CBS’ NCIS will acknowledge the passing of TV vet Ralph Waite, who recurred as Gibbs’ father Jackson, before Season 11 comes to an end, TVLine has learned.

“[Showrunner] Gary Glasberg and the writers are working on something special to address the passing of Ralph Waite in the season finale,” says a CBS spokesperson, “to honor both the memory of Ralph, as well as the character of Jackson Gibbs.”
Waite, who passed away earlier this month, had made a total of seven on-camera appearances on TV’s most watched drama, starting with the Season 6 episode “Heartland” and most recently in this past November’s “Better Angels.”

The beloved actor’s long TV resume also includes, most famously, The Waltons, as well as Murder One, Carnivàle, the miniseries Roots and recurring appearances on Fox’s Bones and NBC’s Days of Our Lives.

NCIS resumes its season Tuesday at 8.7c.

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DINOZZO IS THE SUBJECT OF AN INVESTIGATION AFTER GUNS ARE DRAWN AND A MAN IMPERSONATING A NAVY OFFICER IS LEFT DEAD, ON THE 250TH EPISODE OF “NCIS,” TUESDAY, MARCH 4

Robert Wagner Returns as Anthony DiNozzo, Sr.

“Dressed to Kill” – When DiNozzo confronts a man impersonating a Navy officer, guns are drawn and the perpetrator is left dead. The subsequent investigation uncovers that the only eyewitness is DiNozzo’s father, who is in town to disclose a secret to his son, on the 250th episode of NCIS, on Tuesday, March 4 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Robert Wagner returns as Anthony DiNozzo, Sr.

CHEAT TWEET: DiNozzo Sr. is back in town & he has a big secret! What do you think it is? #NCIS #DiNozzoSecret 3/4 8pm ET/PT #CBS

Question: Is the death of Ralph Waite going to be written into NCIS and Bones? —Kevin
Ausiello: It’s TBD on both fronts, although I hear there’s a good chance Bones‘ next original episode — tentatively scheduled for March 10 — will pay tribute to the beloved actor in the form of an “in memoriam” title card.

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She’ll continue her relationship with the network and play Scott Bakula’s wife in the planted spinoff.
The planted spinoff has cast Person of Interest’s Paige Turco as Linda, the wife to Bakula’s lead Agent Pride, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Set to air in the spring, the two-part planted pilot centers on the NCIS New Orleans office, which handles cases from Pensacola, Fla., through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle. New Orleans, with its rich culture of music, fun and debauchery is a magnet for military personnel on leave — and with fun, comes trouble.

Turco, who has a series regular role on The CW’s midseason drama The 100, will film the NCIS guest role in second position and potentially recur should the spinoff move forward.

She joins a cast that also includes Zoe McLellan, CCH Pounder and Lucas Black. Turco continues to recur as Zoe on CBS’ Person of Interest. She’s repped by Gersh and One Entertainment.

NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg and star Mark Harmon will executive produce the spinoff, which will air in the spring.

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Few television shows – let alone TV drama series – have matched the phenomenal worldwide success of NCIS.

On CBS, its network home in America, the long-running crime procedural regularly attracts audiences of up to 20 million, with one episode from its 10th season – about to debut on Channel 5 in the UK – pulling in a series high of 22.86m.

David McCallum – the British acting legend who has played Dr Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard since the show’s inception – puts the longevity and success of NCIS simply down to good writing. He calls the show’s creator Donald Bellisario “a television genius” but doesn’t stop short of singling out the man’s failings either.

McCallum – the veteran of such classic films and television as The Man from UNCLE, Sapphire & Steel and The Great Escape – appears unflinchingly honest, at times almost blunt, but still speaks with great passion about NCIS and the aspects of his job that he enjoys.

“Don Bellisario worked as an advertising executive, even when he was writing scripts, and he loved to work to a deadline,” the 80-year-old recalls of the show’s early days. “After a couple of years, we got to the point where we were getting scripts late from him. There was a little problem between Mark Harmon – who was representing the cast and crew – and Don, so CBS decided that Don would leave us.

“We now have Gary Glasberg [as showrunner] and he is another of these amazing television producers that just knows how to write shows, how to cast them and how to care for his cast.”

The scripts penned by Glasberg and his writing team are “fundamental” to the show’s fortunes, says McCallum: “In the millions of years that I’ve been in this business, I’ve learned that you can tell right away from a script if a project’s going to be a success or failure. We have a team of writers that give us a wonderful vehicle.”

Despite its huge numbers and popularity across the globe, the ride has not always been smooth for NCIS and McCallum speaks with equal candour about the recent sudden departure of his co-star Cote de Pablo at the beginning of the show’s 11th season.

“First of all, it was frustration and anger that someone should just walk out on us,” he says of de Pablo’s decision to quit the series, which McCallum claims necessitated rapid last-minute rewrites on multiple episodes.

“I have emailed her since then and she seems fine, but I just don’t understand how a leading lady in a show that’s worldwide – who ostensibly wants to have a career as an actress – suddenly walks away from such a gem and just vanishes a couple of days before we start production.”

It was “a dangerous road” to go down, he adds, but McCallum has nothing but kind words for de Pablo’s eventual replacement, actress Emily Wickersham. “This business is merciless so right away the whole team of writers gets in and re-writes the first five shows. They then go out with CBS and [network president] Les Moonves and they find Emily Wickersham. She is a complete antithesis to everything that Cote de Pablo was.

“Emily is quite enchanting and a delight to be with and a wonderful actress. She’s also young and inexperienced in many ways, so that leaves a wonderful door for people like Mark Harmon and the directors to teach and encourage and help her so she can grow as an actress.”

That potentially hazardous hurdle overcome, McCallum has faith that NCIS will continue to dominate the schedules and entertain worldwide audiences for some time to come. “As long as there’s life in David…” he laughs. “…there’s life in Ducky!”

David McCallum stars in NCIS: Season 10 starting tonight (Wednesday, February 5) at 9pm on Channel 5.

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Question: Michael Weatherly has made a few statements recently which indicate that Cote de Pablo may return to NCIS full-time. What can you tell us about this? —Anne
Ausiello: Weatherly said on the red carpet at the People’s Choice Awards, “We miss her every day… and I really hope she comes back.” Period. Cue the “Telephone Game.” That said, it seems that de Pablo wouldn’t be guaranteed the warmest of homecomings. David “Ducky” McCallum recently expressed to DigitalSpy his “frustration and anger that someone should just walk out on us,” adding: “I just don’t understand how a leading lady in a show that’s worldwide, who ostensibly wants to have a career as an actress, suddenly walks away from such a gem and just vanishes a couple of days before we start production.”

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The NCIS: New Orleans team is quickly populating.

On the heels of Scott Bakula joining CBS’ spin-off pilot as team leader Agent Pride, Sons of Anarchy D.A./onetime Shield captain CCH Pounder and JAG alum Zoe McLellan have been added to the cast.

Pounder will play Dr. Wade, the Jefferson Parish Medical Examiner, who is described as being “as eccentric as she is smart,” “worldly, intuitive and incredibly connected to Louisiana.” (Though this pilot will be shot well before Sons starts production on its final season, Pounder may have some schedule-juggling to do if it goes to series.)

McLellan meanwhile has landed the role of Special Agent Brody, a Midwestern transplant who comes to New Orleans looking for a fresh start and a safe haven to heal old wounds. As such, she is the show’s crawfish-out-of-water.

Still to be cast for the pilot — which is being exec-produced by NCIS boss Gary Glasberg and star Mark Harmon, and will air as a springtime NCIS two-parter — is Agent LaSalle, a “muscular,” “devilish” and “charming” 30something former Sheriff’s deputy, raised in Louisiana.

A four-time Emmy nominee, Pounder’s other TV credits include Warehouse 13, ER and The X-Files. McLellan’s resume — in addition to her run as JAG P.O. Jennifer Coates — includes Dirty Sexy Money, The Mentalist, Royal Pains and House.

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The NCIS: New Orleans team is quickly populating.

On the heels of Scott Bakula being cast on CBS’ planted spin-off pilot as team leader Agent Pride, Zoe McLellan — who played wife to Peter Krause on Dirty Sexy Money — has landed the role of Special Agent Brody, a Midwestern transplant who comes to New Orleans looking for a fresh start and a safe haven to heal old wounds, and thus is the show’s crawfish-out-of-water.

Still to be cast for the pilot — which is being exec-produced by NCIS boss Gary Glabserg and star Mark Harmon, and will air as a springtime NCIS two-parter — are the roles of Agent LaSalle (a “muscular,” “devilish” and “charming” 30something former Sheriff’s deputy, raised in Louisiana) and Dr. Wade (the “outspoken” and “eccentric” Ducky of the team).

In addition to her Dirty Sexy run, McLellan’s TV credits include appearances on The Mentalist, Royal Pains and House.

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CBS’ latest, New Orleans-based NCIS offshoot has filled its first role, and it goes to TV vet Scott Bakula.

TVLine has learned that the alum of such series as Men of a Certain Age, Star Trek: Enterprise and Quantum Leap is boarding the planted pilot in the role of NCIS Special Agent Pride.

Described as “embodying New Orleans,” Pride is “driven by the need to do what’s right … with warmth, passion, strength and humor. He’s a unique federal agent working in one of this country’s most unique cities.”

In the prospective series — which is being exec-produced by NCIS boss Gary Glabserg and star Mark Harmon, and will air its pilot as a springtime NCIS two-parter — the New Orleans NCIS office will handle cases from Pensacola through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle. Per the logline, “With its rich setting of music, fun and debauchery, New Orleans is a magnet for military personnel on-leave. And with fun comes trouble.”

Still to be cast for the pilot are the roles of Agent LaSalle (a “muscular,” “devilish” and “charming” 30something former Sheriff’s deputy, raised in Louisiana), Agent Brody (a 30something female wielding an Ivy League mind and “Grace Kelly-like class, pomp and circumstance”) and Dr. Wade (the “outspoken” and “eccentric” Ducky of the team). I previously offered my casting ideas here.

Bakula’s other TV credits include (but are never limited to!) HBO’s Behind the Candelabra (for which he earned an Emmy nomination), Chuck, Desperate Housewives and appearances on Looking and Two and a Half Men.

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