ENTERTAINMENTMark Harmon's 'NCIS' Exit Worried TV Producers as They Thought It Would Be the Show's 'Death Knell'
After two years without NCIS legend Mark Harmon playing Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the producers of the popular TV show reflected on his exit.
Executive producer of the long running program Charles Floyd Johnson told a news outlet that he thought Harmon’s decision to leave in 2021 would put the show under after he starred for almost twenty years.
Mark Harmon left 'NCIS' in 2021.
“Coming in at 6:30 a.m., five days a week, and being the major character that was the linchpin — that’s pretty tough, and he did it for 18 seasons,” he said of the 72-year-old actor. “He had just gotten to the place where he was getting close to turning 70, and he wanted to spend time with [wife] Pam [Dawber] and his kids."
“So he was leading up to it. It started probably [with him dropping hints] around the 15th or 16th season. But he was so loyal to that crew and so supportive of the show. He was very proud of it, and he stayed on longer than he even intended,” Johnson added.
Gary Cole's 'NCIS' character was introduced in Season 19.
Director James Whitmore Jr. also spilled about his fears for the future of the true crime series after The West Wing alum departed.
“When Harmon was talking about leaving, and there was this chance that he might not come back, I said, ‘How are they going to replace this dude?’ And they brought in the one guy that could do it, which was Gary Cole,” he said.
'NCIS' has run for 20 seasons.
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Johnson explained that they “hit gold” when Cole joined the cast as Special Agent Alden Park.
“There were a lot of names bandied about,” he noted. “When everybody finally decided we’d make an offer to Gary Cole, we didn’t pitch it to him as, ‘He was going to become the new Gibbs.’ We pitched it to him that he was going to come in and wasn’t sure he was going to stay with the team, so that he didn’t have to feel like he was stepping into the shoes of someone who had been there for 18 seasons.”
Mark Harmon did 18 seasons of 'NCIS.'
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Executive producer Mark Horowitz also shared his stance on how Cole changed the show, which started a new chapter for many of the characters.
“When Gibbs was in charge, he was the leader, and everybody was pretty much under him. When the Gary Cole character came in, it loosened up a little bit and allowed McGee (Sean Murray) to become a senior agent, and they have a little bit more authority. So it gave room for other possibilities,” Horowitz said.
The Hollywood Reporter reported on the producers comments.
