TV INSIDER – ‘NCIS’ turns back the clock for ‘NCIS: Origins,’ the first prequel series (and show number six) in the ratings-blockbuster franchise.
Gibbs’ Rule #8: Never take anything for granted. That one hit us hard when Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), the sometimes grumpy but always gutsy special agent in charge of NCIS, unexpectedly retired to go fishing in Alaska in 2021. We’ll get another chance to appreciate the “grab your gear” guy in NCIS: Origins, a 1991-set prequel in which the young Gibbs (Austin Stowell) starts work at what was then known as NIS at the Camp Pendleton office in California. The icing? Harmon returns to narrate.“Mark Harmon has done a job that actors dream to do. He’s captured the world and so that is just slightly daunting,” says Stowell who watched numerous episodes to prepare. “But getting to know Mark has really been paramount to me stepping into these shoes and trying to fill them.”
Harmon’s key words of advice to Stowell were “trust yourself.” Harmon also acknowledges the challenge for an actor to play an existing character, saying, “This is a little different because some things are already in place and an audience knows where this leads years ahead.”
The idea for the series came from Harmon’s son Sean, who’d played the younger Gibbs in NCIS flashbacks. “I believe that very few people are actually ‘born leaders’ and are instead forged into them, and Gibbs is no exception,” says Sean Harmon. “Digging into the backstory of ‘the boss’ seemed like a good opportunity to find out why Gibbs turned out the way he did and who was around to influence him on that journey.”
Mark Harmon suggested the best people to create the series would be longtime NCIS writers David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal who executive produce and are co-showrunners. They asked the senior Harmon to narrate.
The two-hour premiere introduces a Gibbs fresh back from Desert Storm, grieving the loss of his wife and daughter and trying to get his bearings with a new team. One of them is a younger version of a face familiar to NCIS fans, Gibbs’ confidante, Special Agent Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid, Six, in a role originated by Muse Watson as the older Franks).
“Franks is the one who brings Gibbs into NIS. It was an opportunity to perhaps save a lost soul,” says Schmid who emailed and spoke with Watson as part of his preparation. “Taking on a character played by such a wonderful actor is a bit of a challenge. You have to play by a certain set of rules. The mustache is a trademark of Muse’s. I wear dark brown contacts every day at work. I took on a dialect coach, so Kyle Schmid now sounds like Mike Franks all the time.”
The rest are new characters including Special Agent Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez (Mariel Molino).
“I’m interpreting someone who’s a former Marine, now a female agent at NIS and I’m excited to jump into that, especially in the Nineties, which is such an incredible era,” says Molino. “I love that there are no [cell] phones, no internet, no social media. Everything we portray is direct contact.”
So will any romance develop between her and Gibbs? “I’m trying to prove myself. It’s not a romantic vibe,” Stowell says. “They are kindred spirits, both bullheaded, stubborn and smart. They say opposites attract. So, what happens when people are the same?”
Gibbs’ first friend on the force is someone who’s not much like him at all: Special Agent Bernard “Randy” Randolf (Caleb Foote). “Gibbs is a bit of a lone wolf. Randy’s a bit of an extrovert. In this naval investigative setting, there’s hundreds of people, half of them in camouflage because it takes place on Camp Pendleton, and Gibbs is a deer in the headlights. Randy sees that and immediately goes out of his way to make this person feel welcome. We create a friendship pretty quickly,” Foote says. “It’s cool to create a character that helps Leroy Jethro Gibbs to become the great detective that he is.”
Not in the field but equally important in solving cases are the assistant medical examiner Dr. Lenora Friedman (Lori Petty, Orange is the New Black), and the head of the NIS forensics lab, Woodrow “Woody” Browne (Bobby Moynihan, Saturday Night Live).
“I’m the goofy scientist who figures out weird stuff. It’s like working with the Muppets, you immediately realize you are not the important part. You’re just there to make the Muppets look awesome,” says Moynihan, of supporting the NIS team. “I’m splicing a lot of videotape. I have a hundred million [paper] files. I don’t have a laptop. They show the old tech.”The first case will focus on a series of interconnected murders “that bounce off of our characters in a really emotional way,” North says. Adds Monreal, “Gibbs is thrown into this job and he’s in over his head, but in a way, this case is tailor-made for him, so he has an opportunity to shine.”
We’ll see a lot more emotion from the younger Gibbs than we’re used to as longtime NCIS fans. “The Gibbs that Gina and I wrote for so many years had learned to push it all that emotion down. This Gibbs hasn’t learned that yet,” says North.
NCIS: Origins, Series Premiere, Monday, October 14, 9/8c, CBS
Gibbs Is Back!
SCREEN RANT – NCIS: Origins will introduce a new element to the NCIS franchise this fall, putting it in a league of its own. The prequel series will explore the origin story of one of NCIS’ central characters, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the former Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Major Case Response Team. Mark Harmon portrayed the character for nearly two decades until the Gibbs character departed the series in season 19 when the actor exited the franchise. Now, the character will experience a revival with a new character, with The Hating Games’ Austin Stowell playing young Gibbs in NCIS: Origins.
While the character will return, Mark Harmon will not, at least not in an on-screen performance. This is despite much anticipation for his return to the NCIS franchise. Harmon’s son, Sean Harmon, who played young Gibbs in several episodes of the original series, has also moved on from portraying the role, hence the recasting. The franchise decided it was time for the character to have a new representation, but the Harmons won’t be taking a back seat. Mark and Sean will executive produce the ’90s-set NCIS: Origins. Beyond that, Mark Harmon will bring something entirely new to the NCIS franchise.
NCIS: Origins Will Have A Narrator
NCIS: Origins will feature a narrator, separating itself from every NCIS series that predates it. The narrative element suggests that NCIS: Origins will rely more on an underlying story, which Mark Harmon will tell from the perspective of the older Gibbs. The narrative tactic is similar to how the narrator contextualizes every episode of How I Met Your Mother or, more recently, Young Sheldon. The latter series is a suitable reference for what to expect from NCIS: Origins, as Young Sheldon explores the origin story of a central Big Bang Theory character, Sheldon Cooper, with Jim Parsons narrating.
Harmon has a distinct voice, and audiences hearing it while experiencing another side of his character will certainly have an impact. Hearing Gibbs’s voice while watching a different chapter of his story will help tie the elements together and make a more cohesive origin story for dedicated NCIS fans. Harmon’s narrating track can plant the series in the past while forging a new NCIS future. The franchise has never had a reason to narrate any NCIS series thus far, so Harmon’s return will make for something entirely new.
NCIS Typically Follows A Case-Of-The-Week Forma
The narrative element of NCIS: Origins will distinguish the series from the rest of the shared NCIS universe. Until now, the NCIS franchise relied heavily on an episodic format with case-of-the-week offerings resolved in a single episode. This storytelling tactic allows the show to reset before starting another episode, allowing viewers to, for the most part, enjoy each episode independently of what came before or after it. The NCIS franchise is a significant player in the case-of-the-week procedural genre, and its spinoffs used to follow the same format. However, NCIS: Origins’s underlying narrator element will tie the episodes together more.
The NCIS franchise has experimented with its narrative offerings as it moves into the streaming era, as content is catered more to streaming platforms than television sets. When the franchise launched NCIS: Sydney in 2023, the show dabbled with a serialized storytelling format that saw many story elements carry through the episodes of season 1. NCIS: Origins further challenges what audiences expect from the franchise by presenting an origin story. The franchise will continue the trend of diversifying the way NCIS tells stories when NCIS: Tony & Ziva premieres on Paramount+, as it will also feature serialized storytelling.
How The Narration Will Change Gibbs’ Story
Introducing the narrative element to NCIS: Origins will subvert what’s known about Gibbs. Mark Harmon’s character guards his thoughts and feelings in the original series. For instance, the series held back what happened to Gibbs’ wife and daughter in NCIS until season 3. Gibbs’ tendency to keep his guard up and retain some mystery is elemental to the character. That said, as the older Gibbs narrates the series, he is bound to open up about what he was thinking and feeling during crucial times, which will disestablish a core trait of the Gibbs character as Mark Harmon presented him.
Additionally, NCIS: Origins’ premise is different from anything the universe has ever presented. As such, it will introduce new elements to the franchise to tell its story. While Mark Harmon will return to the role that established the entire NCIS franchise, he will now subvert the institution that he helped to create by adding an element that will add more depth to the characters and story. It’s a promising development for a series that has dominated CBS for nearly two decades. When NCIS: Origins premieres in October, it will break ground for the beloved procedural franchise.
Photos: ‘Three Women’ Captures
Screen captures from Austin’s role on the mini-series Three Women have been added into the photo gallery.
Some captures do contain nudity.
Photos: ‘The Inheritance’ Captures
Over 700 screen captures from The Inheritance have been added into the photo gallery.
Mark Harmon on Why Austin Stowell Is the Perfect Young Leroy Jethro Gibbs for ‘NCIS: Origins’
PARADE – To date, two actors have played NCIS’ Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Mark Harmon, who played the role for 18+ years, and his son Sean Harmon, who played the young Gibbs whenever the series called for flashbacks to relate Gibbs’ backstory.
Now, there’s about to be a third take on Gibbs set in the year 1991 when Austin Stowell takes over the role on NCIS: Origins. The spinoff series premieres Monday, Oct. 14 as part of CBS’ fall lineup, and Stowell has released a first-look photo at his portrayal of the U.S. Marine Corps sniper as he becomes an NCIS agent.
With the image, Stowell wrote: “Cannot WAIT to share what we’re working on.💥#NCISOrigins @NCISverse @CBStv”
Harmon, who will narrate the prequel series and also serve as an executive producer, took part in the casting, which he spoke to following the Television Critics Association press tour this July. He told Parade what he had been looking for in an actor to play the role he had made famous.
“I always thought there was a calm that was important,” Harmon said. “It’s a lot for an actor to come into a room with that kind of a burden of a load to try to say, ‘Can I physically look like that person? Can I be that person?’ I thought Austin just was himself.”
It wasn’t just Harmon who saw something special in Stowell, but executive producer and co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal as well.
“He walked out of the room, and she said, ‘That guy is a star.’” Harmon continued. “That’s what she said. The truth of it is he lit the room. You’re in a room for a long time with people coming in one after another and you just go with an instinct. That’s what we’ve done.”
Monreal elaborates, “What I was excited about was the fact that he had the core of what I think Gibbs is, which is this broken character but also this immense strength. I feel like that’s really a difficult balance to achieve, and I think Austin does that.”
Monreal and her co-showrunner and executive producer David J. North conducted a long and exhaustive search for the right actor to play the role and for good reason.
“This character means so much to the world,” said North, who previously wrote for NCIS as did Monreal. “And, honestly, so much to us. At times, you’re watching people, and something didn’t feel right. But Mark, he made his opinions known, certainly, but at the same time, he really told us to trust ourselves and what we wanted to do. And, luckily, Austin came along.”
The idea for NCIS: Origins was the brainchild of Sean Harmon, who, as mentioned, played the younger Gibbs when the mothership would do flashback stories to explain his backstory. But Sean decided he didn’t want to star in the series.
“It has been an absolute honor to have stepped into the role and essentially to play a character my dad created over so many years, and it will always be something I hold close to my heart,” Sean said. “But it was, in truth, something I never really figured I wanted to make a career out of. I have a lot of stories to tell. And I’m absolutely jazzed to be stepping into an executive producing role and working with my dad in a different way and, obviously, David and Gina, who are the absolute best. I mean, we couldn’t ask for a better team on this. As far as casting Austin, to be in that audition room when he walked in there and to feel his talent and professionalism, as well as [the fact] he is a natural leader, and he is, on top of it, he’s just a great guy. ”
As for how Stowell developed his winning performance, he said, “I didn’t get a chance to talk to Mark before my very first audition, and so I was going off of what was on the page. I had this incredible roadmap in front of me that David and Gina had written. There were these really rich complex scenes that I was able to dive into. This is a Gibbs that is dealing with the loss of his wife and child. This is not the Gibbs that the world knows right now, the team leader who’s always so put together. This is somebody who’s broken. This is somebody who’s searching for his identity, trying to find himself and ground himself back in the world. It wasn’t until I got in the room for my screen test that Mark came up to me and said two words that I’ll remember forever, and he just said, ‘Trust yourself.’”
NCIS: Origins will begin in 1991 when Leroy Jethro Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid).
As for how it’s going so far, Harmon thinks they’re doing well and hopes the series gets a back nine, which should take it to 22 episodes for Season 1.
“It’s early, guys,” he said. “All I can tell you is this is a tough business and most of them don’t make it. We’ve got a shot here and I’m thrilled about this cast and thrilled about working with David and Gina. They’re as good as it ever got in 20-some odd years with creative on NCIS.”
NCIS: Origins will premiere on Monday, Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
