Mark Harmon, who stars as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS series “NCIS.”

O.K., maybe other people are more deserving of sympathy. Still, it can be a struggle to get a quietly successful show noticed by the wider television world, which may explain why CBS has turned episode No. 200 of “NCIS” into a cause for celebration.

Its producers and publicists have been planning for this Tuesday’s milestone episode of this criminal drama since last spring. The studio that makes the show wheeled out a cake and held a ribbon-cutting on the set last month when the episode was being taped. And the network has been promoting the big round number in commercials and on Facebook in recognition that so few one-hour dramas ever make it this far.

“The fact that we hit this number at the same time that we’re No. 1 with viewers is extraordinary, and there isn’t a single person here who takes it for granted,” said Gary Glasberg, the executive producer and show runner who oversees each episode.

The episode on Tuesday is a kind of reward for longtime fans, bringing back some past characters for cameos and setting up some what-if scenarios for Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Mark Harmon has played since the show’s inception, in the fall of 2003. “It’s all about the ripple effects of decisions and choices he has made throughout the years,” Mr. Glasberg said.

Nina Tassler, the president for entertainment for CBS, praised the producers for being “very mindful of the fans that have been there since the beginning” by revealing more about the characters bit by bit.

“NCIS” nowadays is “like a supernova,” she said, netting 22.7 million viewers for new episodes this season, up slightly from last season, which was its highest-rated to date. It has been the most-watched scripted television show in the United States since the 2009-10 season, when it surpassed “CSI,” another CBS franchise.

And yet it is also awfully unassuming. The series is shot in the canyons of Santa Clarita, Calif., north of Los Angeles, mostly out of sight and mind of Hollywood. It retains an unusually high number of its staff members each season. It meets its deadlines. “This is not a set where the size of your trailer is important,” said Mr. Harmon, who wasn’t about to name the sets where it is important.

The show had a humble beginning, with about 12 million viewers on average, middling by CBS standards at the time. “We were not good enough to be paid attention to and not bad enough to be canceled,” Mr. Harmon said.

As a spinoff of “JAG” — those letters stand for Judge Advocate General, a legal branch of the Navy — which ran between 1995 and 2005 and totaled 227 episodes, it was allowed to grow slowly, and it did, flouting most of the trends of network television. (Oddly, “JAG” itself did the same — it was canceled by NBC after one season, but revived by CBS and made into a hit show.)

“NCIS” was especially popular early on in other countries. “The international audience was ahead of us,” said David Stapf, the president of CBS Television Studios. In the United States 2008 is perceived to be its breakout year; that’s when the cable channel USA started showing repeats of the series, which rated exceptionally well. The producers believe that the cable reruns furthered the show’s popularity on CBS, too, since it has continued to grow since then.

Back in 2003, when it had its premiere, Mr. Stapf said, studio executives wondered if the writers would have enough material to go the distance, since the real NCIS only investigates crimes that affect the United States Navy and Marine Corps — a smaller scope than, say, a metropolitan police department’s. “But we quickly got over that,” he said.

The executives also worried at first about the humor interwoven into the drama’s plotlines. As Mr. Stapf put it, “Can people be joking when they’re standing over a dead body?” But the humor, he added, “also made the characters very real and very relatable.”

“This is their job,” he continued. “They stand over dead bodies every single day.”

While the dead bodies lent the show a procedural formula, the laughs helped to highlight the characters: both the boss, played by Mr. Harmon, and the agents who work for him. The characters and their relationships have become pivotal parts of the show.

Now there is also a spinoff, “NCIS: Los Angeles,” which is drawing about 18.4 million viewers on average this season, and there are regular marathons on USA.

“It’s not unusual for people to say to me, ‘Hey, all day yesterday, I was watching the marathon,’ ” Mr. Harmon said. “It makes me laugh. I’m like, ‘Get outside, do something!’ ” But he added, “It’s so important to realize the effects that the show has on people.”

For Mr. Glasberg there is a lesson embedded in “NCIS” about slow, steady character building. “You can give people a little bit, and it satiates them and leaves them wanting more,” he said.

This winter one of the lighting technicians came up to him and said: “ ‘Gunsmoke,’ right? We’re going for ‘Gunsmoke?’ ” That series lasted on television for 20 seasons and 635 episodes, albeit at a time in television history when viewers had far fewer choices than today.

Mr. Glasberg said he answered, “I’ll do my best.”

Source

Perrey Reeves on “NCIS” — Now that she’s finally finished playing Ari Gold’s wife on “Entourage,” Reeves joins CBS’s top-rated procedural this month. She plays Wendy Miller, a journalist who’s also DiNozzo’s ex-fiancee… and who gets stuck investigating the death of a Navy captain alongside her old flame. ARE WE EXCITED? Maybe just for Reeves’ career. Going from “Entourage” to “NCIS” is a huge step up. (Tuesday, 2/14 at 8 PM on CBS)

V’s most-watched scripted series, CBS’ NCIS, will mark its 200th episode this Tuesday at 8/7c by prompting the usually rock-solid Leroy Jethro Giibs to second-guess past decisions and ask himself a big, “What if…?”

The catalyst for the introspection goes down in the never-before-seen diner where Gibbs grabs his morning coffee. On this fateful day, a confrontation with a gunman leads Gibbs to ponder “what the world would have been like had things [in his life] happened differently,” NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg tells TVLine. “He looks back on his time as an agent, and even prior to that.”

With familiar faces such as Mike Franks (played by Muse Watson) presenting Gibbs with possible alternate pasts and presents, Glasberg likens the illuminating hour to “It’s a Wonderful Life, or almost A Christmas Carol.” And as alternate timelines are assayed, the blasts from the past — including but not limited to Rudolf Martin as Gibbs arch enemy Ari Haswari — will be many.

“We’re doing some really cool things, not only with people we were able to get back,but also with visual effects,” Glasberg shares. “It’s the kind of episode I hope people save to their DVR, because they’re going to want to watch it multiple times. A barrage of faces and images come at you, and very quickly.”

Series vet Michael Weatherly, who plays Agent Tony DiNozzo, attests that the landmark episode is a “head trip,” one punctuated by the aforementioned use of effects and maybe even some actual trips back in time.

“There’s a floating bullet, we have characters that get placed in sets they weren’t really in, we recreated a scene [from years ago] that was pretty intense,” he tells TVLine. “A lot of CGI stuff goes on, and it does blow your mind a bit.”

But the actual substance within the rejiggered pasts and multiple timelines is what stands to really get fans talking.

For example, Weatherly reveals that in one timeline, “Abby and McGee have a different kind of relationship than they do now.” He also notes that in one reality, Gibbs has a different neighbor in the NCIS squad room, “So as I was watching, I went, ‘Oh, is that the guy who would have been ‘me’ if it wasn’t DiNozzo [sitting there]?’”

And because Ziva in one scenario had never been under Gibbs’ tutelage, Weatherly says, “You get a real glimpse into the hellcat she might have become without that guiding hand.”

Making the tapestry of alt timelines even more tangled is the fact that they are separate and not necessarily connected. Meaning, “If one of the characters had a baby in one of the timelines that was of one gender, five scenes later the gender of the baby could be different,” Weatherly posits. “That’s the degree to which things have been subdivided.” He adds with a laugh, “It’s almost quantum theory!”

As for how DiNozzo himself differs in any of the timelines, his portrayer only offers up a singular word: “Married.”

But make no mistake, this is a Gibbs-centric hour, and if what happens with the NCIS team leader can make Weatherly get misty, all bets are off.

“Without question, the most remarkable alternate timeline, truly, belongs to Gibbs,” the actor promises. “Mark Harmon does a scene in the basement that is so…. Well, I did cry several times watching this, and I did not anticipate that. ”

Weatherly calls the aggregate events of the hour “impactful,” because “you realize that after living with the characters [for so long], when you see them not behave the way you anticipate them to behave, it’s off-putting. But Gary did a great job of getting people unsettled and then raising the stakes.”

Says Glasberg in closing, “For a diehard fan, [Episode 200] will be a lot of fun. We definitely thought it through!”

Source

Mark Harmon, star of CBS’ “NCIS,” says filming the 200th episode that will air Tuesday night wasn’t any big mile marker.

“There was a cake and there were speeches and we all went back to work,” said Harmon. “And then we’ll be [filming] 201 and next week we’ll start 202.”

The producers, however, say the 200th means a little more than that. They’re using the anniversary show to reflect on what’s happened over the past nine years.

And some of what didn’t happen.

Harmon himself is deliberately being a little blasé, considering that “NCIS” has a rare and pleasant distinction these days: It’s the No. 1 scripted drama on broadcast TV.

An early January episode drew 21 million viewers, 3 million more than recent episodes of “American Idol.”

In its ninth season, “NCIS” is gaining viewers, which is like a fresh cup of coffee tasting better on the ninth day than the first.

It simply isn’t supposed to happen.

So executive producer Gary Glasberg admits that for him, at least, the 200th episode is a cause for celebration and reflection. He says Tuesday night’s show will include both, and that furthermore, he’s given a lot of thought to exactly how he will do it.

“As far back as last summer,” says Glasberg, “I had sort of a sense what I wanted the episode to be.”

He’s not saying exactly what that is, but it will borrow at least one element from the Gwyneth Paltrow movie “Sliding Doors.”

That movie takes a single event in her life — one that seems completely minor and incidental — and shows how different her life would have been had it taken another direction.

The 200th “NCIS,” titled “Life Before His Eyes,” revolves around “a pivotal moment” for Harmon’s Jethro Gibbs, says Glasberg.

But it also goes beyond Gibbs.

“It looks back at key moments throughout nine years of ‘NCIS’ where decisions have had to be made,” says Glasberg, “and shows, had people gone one direction instead of another, how the world would have ended up.”

Yes, this could mean summoning some of the other characters involved in those decisions.

“It brings back familiar faces, old faces, faces fans didn’t think that they’d see again,” says Glasberg. “It was a challenge, but it was a lot of fun.’

As for why “NCIS” has lasted so long, no one on the show volunteers any magical secrets.

Like its ancestor “Law & Order,” it executes the basics. It never gets so complicated that a new viewer feels lost.

“From the beginning,” says Harmon, “we were a show that wasn’t good enough to get all that noticed and wasn’t bad enough to get canceled.

“So we had a lot of time just to get to know each other and just do this show and just work on the foundation.”

And yes, he admits, there’s some satisfaction in the show’s success.

“Certainly being No. 1,” he says, “beats being somewhere else.”

Source

SPECIAL AGENT TONY DINOZZO IS FORCED TO WORK CLOSELY WITH HIS EX-FIANCE WHEN THE DEATH OF A NAVY CAPTAIN IS TIED TO A SECRET SOCIETY, ON “NCIS,” TUESDAY, FEB. 14

Perrey Reeves (“Entourage”) Guest Stars as Wendy Miller

CHEAT TWEET: DiNozzo’s ex-fiance plus a secret society of super heroes, on #NCIS 2/14 8pm ET/PT

“Secrets” – When a Navy captain is found dead with an unusual costume hidden under his uniform, NCIS uncovers a secret society of real-life super heroes and must track down the villain, on NCIS, Tuesday, Feb. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Perrey Reeves (“Entourage”) guest stars as Wendy Miller, DiNozzo’s journalist ex-fiancé.

Tony DiNozzo married? Ziva David in handcuffs?

Here’s your first look at the big interrogation scene from next Tuesday’s landmark 200th episode of “NCIS,” which puts an “It’s a Wonderful Life”-style spin on TV’s No. 1 drama.

Fans are used to seeing flirtatious — and single — NCIS agents Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) on the same side of the table, but in this alternate reality, a married Tony is putting the screws to Ziva, who’s still a Mossad officer.

“The interrogation is between them as if they hadn’t met” six seasons ago, says “NCIS” showrunner Gary Glasberg, who adds that the scenario is meant to explore how their never meeting “would have affected Tony in his world and Ziva in her world.”

SAY WHAT?: Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) in the alternate reality episode.

The scene is part of the fallout of “a situation” that NCIS boss Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) experiences, which makes him wonder about how decisions he’s made in the past have effected the lives of those around him.

Source

On Tuesday January 31st, Mark Harmon will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Tuesday, January 31 – Guests include First Lady Michelle Obama, Mark Harmon and musical guest Imelda May

On Monday February 6th, Mark Harmon will be on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Monday, Feb. 6 Actor Mark Harmon from the CBS drama series “NCIS”; actress Martha Plimpton (n)

On Tuesday February 7th Michael Weatherly will be on Live with Kelly.

February 7, 2012 – Former New York Giants player and “Fox NFL Sunday” broadcaster MICHAEL STRAHAN joins Kelly and guests Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michael Weatherly.

We will update these, as we get them. And let you know of any changes. Be sure to tune in as well.

GIBBS’ LIFE FLASHES BEFORE HIS EYES WHEN A PATRON PULLS A GUN DURING A ROUTINE VISIT TO HIS LOCAL DINER, ON THE 200TH EPISODE OF “NCIS,” TUESDAY, FEB. 7

Muse Watson, Ralph Waite, Joe Spano, Darby Stanchfield and Rudolf Martin Reprise Guest Roles for Milestone Episode

CHEAT TWEET: Travel w Gibbs 2 his local diner & take a journey into his past during #NCIS200 2/7 8pm ET/PT

“Life Before His Eyes”– During a routine stop for his morning coffee, Gibbs finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun, forcing him to question choices he has made in the past and present, on the 200th episode of NCIS, Tuesday, Feb. 7 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Guest stars Muse Watson, as Mike Franks, Ralph Waite, as Jackson Gibbs, Joe Spano, as Senior FBI Agent T.C. Fornell, Darby Stanchfield, as Shannon Gibbs and Rudolf Martin, as Ari Haswari, return for the milestone episode.

Hi everyone!
I know someone already made something for the cast with letters etc for the 200th episode, but what about a video?

I thought about this already months and months ago but then a few weeks ago after watching the ET video from the episode celebration and hearing Nina Tassler words I said to myself “why don’t try?”

It’s a nice idea, We got positive answers around the web and we currently already have a bunch of pics from all around the world.

So It’s time to post this project also here.

If you like this idea and wanna be in the video too – you just have to send us a photo of yourself just with a sign saying thanks, thank you – even in your language – (telling us where are you from) , and then me and my friend (she’s a vidder) will put them together in a video before the 200th ep airs and we’ll eventually send it to the cast&crew.

The episode is gonna air on February 7th – So the ‘deadline’ to send the photo is January 30th/31st

You can upload the photo on Tinypic and give us the link here.
Or you can also email it to staff@ncis-source.org

Thanks and we hope you’re gonna join this project!