yurt you’ve ever stayed in?
In Porto Ercole in Tuscany – Il Pellicano, The Pelican.

Biggest regret you’ve ever had while on vacation.
I feel like I’m not really exploring if I’m not moving at all times, so I need to remind myself to just take it easy — that part of vacation is just relaxing, lounging around and not doing too much.

The one thing you’re willing to splurge on above all else
Food.

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