♪
[laughing]
What's up? [laughs]
Welcome to NCIS.
KEVIN FRAZIER: NCIS-- the primetime drama
turned global phenomenon.
It's everywhere.
They dub us in all the languages.
"Mon dieu!DiNozzo!"
FRAZIER: Now the franchise is hitting
a major milestone.
Thousand episodes, wow.
One... thousand.
It's hard to describe.
Gosh, it is kind of a big deal, huh?
FRAZIER: Tonight, the cast from all five shows
come together.
I've had explosives go off in a garage.
And the fire wraps around me.
POUNDER: There were a couple of blowups
that I thought I might be bald.
FRAZIER: To reveal two decades' worth of set secrets.
It was the best acting job I'd ever done.
We got to do things that nobody got to do.
I don't think
anyone saw it coming.
It was bold, yeah.
FRAZIER: This is a look back on the journey
-from episode one... -[laughing]
...to number 1,000.
-It feels celebratory. -We're part of TV history.
-I'll always miss it. -FRAZIER: Plus a sneak peak
-at what's to come. -WEATHERLY: I haven't been
on camera in a couple years. You got to give it to me.
How often do you get asked about Gibbs coming back?
A lot. [laughs]
FRAZIER: CBS Presents
NCISVerse: The First 1,000.
AnEntertainment Tonight special.
It truly is a reason to celebrate.
1,000 episodes
across five shows.
Each a ratings hit in its own right,
but together a powerful franchise
that is beloved by fans all around the world.
And to think it all started
right here in these unmarked
sound stages miles away from Hollywood.
Welcome to the NCISVerse.
♪
NCIS.
-DIRECTOR: Action! -[boom]
♪
-[gunshot] -Federal agents!
-[piano playing] -♪ I know we can make it.♪
-[shouts] -[grunts]
We're making a big, big, big TV show.
-♪ -DIRECTOR: Action!
Maybe our Melina has some answers.
We're approaching the 1,000th episode.
of the NCISVerse.
Hi.
NCIS. Special Agent Callen.
Special Agent Sam Hanna.
It's one of the biggest television franchises
in the world and it's pretty impressive.
We're a part of TV history. It's something to be proud of,
-for sure. -So can I tell you a little bit
about NCIS?
♪
Basically all the, um,
the NCISuniverse, uh, combined
uh, will have made a total of 1,000 episodes.
That's right, you heard it-- 1,000.
You know, it's humbling to say that you can be part
of such a historic milestone.
♪ TNT.♪
-♪ Dynamite.♪ -[laughter]
1,000.
It's three zeroes.
[mouthing]
[imitates explosion]
NCIS. Put your weapon down.
I never... made a show that went over 100 episodes.
It's kind of crazy, it really is.
-It's shocking. -It's an honor, how exciting.
Can I at least get a drumroll?
Ta-da.
I-I don't know if this will be a successful show.
I do know that... that what we're doing
sure feels good.
I don't know that any of us thought
that the show was gonna be around
as long as it's been around.
You can't not be looking at the TV
and not see this show on somewhere sometime, you kno?
I wa... We were traveling in Europe.
-It's everywhere. -FRAZIER: Mm-hmm.
Believe me, it's everywhere.
WEATHERLY: I remember as I walked down
the Rue de Rivoli, you know, over by the Louvre.
all of a sudden, it was like, "[gasps]
Mon dieu!DiNozzo!"
And I was like...
I-I think...
I think this show might have taken off.
-[laughs] -[shouts]
[laughing]
FRAZIER: Now, are you ready for some more
mind-blowing statistics? The mother ship,
shot in the suburbs of Los Angeles,
has remained the network's number one primetime drama
five years running,
with over ten million viewers per episode, and get this:
in 20 years of the franchise, fans have watched
over 4.2 trillion minutes ofNCIS action.
[exhales] Over four trillion view...
God, that's crazy.
Wow. How ma...
How many days is a trillion minutes?
How many years is a trillion minutes?
I really hope that, like,
some chyron pops up and it does the math
for us right here. [laughs]
OFFICER: NCIS?
Never heard of it.
That's embarrassing.
I saw some statistic
that 300 million people watched it last year.
That's a crazy number.
That's the entire population of the United States.
FRAZIER: Well, it's not hard when you've got everything
from action to humor to
"ripped from the headlines" stories.
And some of the most shocking moments in television history.
I'm leaving NCIS.
How's that for communication?
Tali is Ziva's daughter.
And your daughter, Tony.
The most shocking moment, uh...
end of season two,
the death of Kate Todd.
-I thought I'd die before I ever... -[gunshot]
No one saw it coming. No one...
Except if you go back and you look at the actual footage,
you see Michael Weatherly go like this
before she gets show.
[laughs] Because he knows
the burst of blood is about to hit his face.
People were pretty shocked-- upset, shocked.
I had a friend of mine that called me that was crying
because she'd just never seen...
She knew me so well, and she ws
-so affected by it. -One of the shocking moments
for me was the character
of Jackie Vance, who was my character's wife,
when her character was killed off.
She's dead.
When Vanessa gets her arm broken,
in the season finale of last season,
that was pretty shocking.
[screams]
My most shocking moment was when Ziva
came into that basement and said, "Hello, Gibbs."
Hello, Gibbs.
REASONOVER: They didn't tell me. I found out with America.
Um, and boy, was I surprised.
And I was like, "What?" [laughs]
I literally pulled the script up on my phone
and I was like, "That's not supposed to happen."
BAKULA: We were at a wedding, we had a table,
and, uh, it... we were in the park,
and it... and then there was a huge explosion,
and they were trying to kill me, and they ended up
almost killing my daughter's, uh, fiancé.
[people screaming]
FRAZIER: ButNCIS doesn't just deliver on the shock factor.
It's the emotional highs and lows that really get you.
My two...
...went home in body bags.
Grisha, you may place the ring on Anna's finger and...
FRAZIER: And then there are the stories that make us take stock.
POUNDER: I had a particular episode.
It was about, uh, the killing of a young man,
and then the whole neighborhood kind of comes together
and the police officer,
um, has to decide whether
he shot him because he thought he saw something
or whether he did see somethin.
Drop the weapon! Drop it now!
-[people screaming] -POUNDER: And, um,
it was right in the time
when we were all talking about Black Lives Matter,
and it became really important
at that time.
LACHEY: I think, for me, an episode that sticks out--
it was such an epic, iconic moment--
it's when we brought three
of the NCISshows together.
That had never been done before.
Is that my mug?
COLE: Yep, and your, uh,
Mokalbari Golden Assam tea as well.
FRAZIER: So, what is theNCIS secret to success?
I always thought that the show had interesting characters
and people got to know them,
and we sure worked hard.
It's nice to see it rewarded.
We're staying.
DIRECTOR: Cut for the excerpt.
Audiences will come for the crimes,
stay for the chemistry.
And I-I love that.
Just creating characters t-that audiences fall in love with,
'cause that's really the most important thing.
There's something about
the banter and the fun and the humor
combined with the action.
WEATHERLY: You go from,
uh, sl... almost slapstick humor...
sometimes true slapstick, head-slapstick...
A slap to the face would be humiliating.
Back of the head's a wake-up call.
...to gore, like a gruesome autopsy scene
where the body is wide open, straight into
an emotional scene with tears,
and then into a-a fierce dramatic battle
in an interrogation room.
So if it were one human being, it would be
in an insane asylum,
because it's got so many different personalities.
But all together, it feels
like you're hanging out with people you know.
LACHEY: After a thousand episodes, everyone knows
the acronym NCIS.
If you say that anywhere in the world,
they know what it is.
And I love when people send me clips of me in Italian.
[laughs]
'Cause they dub us in all the languages,
and I'm like, "Oh, that's pretty cool. I'm fluent."
[speaking Italian]
It's not me. It's not me.
FRAZIER: But the true impact of the NCISVerse
isn't just measured in the number of episodes
or minutes watched, it's in making a difference
in real life.
HARMON: When I first got the role on the show,
I tried to google "NCIS" to figure out what it was.
I'd never heard of it. There wasn't much information.
And if you google it now, there's, like,
25 pages of information because of the TV show.
INTERVIEWER: What does "NCIS" mean?
Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
No, no. The Naval... w-what, whatever.
-[chuckles] -INTERVIEWER: Whatever it is.
Navy Criminal Investigative Service.
CARROLL: One of my proudest moments
was, in San Diego,
there was a dedication of a new NCIS field office,
this beautiful, state-of-the-art field office.
One of the directors of that office said to me, he said,
"Once the show became so popular,
we had so many requests to do tours of our office,"
and the agency was...
they were so embarrassed by kind of what the office was,
and "If it weren't for that show,
we wouldn't have our new building."
Another phenomena that's come out from the show
is that, um, there's suddenly an uptick of people
wanting to be medical examiners.
NCIS actually asked our costume department
for, um, the hats, so that they can model them
after the-the hats used on the show,
'cause they never had hats in the field.
So now their-their agents wear hats at crime scenes.
FRAZIER: But none of it would have been possible
without the distinguished service of this man,
who seemed to know, right from the start,
just where the series was goin.
He's the reason the show got on the air.
Pure and simple.
He had a-a solid movie career going,
you know, he was a go-to
series lead actor.
WEATHERLY: First thing he said to me was,
"You eat lunch with the crew," and it wasn't a question.
It was, "You get in line with your plastic tray
with everybody else, no special treatment."
This show will-will work as a team or go down as a team.
And that's the way I've always looked at it.
[grunts]
Boy, that was good.
Ah...
-[exclaims] -Ah!
FRAZIER: NCIS behind the scenes.
What it's really like when the cameras stop rolling,
and what you didn't know about your favorite special agents.
That's a pretty good secret.
[laughs]
Hi, I'm Mark Harmon.
[laughing]
What's up? [laughs]
-Oh, my God, the chemistry-- it's so good, it's so good. -[mumbling]
-I love my job. -What's not to love?
Get in the middle. Get in the middle.
♪ Yes, we can make it.♪
♪ Seasons one through nine, they turned out fine♪
♪ But ten... ten's good.♪
FRAZIER: There have been a lot of good times
on the fiveNCIS sets.
On average, it takes eight days to film an episode,
so that's more than 8,000 days spent
on the job over 20 years.
Welcome to Oahu.
We are on the set of NCIS: Hawai'i.
-Looks like we're at Pearl Harbor. -That's a big picture.
You know, Pearl Harbor...
-BAKULA: I feel completely lik, you know... -[loud thunder]
-See? -We're in New Orleans and that's thunder.
Yes, but in L.A. that's called--
it comes with rain, When there's rain.
Welcome to NCIS: Los Angeles.
It isNCIS,
but with a lot of California cool thrown in there.
Definitely a lot of California cool.
-I'm on the set of NCIS with Sean Murray, -Hello.
that plays very Special Agent McGee.
-Aw, I'm very special. Thank you. -Mm.
We're here in the squad room.
Uh, this is McGee's desk.
Usually you can find old, uh, grape stems
and, uh, yogurt containers in these things.
Oh, yogurt. You never know. This could be from the '90s.
FRAZIER: That's series creator Donald Bellisario.
And here's an Easter egg from earlier seasons.
A photo of Donald up on the "most wanted" wall.
Some other set secrets-- those woodworking tools
Special Agent Gibbs used to build a boat in his basement
were really Mark Harmon's.
I was kind of raised in my-in my dad's workshop.
Pauley Perette played a forensic scientist
on the show.
In real life she has a master's degree
in criminology.
You have to turn around.
-[cheers and applause] -Hey!
This is the real NCIS.
FRAZIER: We were with Pauley when she visited
the NCIS headquarters in Washington, D.C.
And it's always been so important for the show
to accurately portray the real-life agents.
If you're watching an episode of our show,
and our guys, they're on a stakeout,
or they're in the middle of a takedown,
there's procedural things that have to happen.
And the great thing about actors is we want to get it right.
I'm a stickler for... for accuracy.
So I have a laundry list of things
that I have to get right.
When I hold a weapon,
when I reach a room, when I interrogate somebody.
This looks like more than a theory.
I got to take handcuffing classes,
weapons assembly, disassembly,
some driving courses, you know, some pretty cool stuff.
-[barking] -Lock that door!
And sometimes, you know, we get the eye roll
from our technical advisor, because he goes,
"That would never happen in the real world,
but, you know, we're not... we're not in the real world."
Leon Carroll, who was an NCIS agent,
is everything to us.
He's always on top of us. He's not gonna let us
make NCIS look bad.
Leon, what might this be?
Ah!
My character's first name is Leon, so that was
a bit of a tribute to him,
'cause he'd been there since day one.
FRAZIER: Leon Carroll, Jr.-- no, no relation to Rocky Caroll--
was with the real NCIS for over two decades
before being recruited by Hollywood.
I've been to every inhabited continent.
I've seen quite a bit of the world.
FRAZIER: So much so that several of Leon's real-life experiences
were actually written into the show.
We had an episode where an autopsy,
there was a crab that crawled out of the body bag
Ooh.
That actually happened to me.
WADE: The body was discovered wrapped in plastic
in a shallow grave near highway 11.
New Orleans East.
Are we talking bodies already? All right.
I've sat in on a lot of autopsies
to ensure that there's some accuracy
to what it is we're doing.
Yeah, single gunshot wound to the chest.
It's funny, the amount of people that have said,
"Oh, I really want to be a dead body on your show."
Oh, no, you don't. [laughs]
We basically tell you not to breathe
when the camera's on you. [laughs]
So, um, it's not super enjoyable.
Um, sir, this is Mr. Harmon's chair.
Some of our rubber and latex bodies--
I-I can't tell
until I get up close.
It's crazy how... how lifelike they look.
So here's one of our mannequins that we use.
Um, can't remember exactly what happened to him.
He's had a few things happen to him.
I think he might have actually been killed a few times.
FRAZIER: Over on theNCIS: Sydney set,
the autopsy room is actually in what used to be
a commercial kitchen.
You see, their set is in an old restaurant.
Our headquarters, the location that they found
is quite literally on Sydney Harbor.
There's no green screens on anything.
Like, sometimes we're shooting below the bridge,
and we're like, "That looks fake."
I think it's pretty cool that, on our show,
the majority of stuff was on location.
Just another day in L.A., baby.
We went to every part of L.A.
-I've been in alleyways... -Water treatment plants.
...yo, water treatment plants.
I know it all.
FRAZIER: NCIS: L.A. filmed everywhere,
from the Forum and the Hollywood Bowl
to the beach, and speaking of the beach...
There's a magic aloha spirit
that I immediately felt when I got here.
You have to get used to being in a vacation spot.
♪
BAKULA: Everybody wants to know
what it was like to shoot in New Orleans.
They're just like... And then, when we would shoot
in the Quarter, I mean, you talk about insanity.
We'd just come down the street, and the fans--
they got into it. And then, you know,
we'd be... I'd be running down a street,
coming around a corner,
and there would be a thousand people there,
And I'd yell, "Get down!"
Everyone get down! Get out of the way.
They just played along. They had a ball.
Party's over.
[indistinct shouting]
FRAZIER: And while the spinoffs really leaned into
all aspects of shooting on location,
it's pretty amazing what the crew of the mother shp
is able to create without leaving their home base.
VALDERRAMA: We have six sound stages.
We have, uh, everything we need here.
So we build all our sets from scratch.
They can build anything.
They can build a ship, a submarine.
You know, a four-star hotel.
You know, they can build a hospital.
FRAZIER: But that doesn't keep the cast
from popping over to other sets.
[all cheering]
I will be honest,
this cast, uh, rarely makes mistakes.
As soon as they say "action,"
we're ice cold.
DIRECTOR: Action!
When the cameras stop rolling on our set, we get...
we get pretty loud.
When the cameras are off there's chaos.
[laughing]
[chuckles] It's so much fun to be on this set.
There's a lot of shenanigans that happen on set.
I think Brian and I are probably the class clowns.
Gary Cole has the best sense of humor.
There's a lot of, uh, ribbing,
and self-deprecation, too.
VALDERRAMA: I can't tell you the pranks
because we recycle them.
Ah, the pranks. I don't miss that part.
Mark Harmon, yes, he's a prankster,
and he's a trickster.
Harmon's the big prankster.
[laughing]
It's a fun group.
I mean, I don't know that you can peg
anybody, specifically.
ALEXANDER: When we started working together, I...
He filled a bag I had with, um, sandbags.
Who I think the funniest guy around here is Weatherly.
I am tall and powerful and you are nothing.
He's on all the time.
I don't know where he gets the energy to do it.
Oh, my gosh, what is that in your ear? Hold on.
-Let me just get that. -Michael!
Oh, look what she had in her ear.
I did over 300 episodes of the mother ship.
My first day on set,
in the middle of my first paragraph,
Don Bellisario walked onto the set and said,
"What are you doing, modeling?
Don't just stand there. Surprise me, entertain me!"
And I just changed
one simple thing, which was
I didn't care who found me entertaining.
I just entertain myself.
And I've been doing that ever since. [laughs]
Good times here at NCIS. Good times. Good stuff.
Yo, a lot of pyro, a lot of explosions.
We're in a shootout every week.
FRAZIER: From shootouts to stunts,
action,NCIS style.
Plus, when we first met the OG cast
on the set ofJAG.
Right now, it's two episodes. Two well-written episodes.
MAN: Set!
DIRECTOR: Action!
[grunts]
That was pretty good.
We lost a light.
I was the guy who came in and was like,
"We should run after the bad guy more."
I got it.
And they were like "Yeah, we should do that."
And I'm like, "And I'll do the running."
WOMAN: Stop him!
[honks]
Running across the rooftops in downtown New Orleans
in the Quarter, and jumping over
from one roof to the other.
Up buildings, out of buildings.
Up steps, down steps.
Jumping off of balconies.
Shooting backwards looking up.
So many fights, so many shootouts.
[gunshots]
FRAZIER: It would take almost 30 days to watch all 1,000
of the action-packed episodes in theNCISVERSE.
As for the stunts, explosions, car chases and shootouts--
those are seen in 946.
BAKULA: We did one episode,
I was driving an airboat through the swamps.
And there was an action sequene
where I took the airboat up onto dry land.
And we're coming at another one,
and we're shooting and all that stuff.
I had never driven an airboat before.
And they've got drones coming at me.
It was just very cool.
MURRAY: We had this big sequence happening at an airport.
Our stunt coordinator said, "You're gonna be in the car,
"you're gonna come flying around about 60 miles an hour
around that tower."
Got it.
"You come around, see if you can skid out.
"Pop out of that car,
gun up, and approach the plane."
They handed me the keys, said, "Think you can do it?"
I was like, "Yeah."
NCIS.
DIETZEN: The cold opening for the episoe
that followed Tony DiNozzo through a warehouse of sorts,
up to the edge of a pier,
and just-just dives
right into the... into the water.
We see that Gibbs is trapped inside of a car.
WEATHERLY: Diving into a tank and pulling
people out of a submerged car and...
giving Mark Harmon mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
in the m-midst of all of that,
career perk.
There was a stuntman who did the dive, don't worry.
But I did all the underwater work.
No question we should've won
an Emmy many times over.
FRAZIER: That episode actually earned the show its first
of two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Stunt Coordination,
and during its run, NCIS: L.A. also earned
a nod in that category.
O'DONNELL: I had one thing-- I ran
out of this building and every ten feet,
another bomb would go off.
The explosions we had on the show--
it was just unbelievable.
They would get it all set, there'd be a big safety meeting,
and they'd say, "Okay, we're going hot."
DIRECTOR: We're going hot on the effects.
-And then they'd yell "Action." -Action!
Then these bombs just start going, and flames.
DIRECTOR: That's how we do it on NCIS: L.A.!
[cheering]
[director shouts]
I've had, uh, explosives go off in a-in a garage.
There's three walls, and one exit and entrance
for that fire.
And smelling, uh, the burnt hair definitely
made me feel so alive.
So alive.
McGee! Do you have a snack, McGee?
[screams]
OLSEN: The best stunt that I've done
is the fight scene with LL Cool J.
We had doubles, and neither one of us used our doubles at all.
I've had a few, um, amazing women double for me,
but the person who's been with me the longest--
her name is Kim.
The hand-to-hand combat was mostly me,
um, but everything else is Kim. [laughs]
FRAZIER: Yeah, sometimes the action sequences
require the use of a stunt double,
but a lot of times,
what you're seeing is the real deal.
OLSEN: She's throwing real punches every time,
and if I don't block them, she's gonna hit me in the face.
[laughs]
[grunts]
I got to learn how to fight with a bostaff.
That was really cool,
because I suddenly felt like a badass.
LACHEY: Brooklyn is my daughter,
and I took her to my very first stunt session.
It was a really cool moment that my daughter could see
her mom being a badass.
FRAZIER: Still ahead...
I read that name and it stopped me.
FRAZIER: ...things you never knew about
theNCIS pilot and the part
that almost went to Jennier Aniston.
Plus...
FRAZIER: From A-listers
to actors looking for a big break,
the guest stars who made their mark.
There were a lot of pranks played,
which were hilarious.
♪
Agent Gibbs, where exactly
was the lieutenant's body discovered?
The banks P... [chuckles]
How we doing so far? Pick it up? All right.
On the banks of the Potomac "Rimmer."
River.
[laughs] Okay.
How about you don't walk and talk?
-You... What... -[laughter]
My name's Gibbs.
I'm a special agent with the Navy.
I'm playing, uh, a character in two episodes
of-of JAG,
uh, named Jethro Gibbs.
I'm coming here to investigate a murder, basically.
♪
I read "Leroy Jethro Gibbs,"
and I said, "Wow, I like that name."
And then, for a brief second,
when I decided I really liked the idea and the project,
the name changed, all of a sudden, it was Bob Johnson
-or s... or I-I... Something like that, right? -[chuckles]
I am an NCIS special agent.
I just went, "What? No, no, no,
it's got to be Leroy Jethro Gibbs,"
and the creator said, "No, you can't play a guy
named 'Leroy Jethro Gibbs.'"
I said, "Why not?"
And then it went back, so I was happy about that.
FRAZIER: It was originally pitched
as"Law & Order in the Navy,"
half investigation, half court case.
With that premise in mind,
NCIS made its debut
as a two-episode backdoor pilot on the Naval legal seriesJAG,
starring David James Elliott,
but then, two things happened.
Are we letting NCIS take the lead on this?
FRAZIER: The investigation part tested best with audiences,
and Mark Harmon left a big impression.
Come see where I work.
Bring some friends. I'll give you a tour.
DIRECTOR: And action.
TONY: Is that a duodenum?
ABBY: Yeah.
I like to call it
"duodenum with a lye chaser."
You need to get out more, Abby.
FRAZIER: Because it was two episodes ofJAG,
it wasn't really a proper pilot.
And even when we started airin, they called it"Navy NCIS,"
which is"Navy Naval Criminal Investigative Service."
You can't make that up.
NCIS anything like CSI?
Only if you're dyslexic.
HARMON: That first day on this show
was 21 hours, so I went home
at 21 hours and looked at my wife
and said, "That's not exactly what I thought about--
it's getting a job and staying home."
We had a lot of those days for a while.
And-and the show found itself.
And that's a credit to actors and writers
and producers and-and directors and-and crew.
And more than anything, crew.
And those are the people you don't see. It's a great crew.
FRAZIER: But here's something you may not know:
Mark wasn't the first choice to play Gibbs.
Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin,
Kevin Bacon, Andrew McCarthy
and Patrick Swayze
were some of the early names floated for the part.
And believe it or not, Jennifer Aniston was considered
for the role of Agent DiNozzo's partner,
played by Blake Lively's half sister Robyn inJAG.
GIBBS: Am I clear, Agent Blackadder?
Am I clear?
-Very, sir. -FRAZIER: But by the time
NCIS made its official debut in 2003,
DiNozzo and Gibbs had teamed up with Sasha Alexander instead.
TODD: Wait, okay, okay.
Your team.
FRAZIER: Believe it or not, the show wasn't an instant hit.
It took five seasons and a global platform
to turn into the giant that it is today.
And over its 20 years and 464 episodes,
the mother ship has turned many of its guest stars
into beloved series regulars.
MURRAY: I started
as a, actually, a guest star--
one-off guest star-- uh, in, I think,
episode seven or eight of, uh, season one.
And they edited it together
and they were about three minutes short on the edi.
And they said, "Let's bring back the McGee character."
Heel!
-INTERVIEWER: You are an official agent now. -I am.
-Tony! -MURRAY: I always think, "What happened
if they weren't short on that episode," you know?
It's... Like Bob Ross used to say, "Happy accidents."
DIETZEN: It has been 21 seasons.
I came on at the tail end of the first season
just for one day, and they kept inviting me back.
One of my favorite weeks of my life
was, uh, my mom came to visit me,
I found out I gotNCIS and I got married.
All in the same week, and boy,
anniversaries have not lived up to that.
Sorry, honey.
DIRECTOR: Action!
I'm definitely hoping that the spin-off, uh, goes ahead.
LL COOL J: Wow, do I feel the pressure coming on to a show like this?
Uh...
I feel like I... I definitely feel like
I have a responsibility to, uh, not mess it up.
I do remember feeling like it would last
maybe a couple years and be done.
You know what I'm saying? And, uh...
lo and behold, it lasted a lot longer than I expected.
It became a much bigger part of my life
than I expected it to be.
FRAZIER: Backdoor pilots are kind of a theme forNCIS.
When it came time to launch the L.A. office in 2009,
Hanna, Callen and company
did it with a two-episode storyline
that brought the OG cast to the West Coast.
Still building that boat in your basement?
Yeah.
O'DONNELL: Nothing but great memories.
Uh, we had 14 wonderful years and, uh,
we spent time, obviously, on this set,
we were launched out of this show,
we came back, did crossovers.
So it's a big, you know, the-the extended family is rea.
FRAZIER: The team ultimately contributed
323 episodes
to the 1,000-strong franchise before signing off last year.
I've always said that-that, you know,
Marty Deeks ain't dead.
I think there's plenty of room for...
these characters to come back.
Uh-oh.
[groaning]
Kind of old-school.
Old-school still works in Louisiana.
FRAZIER: WhenNCIS: New Orleans was originally conceived,
it was just a storyline for the mother ship,
but Mark had a greater vision
that included his longtime friend.
It just sounded like more than two episodes.
That's all, that's where it came from, and-and,
uh, he's the right guy to be doing it.
I think that's what Mark's advice was to all of us:
-"Don't screw it up." -FRAZIER: Based on the real-lie
one-man NCIS office in the Big Easy,
the city hosted 155 episodes over a seven-season run.
BAKULA: At the time, we were gonna be,
we were the third version,
and the other two were still going strong on television,
and I was like, "Well, why do I want to go
be in another vers..."
But the New Orleans part of it--
no offense to D.C. and-and L.A. show--
we just had a lot of pizzazz.
FRAZIER: But when it comes to that aloha feeling,
NCIS: Hawai'i delivers.
The first spin-off that didn't get its start onNCIS
is three seasons and 50 episodes deep,
and boasts a lot of firsts for the franchise.
I know I'm the first minority, female, in her 40s lead
of this franchise.
And it's so, for me, comforting and fulfilling to say that.
FRAZIER: Another first? The never-ending crossover
that brought Sam Hanna from Los Angeles to the islands.
Once you know the franchise,
you can kind of go to, you know,
different shows and...
you understand, tonally, what it is, you know what I'm sayin?
I'd love to crossover with,
um, you know, the-the OG guys
would be awesome.
And also, I'd love to go to Hawai'i, so...
Maybe we could crossover with those guys, too.
FRAZIER: But the newest addition to the universe NCIS: Sydney
has the distinction
of being the first international addition.
It's a ratings hit its first season,
and in just eight episodes,
it's full of nods to its patron series.
♪
Oh, and in case you're wondering,
yes, there is a real-life NCIS office
in Australia.
Coming up: from a former first lady
to the A-list of Hollywood,
all the famous NCIS guest stars
and the ones who made an appearance
before they were famous.
They really welcomed me in with open arms.
FRAZIER: Plus, the future of NCIS,
two new spin-offs and a milestone episode.
What to expect in the next 1,000.
Tears, laughter, danger...
My God, it gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.
♪
We've had a lot of really good guest stars.
Bob Newhart came to do an episode of NCIS.
My names is, uh, is Magnus.
And you have to remember to stay in the scene.
You can't just be a fanboy.
My favorite, I think, is Lily Tomlin,
who played my grandmother.
That word--
"grandmother"-- so old-fashioned
and so patriarchal.
You call me Penny.
I got to work with Jamie Lee Curtis.
Jamie Lee Curtis-- oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
You're enjoying this.
I'll play along.
He makes me flush a little bit.
Robert Wagner recurs on the...
on the show, you know, from time to time.
Get my bag, will you, Tony?
My favorite guest stars: Christopher Lloyd...
Well, I'm not gonna say a damn thing till I get a root beer.
VALDERRAMA: You know, he's one of my idols.
And he was,
uh, he was everything you would expect him to be.
Just lovely.
CARROLL: Michelle Obama was a guest sta.
That was a big day.
Special Agent Gibbs,
I've been briefed on everything you've done for Anne's family.
WEATHERLY: I mean, I guess if you want to say
that there were some interesting people on the show.
Time to dance, Agent Gibbs.
Mind if I lead?
I was the surgeon who saved Mark Harmon's life.
I should come back for years.
I would pitch, uh, various ways
that my character would be reintroduced.
I can believe how many actors that I run into
who, the first thing they say to me was,
"Look, I did a spot on that thing 17 years ago."
It's amazing, the number of people
who kind of... who've come through there.
FRAZIER: In two decades,
there have been almost 200 guest stars
across the NCIS franchise.
And quite a few were cast
before they were famous.
From a ten-year-old Millie Bobby Brown...
You don't look like the hot-chocolate type.
Huh.
FRAZIER: ...to Abigail Breslin
and Glen Powell.
Good to meet you.
-Your brother know you're here? -I hope so, sir.
I remember Mark Harmon was one of the most
generous co-stars I've ever had.
He invited me into his trailer.
He sent me a really nice email afterwards
about how well he thought I did.
FRAZIER: Zac Efron's NCIS episode aired just three days
beforeHigh School Musical premiered.
We didn't know the phone was stolen.
Whoa.
Holy cow.
I remember, vividly, that the whole cast
uh, was incredibly welcoming and nice.
There were a lot of pranks played,
which were hilarious.
I've, like, used those for the rest of my life.
FRAZIER: And long beforeThis Is Us, Jon Huertas,
Susan Kelechi Watson and Sterling K. Brown
all landed roles on NCIS.
I should have never let her go.
I'm sorry, Gibbs. [grunts]
FRAZIER: But some of the show's guest stars, well...
they were homegrown.
Stop trying to pull some cop trick on me.
It's not gonna work.
MURRAY: My daughter's an actor
and she went through the auditioning process
and she killed it, she was great.
She was so good.
FRAZIER: Sean is actually the cast member
who has been in the NCISVerse the longest,
with 450 episodes.
His stepbrother Michael Bellisario
had a guest role on four episodes
while his stepsister Troian Bellisario
played McGee's sister.
You know, like, state the obvious
and make pretty pie charts?
FRAZIER: And did you know that
the young agent Gibbs seen in flashbacks
is actually played by Mark Harmon's son, Sean.
Good luck trying to beat my times.
Mark's wife of 37 years, Pam Dawber,
also guest starred in the seven-episode arc.
Were you gonna knock?
I hadn't quite decided.
FRAZIER: And that's Chris O'Donnell's son Chip
making a cameo on the series finale
of NCIS: L.A.
I'm the new guy.
O'DONNELL: Over the course of the show,
all of my kids have been on the show, and my wife.
And my oldest son had not been on,
so that was kind of fun.
And... action.
FRAZIER: Chris also got a chance to make
his directorial debut onL.A.
So did Daniela Ruah.
And now Dani's directing the mother ship.
-Action. -CARROLL: She knows
and she understands the balancing act.
It's fun to be directed by somebody else
who's from the universe.
But for Rocky, directingNCIS
wasn't on this bucket list.
It was the best acting job I'd ever done.
It was directing that first episode.
You lean on each other
and you rely on each other to-to make it work.
We've been through so much together.
As-as cast and crews, we've seen births, deaths,
marriages, divorces, like, just so much.
FRAZIER: Yes, the NCIS family has faced loss over the years,
and in September,
they said goodbye to their beloved Ducky
when David McCallum passed away at the age of 90.
His final appearance on the show was May of 2023.
And this February, the show honored him
with a tribute episode, which was co-written
by his close friend and costar Brian Dietzen.
Change is the essence of life.
The closeness that Ducky and Jimmy had
was definitely indicative of our relationship off-camera.
-well, that's quite an analysis. -Thank you.
WEATHERLY: That was a very emotional day, seeing everybody.
Not a dry eye on that set.
This is, what-- the first show of the series.
And it feels as if we've been here forever.
[chuckling]: And some of the hours we work
also feels as if we've been here forever.
CARROLL: David McCallum was 70 years old
when the series started 21 years ago.
And the story goes, he told his wife,
yeah, he's... "I'm 70 years old.
"What if this show goes seven years?
I mean, that's a long time."
And he ended up being at the show for 20 seasons.
FRAZIER: Still ahead: he's very special
but he's not an agent anymore.
What could go wrong? [chuckles]
FRAZIER: Details about new spin-offs in store for the franchise.
Plus an exclusive sneak peek of the 1,000th episode.
DIRECTOR: And action.
I guess we'll enjoy the extra attention while we have it.
Special delivery.
You're gonna have some real cool Easter eggs.
PHTOGRAPHER: Right here, shooting.
FRAZIER: How often do you get asked about Gibbs coming back
when fans bump into you?
-A lot. -[chuckles]
[laughs]
I love you, man.
I love you, too.
FRAZIER: Well, two years after Gibbs left NCIS
for the quiet life,
he's coming back. Yep.
Get ready for the first-ever prequel in the franchise,
NCIS: Origins.
You were such a happy child.
FRAZIER: Set 12 years before NCIS began,
Origins tells the story of a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs
starting his career as a newly-minted NCIS agent.
Mark narrates the series
that stars Austin Stowell and airs
in the 2024-2025 season.
He also executive produces with his son Sean.
I think seeing Gibbs coming up, you know, as a young guy,
is gonna be fantastic.
Maybe Mark Harmon can play Gibbs' father.
Check's in the mail?
Oh, no. That was for free.
FRAZIER: But wait, there's more.
WEATHERLY: Cote de Pablo and I are also
getting ready, moving to Budapest
for the summer of 2024.
And it is Tony and Ziva now,
trying to raise their tween daughter
and save the world.
What could go wrong? [chuckles]
FRAZIER: That's right-- "Tiva" is
spinning off into a new international adventure--
the as-yet-untitled series finds Ziva and Tony
raising their daughter in Paris
until his security company
is attacked and they have to go on the run.
WEATHERLY: Paramount+ has given us, um, the green light.
We're incredibly happy to be
making something for the streaming platform,
because it gives you a little bit more latitude,
and shooting overseas...
FRAZIER: Well, before all that,
there's still a very special 1,000th episode
to get to on the mother ship next week,
and we have an exclusive look behind the scenes.
As you know, the director was there.
The team is in a race against time
to help, uh, director Vance,
who is also struggling with his adult son now.
LAW: In the meantime,
all of the NCIS is suddenly put under attack.
So now you get to see NCIS: Hawai'i,
NCIS: L.A., NCIS: Sydney coming in to help
in a family-oriented method.
I don't know, there may be, you know, some special guest.
His last name rhymes with Ford.
First name, Harrison.
I was kidding.
Harrison Ford's not coming on the show.
DIETZEN: And the whole time, we're paying tribute
to cast members and different shows,
um, that perhaps aren't here right now,
but, um, are instrumental to our success.
Cannot wait for that.
But can we get back to that number again?
Creating 1,000 episodes of television
is an incredible feat.
But the real mission here is friends and family,
honoring the truth
and protecting what's important.
That is the NCIS way.
All right. Now it's on to the next 1,000.
Aloha to all of the fans.
We've made it to 1,000 episodes
of the entire NCISVerse,
and that's because of you guys.
So, as we say here in Hawai'i,
mahalo nui loa, and here's to another thousand.
♪
O'DONNELL: Oh, I mean, my God.
Most amazing fans in the world.
Thank you for tunning in all these years.
VALDERRAMA: We're only possible
because of your commitment, your trust in us,
and allowing us in your homes.
And, uh, bless you and salud.
Thank you.
Thanks for being a part of the family.
Thank you for, uh, hanging around for a thousand,
and maybe a thousand more, who knows?
MAN: Say NCIS.
ALL: NCIS!
♪
NCIS, 1,000.
We love you.
Heck, I love all of you.
Have a great night, everyone.
Uh, I want to give you a sincere thank-you
from all of us here at NCIS.
Much love, and peace.
-NCIS--it's on, baby -Oh, yeah.
MURRAY: Thank you so much for being with us
all these years watching us,
continuing to watch us,
making us the number one show on television.
We're gonna keep doing it
as long as you guys keep watching us,
so thank you.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org