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NCIS is a CBS network television series about a team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Navy. The concept and characters were initially introduced in a two part episode of the CBS series JAG (episodes 8.20 and 8.21). The show premiered on September 23, 2003. Its executive producer is Donald Bellisario.

Overview

NCIS follows a team of Naval Criminal Investigative Service Major Case Response Team (MCRT) special agents, headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

The team is frequently assigned to high-profile cases such as the death of the President's nuclear missile aide, a bomb situation on a U.S. Navy warship, and the death of a celebrity on a reality show set on a USMC base. However, they may be assigned any type of criminal case, so long as it has ties to the Navy or Marine Corps.

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Characters

Current Main characters

Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)

An experienced former US Marine Gunnery Sergeant and sniper, Agent Gibbs is a highly skilled investigator and interrogator endowed with seemingly infallible intuition. Gibbs reports directly to the NCIS Director who, as of Season 3, is his former professional and romantic partner Jenny Shepherd. While being a man who "gets the job done," it has been frequently shown that Gibbs has little patience with bureaucracy. Gibbs' personal life is rarely spoken of; he is building a boat in his basement, and there have been many references to his three ex-wives. One wife and daughter were killed by a Mexican drug dealer while Gibbs was serving in the Persian Gulf. In the third season finale, Gibbs is seen killing the drug dealer (in a flashback), and Gibbs appears to resign his position.

Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)

A streetwise former Baltimore homicide detective and womanizer often seen flirting with any attractive woman he meets; he also has expensive tastes in clothing and automobiles. Tony has his moments of deep thought and investigative intuition, but the seriousness of these moments tends to be underscored by his sense of humor. Dr. Mallard has observed that Tony is much like Gibbs was a decade ago. Tony is also an avid cinemaphile and often refers to movies during the course of investigating a case and expresses dismay when others have not seen the movie. His tastes run the gamut from classics to modern trash. DiNozzo also stands to inherit a fortune when his parents die, his dad was a Swiss Knife importer, (as was Weatherly's own father). The only reason DiNozzo got a job was that his parents didn't trust him having money. As senior agent, he is sometimes put in charge and, when he is, he attempts to mimic Gibbs' style of command. At the end of the Third Season Finale, SSA Gibbs turns over his gun and badge to DiNozzo, who is the senior agent on the team. It remains to be seen if DiNozzo is given the supervisory position.

Officer Ziva David (Cote de Pablo, Season 3 – present)

A Mossad agent assigned to Gibbs' team by Director Shephard after she assisted NCIS in locating and terminating a rogue Mossad agent (Ari Haswari, her half-brother). David is a terrible driver and speaks five languages, which often leads to malapropisms and funny mistaken clichés. On several occasions, however, she has been shown to be a capable member of the team in combat situations. She has a pithy sense of humor and is particularly good at getting under DiNozzo's skin.

Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray)

McGee was originally a lab technician employed with NCIS and frequently assisted Gibbs and his team when they needed technical and computer-related expertise. Later requested by Gibbs as an addition to his team. He attended M.I.T. and enjoys online gaming. DiNozzo refers to him as "Probie" in reference to this lower-echelon position as a probationary agent (in the German translation for the show, he's called "Bambino").

Forensic specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)

A technogeek in the mold of the Lone Gunmen, Abby is probably best known for her gothic style of dress (to include tattoos) and happy-go-lucky attitude. She grew up in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana as the hearing child of deaf parents and likes her music loud. Abby is seemingly fueled by 'Big Gulp' stylized caffeinated sodas, called Caff-Pow!, which are perpetually provided to her by Gibbs. Abby is extremely well-versed in her field of study, rarely stumped by the evidentiary puzzles which Gibbs' team present to her; she has been shown to exhibit an almost religious zeal for the field of forensics.

Doctor Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)

NCIS' British Chief Medical Examiner, who often accompanies Gibbs' team into the field. With a habit of talking to the corpses upon which he performs autopsies, as well as his penchant for excessive exposition on vaguely-related topics, Dr. Mallard proves very qualified to both assist and entertain the agents for whom he works. Dr. Mallard studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, lives with his Alzheimic 96-year-old mother and spends some of his time personally restoring an antique car.

Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shephard (Lauren Holly, Season 3 – present)

The Director of NCIS after her predecessor, Thomas Morrow, takes a job at the Department of Homeland Security. She was once romantically involved with Agent Gibbs, but now will only act in the purview of being his superior officer.

Former Characters

Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd (Sasha Alexander, Season 1 – Season 2)

A former Secret Service agent who often questions authority, Gibbs included. Kate was frequently an object of Dinozzo's interest, although no action was ever taken by either; Kate was usually disgusted by Tony's habits — which include his chauvinism, his interest in the trivial, and his eating habits. She was killed in the line of duty at the end of season two by Ari Haswari who was alleged to be on a personal mission to assassinate Gibbs.

Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin)

The terrorist who wounded both Gibbs and Gerald Jackson when he infiltrated the NCIS morgue during the first season, causing Gibbs to become obsessed with discovering his identity and capturing (or killing) him during the second half of the season. NCIS initially identifed him as an undercover Mossad agent; he was, in fact, rogue and working for Hamas. After his murder of Kate Todd, and several further attacks on NCIS members (including Gibbs), he was killed by his half-sister, Mossad officer Ziva David.

Charles "Chip" Sterling (Michael Bellisario, Season 3)

Abby's unrequested lab assistant, whom she nicknamed Chip against his wishes. Chip is socially awkward, a condition exacerbated by Abby and Gibbs as a result of his unrequested status in the lab. Much like McGee was when he started, Chip too, is harassed by Tony as "the new guy." It was eventually discovered that Chip took the job at NCIS to implement revenge on DiNozzo by framing him for murder — he was found out and summarily incapacitated by Abby.

Recurring Characters

Gerald Jackson (Pancho Demmings, Season 1)

Dr. Mallard's assistant until being incapacitated by Ari Haswari after being held hostage in the morgue. While recuperating, his position was filled by Jimmy Palmer. Approximately a year and a half later, he was again captured by Ari Haswari in an effort to secure Dr. Mallard's audience. Gerald cannot drive a manual transmission, much to the dismay of Ari and Ducky.

Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen, Season 1 – present)

After Gerald was incapacitated, Mr. Palmer became Dr. Mallard's medical assistant both in the field and in the morgue. Jimmy is frequently nervous, but very proficient in his field of study. He is also particularly clueless when it comes to women.

Paula Cassidy (Jessica Steen)

A criminal profiler for NCIS. An expert on Middle Eastern terrorists, she once worked as an interrogator at Guantánamo Bay. She and DiNozzo were intimate with each other in the past (according to the Season 2 episode Heart Break), but by season three she was significantly more antagonistic to his characteristic constant advances.

Special Agent Tobias Fornell (Joe Spano)

A senior FBI agent who is often involved in "inter-agency turf wars" with Gibbs' NCIS team. He was framed for revealing the identity of an undercover agent to the Mafia, but was cleared with help of Gibbs. He married one of Gibbs' ex-wives, despite warnings, and is now divorced from her too. He and Gibbs consider each other very good friends, despite their arch-rival business association.

Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman (Alicia Coppola)

A prosecutor for the Judge Advocate General's office, Coleman first appeared in an episode of JAG and went on to make several appearances (to date) on NCIS, assisting Gibbs and his team. Her "neat freak" mannerisms -- such as keeping a holder full of finely sharpened HB pencils on her desk -- amuses Tony.

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Naming the show

During its first season, NCIS aired under the name Navy NCIS. Since the "N" in NCIS stands for "Naval", the name Navy NCIS was technically redundant (an example of RAS syndrome). The decision to use this name was reportedly made by CBS, over the objections of Bellisario, in order to:

• Attract new viewers (particularly those of JAG), who might not know the NCIS abbreviation.
• Disambiguate between NCIS and the similarly-themed and similarly-spelled CBS series CSI and its spinoffs. (Initially, some had erroneously referred to the series as "Navy CSI".)

After its successful first season the name of the series was shortened to NCIS.

Trivia

• In a second season episode, Gibbs tells Kate that Ducky looked like Illya Kuryakin when he was younger; this was the name of the character that David McCallum (who plays Ducky) played on the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. A similar metafictional reference occurs part 1 of the 2005-06 season finale "Hiatus" in which Michael Weatherly's character remarks (when referring to an unlikely event) that he'd have a better chance of hooking up with Jessica Alba. In reality, Weatherly was romantically involved with the actress and co-starred with her on Dark Angel.
• Whether by writing or by casting coincidence, some of the actors have attributes or skills that match their roles. Both Dinozzo and Weatherly have fathers who are Swiss Knife importers. Sciuto was raised in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; Perrette was born in adjacent New Orleans. Perrette also has a Master's Degree in Criminology, and has toured the real NCIS offices to meet with the real forensic specialist. McGee is a computer specialist; as a hobby, Murray has built computers from scratch.
• According to the behind-the-scenes featurette on the 2006 DVD release of season 1, McCallum took it upon himself to become an expert in forensics in order to better play the role of Ducky, including appearing at medical examiner conventions. Bellisario says McCallum's knowledge of the subject became so vast that Bellisario (at the time of the interview) was seriously considering making him a technical advisor for the series.
• Some of the producers are longtime fans of The X-Files. NCIS tips their hat to that series in season 1's "The Truth Is Out There", which featured a murder mystery involving sailors who were named for X-Files writers (as well as a bogus UFO scare). In season 3's "Head Case," one of the characters says "It's like we walked into an episode of the X-files."
• In the season 3 episode "Frame Up" Special Agent David L. Brant, soon to be the former Director of NCIS, had a cameo and joked with Gibbs about retiring.
• Michael Bellisario, who played the recurring character of Charles "Chip" Sterling in several episodes in season 3, is the son of Donald P. Bellisario, the executive producer of the show.
• Troian Bellisario, who played the girl in McGee's room in episode 2x20, and of whom pictures are showed in episode 3x16, is the daughter of Donald P. Bellisario. On IMDB this character's name is credited Sarah, although this is never mentioned in the series.
• Many episodes have at least one scene in the NCIS Multiple Threat Assessment Center (MTAC). The name of MTAC in the show is important because in the real NCIS, MTAC stands for Multiple Threat Alert Center; MTAC is still used as the acronym in real life.
• Mark Harmon and Lauren Holly had previously co-starred on Chicago Hope.
• In the first season episode "Bete Noire", NCIS became one of the first series on American network television to clearly show a character uttering the word "fuck". It occurs in a scene where the rogue Mossad agent, Ari, having just shot one of Ducky's assistants, chides Agent Todd for calling him a bastard. She replies "OK, you're a fucking bastard", however the actual word in question is drowned out by a cry of pain from the man who had just been shot.
• Every agent in NCIS drives a Dodge Charger (no specific year)

Episodes

For an overview see List of NCIS episodes.

International

NCIS has been shown by the following stations around the world:

DVD releases

The first season DVD release omits the two-part pilot episode that aired as part of the eighth season of JAG; those episodes may be released when that season is eventually distributed on DVD.

External links

• CBS official site for NCIS
• NCIS at TVSODA.COM
• NCIS at IMDb
• NCIS at the TV IV
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• "'NCIS' Actress Pauley Perrette Visits the Real NCIS" By Marla Marcelo, NCIS Public Affairs. October 24, 2005.
• Pauley Perrette's behind the scenes blog at CBS.com
• Crimelab.NL - NCIS - Contains an episode guide, quotes, facts, wallpapers, screen shots and message board.

• 2000s TV shows in the United States
• CBS network shows
• Crime television series
• Military television series
• Television series by CBS Paramount Television
• Television shows set in Washington, D.C.