‘NCIS’ Renewed for Season 19 — But Will Mark Harmon Be in It?
There’s good news: NCIS isn’t going anywhere. CBS has renewed the procedural drama for its 19th season.
However, while CBS did not announce whether Mark Harmon will be back as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, The Hollywood Reporter notes that he’ll return, only it’s unknown whether it will be full-time.
According to an earlier report from THR, Harmon had been considering saying goodbye to Gibbs this season until he learned that if he did, NCIS would probably bid adieu as well. That led to the possibility of Harmon appearing in some, but not all the episodes.
Right now, the storyline can take Gibbs in either direction. He’s been indefinitely suspended for not regretting beating up a man who was killing the losers in his dogfighting ring — and admitting he regretted not killing him — and he’s subsequently spoken with an investigative reporter, Marcie Warren (played by Pam Dawber, Harmon’s wife), about the incident. That could spell the end of his time at NCIS in the same capacity and something could be written to explain why he’s only around part of the time.
Or, we could see Gibbs returning to work as the team leader, albeit potentially changed by his experience. The outcome of this will likely depend on how much we’ll see Gibbs in Season 19.
NCIS‘ renewal comes as CBS is already saying goodbye to one of the spinoffs in the franchise, NCIS: New Orleans. The Scott Bakula-led drama’s series finale is set for Sunday, May 23. Los Angeles’ fate has yet to be announced. Plus, there’s potentially another spinoff, set in Hawaii, coming, with a female lead.
NCIS, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS