After months of uncertainty, Harmon and CBS struck a deal to keep the proceedings alive, but the key questions remain.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs will return.
After months of want-or-will-uncertainty, Statistics Netherlands has decided to renew NCIS for a 19th season. Most importantly, the network also locked up star Mark Harmon from staying on board with the proceedings, which is still TV’s most watched drama series. CBS has also been updated Magnum PI, SWAT., Blue blood and Taurus for extra seasons on Thursdays.
In February, sources said The Hollywood Reporter that Harmon was ready to move on to the role he’d originated in the CBS drama I back in 2003. Then the actor and executive producer was told that CBS was likely to end NCIS when he retired from the show. The ultimatum prompted Harmon to enter negotiations to return.
What remains unclear is whether Harmon will be back on it NCIS full time. One option explored during the negotiations was that Harmon would only appear in a limited number of episodes. It’s also uncertain how many episodes Season 19 will consist of – the new coronavirus pandemic resulted in shortened 17th and 18th seasons, and it’s unclear at this point if Season 19 will be affected in the same way. Whether this will be the show’s final season is also unknown.
But the renewal edges NCIS getting closer to possibly the longest-running American primetime drama series of all time, with only Law & Authority: SVU (22 seasons and counting), the original Law & Authority (20 seasons) and Gunsmoke (20 seasons) with a more long-lasting run.
NCIS remains a rating powerhouse, regularly drawing more than 12 million viewers per episode (even the reruns tend to rule the night among the total viewership). But at this point, the show’s talent and producer contracts make the drama CBS’s most expensive production, and its annual renewal has become a tricky cost-benefit analysis.
The deal comes as NCIS: New Orleans prepares to shut down next month after seven seasons, NCIS: Los Angeles moving on into its 12th season (and still waiting for news of an extension) and the prospect of another new spin-off grows – NCIS: Hawaii, which sources say is eyeing the franchise’s first female lead.
As for the other extensions, Magnum PI gets a fourth season, SWAT a fifth season, Blue blood a 12th season and Taurus a sixth season.
Representatives from CBS and Harmon declined to comment.
For more information, see THRBroadcast Scorecard for What’s Renewed, What’s Canceled.