♪
- [laughs] - I hope we're rolling.
Yeah. W-What was the question?
Let's not overthink it. [laughs]
- KEVIN FRAZIER: Tonight... - [imitates NCIS: Los Angeles theme music]
...the cast of NCIS: Los Angeles say goodbye.
You guys just watched the finale.
Lots of feels.
My God. Pinch me.
I wasn't expecting that ending.
I-It's not the end of these characters.
FRAZIER: ...sharing 14 seasons of behind-the-scenes secrets...
Lot of pyro, lot of explosions.
These are directly stolen from set.
- Mark! - ...from the first day...
- It's nice to meet you. - It's funny,
I forget he's LL Cool J.
...to the final shot.
[choked up]: This was beyond
anything I could have imagined.
You get overcome with emotions.
I love you, I appreciate you. Thank you.
- [cheering, applause] -FRAZIER: Favorite memories...
I was like, "How did we get that?"
That's not normal life. [laughs]
...that made them forever family.
They're my brothers. [laughs]
Daniela is-is that-that fun mom.
LL Cool J always has
- the music playing. - McRANEY: "Todd,
we're-we're ready."
"Oh, okay," you know?
- Come on. It's NCIS: L.A. - It's NCIS: Los Angeles.
FRAZIER: This isCBS Presents
A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles:
An Entertainment Tonight Special.
Hello and welcome, everybody, to a bittersweet tribute.
We just witnessed the end of an era,
the end of NCIS: Los Angeles.
I'm here at the historic studios at Paramount,
where all the sets once stood.
The boatshed, the team's desks,
the Ops center, even the gym.
It was all right here just two months ago.
- It was amazing. It was amazing. - Yeah.
We-- You know, w-we called these stages home for 14 years.
O'DONNELL: I'll probably be calling him, saying,
"Hey, man, did that really happen?"
[laughs] Probably.
What-what are you, what are you doing?
- You want to hang out? - Yeah.
RUAH: It's a weird sensation
because it doesn't hit you in, like, one big slap.
I think it'll hit me
when we don't come back in July to shoot another season.
As I was driving home was the first, like, round
that it really hit me,
which is like, "I'm not gonna be driving to work
on NCIS: Los Angelesanymore."
And that's just a full cornucopia of emotions.
We made a show that made so many people happy
and that, uh, built up such a following around the world.
It was pretty amazing.
FRAZIER: Yep, after 14 years
and 323 episodes,
we're saying goodbye to these special agents.
But first, let's talk about that finale.
We got a long-awaited wedding,
a baby on the way, surprise guests,
and we finally got to hear Hetty's voice again.
I think we all have a lot of feelings about
how it went down, and so does the cast.
I think that, uh, they did a nice job wrapping it up.
LL COOL J: And I think the fans that, you know,
had an opportunity to be with us from day one
should feel really, really good
about these characters.
OLSEN: I think that it's...
...really emotionally fulfilling for the characters
and also, I think, for-- hopefully,
for everybody that just, that just watched.
With this ring, I thee wed.
RUAH: The hard thing is that we took
so many pictures that day,
but we couldn't post them because we couldn't let it on
to the audience that we were shooting a wedding scene.
JUDGE: I pronounce you man and wife.
You may share your first married kiss.
- [applause] - [whoops]
O'DONNELL: I wasn't expecting that ending,
and I actually thought it was great-- I go, "God, they--
"this thing could end on us, you know,
"me getting married and, you know,
"saying goodbye, and that's kind of it," and then I was like,
"Wait a second, they're going to Morocco."
Thought it was very clever,
and leaves the fans thinking,
"So they're still doing stuff?
What-- Do we get to see?" You know?
[car door closes]
- There's nothing here. - Well, maybe that's the point.
The future is bright. It leaves the future open.
- Mm-hmm. I like that. - They're off to new adventures.
LL COOL J: You never know, there might be a-a whole movie
for NCIS: Los Angelesone day.
There could be many things that could happen.
You never know what could happen, so...
you know, there was no reason for us to just, like,
drive off a cliff, like Thelma & Louise,
- you know what I mean, like, we... - [laughs]
FRAZIER: Another mission was the perfect way
to bring Linda Hunt back as Hetty Lange.
Fans got to hear her voice one last time
in a letter to her surrogate son.
HETTY: I have been blessed with the greatest family
one could ever have wished for,
and so have you.
FRAZIER: Health concerns have kept everyone's favorite
operations manager off set for the last two seasons,
but she's never far from this cast's heart.
HETTY: The one wish I have for you, Mr. Callen...
...is that by the time you leave here,
you've learned the art of trusting others.
OLSEN: I-- We needed that closure.
Like, a-as a human being, I needed that closure.
I'm so glad that she did it.
And I miss her desperately.
The body versus the mind.
There's a fight indeed.
RUAH: She's incredibly funny. Incredibly funny.
But to be able to represent her when we talk about her,
to be able to give her that final closure in the end,
um, but also leaving that "dot, dot, dot"
at the end of the show through her,
which is so, uh, appropriate.
- O'DONNELL: She was such a part of the show. - LL COOL J: Huge.
And will always be such a big part of the show, and...
and she's one of a kind.
FRAZIER: Tonight's finale also
brought back some old friends,
like Erik Palladino,
Peter Cambor and Renée Felice Smith.
What do you say, gentlemen?
You ready for your next adventure?
I mean, how are they gonna wrap it up without Nell?
[laughs]
It felt like I-I had lost
no time in between.
Um, we picked up right where we left off.
And I think they were,
you know, excited to have Nell back as well.
Don't tell me Beale's here with you.
No. Sadly, he is giving a TED Talk in Singapore.
- Of course he is. - FRAZIER: Beale didn't factor
into the final storyline, but for Barrett Foa,
just like the rest of us, saying goodbye is tough.
FOA: I'm really sad that the show is over.
I mean, it's 12 years of my life, you know?
14 years of-of, of our fans' lives.
FRAZIER: And if this face in the final scene
looks familiar, well, here's why.
Uh, that's Chris's son Chip, playing Will,
which is amazing.
I'm the new guy.
O'DONNELL: My son was in the last scene, as part of the, uh,
the new team, which was kind of fun.
We got a kick out of him.
Over the course of the show,
all of my kids had been on the show, and my wife.
My oldest son had not been on for various reasons,
and then-- partly during COVID--
and so at the end, I said, "Oh, my God,
we should have, we should have done something."
So, it was kind of fun.
SMITH: It was really sweet to have
that moment, I think.
And I, and I saw Chris
really absorbing sort of the gravity
of that moment, too.
RUAH: I was like, do you think the audience is not gonna notie
that he is a straight photocopy of Chris?
Do you think people are not
gonna see that that's his son?
And I was just like, "My goodness, Chris,
you make good-looking children." [laughs]
FRAZIER: Yeah. This cast has always been about family.
It even resonates in the storylines.
We're having a baby.
We're having a baby?
RUAH: I think Kensi and Deeks
deserved this ending.
I had hoped for this, to be honest.
I had, like, been putting it out in the universe
and making little jokes here and there with our writers
and being like, "Wouldn't it be great if Kensi
got pregnant in the last episode?"
OLSEN: I think it's the only ending to that story.
I think it's the best ending to that story.
The end of Deeks's arc,
finding love and-and a wife
and-and potentially two kids, like,
you can't ask for a better ending for that character.
FRAZIER: The two-part series finale
was actually shot 11 weeks ago.
Production schedules varied for everyone,
which means the cast didn't hae their final scenes together.
RUAH: So I was out on a Friday and our show wrapped
on a Wednesday, so I made a point
of going to work those last three days.
I went every day to make sure that I got to hug everybody
on their last day.
Anna, you look stunning.
So do you. You're glowing.
RUAH: The very last moment we shot was when Anna says,
"Kensi, you look so lovely. You're glowing."
And I say, "No, you look amazing."
It's nice to have sort of, like, that female mutual empowerment
as my very last line of the show. [laughs]
OLSEN: My last scene was with Rosa right after the wedding.
Or I say, "Did you hear that?" and she goes, "I did,
I think they're cute," and I was like, "What?"
What?
You want that to be your grandpa?
OLSEN: That was the last scene I shot
of NCIS: Los Angeles.
RAHIMI: I remember shooting the last scene very well.
It was me, Caleb and, um, Gerald
in Ops.
There were lots of tears on the last day
from-from everybody.
CASTILLE: You know what was interesting, I-I didn't cry.
Uh, a lot of our crew, uh, absolutely did.
Medalion, sure, but, um, I didn't.
I was just very proud of everyone,
and the job that we had accomplished.
Mine was, uh, it was just me working with a screen.
Sir, Commander Collins
with Navy Munitions Command Pac is online now.
Got it. Put her through.
McRANEY: You know, immediately after that scene
was done,
the, uh, first AD called a wrap on the episode,
a wrap on the season,
a wrap on NCIS: Los Angeles,
and that was that.
FRAZIER: We were on set with Chris and Todd for their last day,
and as you'd expect, it was emotional.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Uh, guys, um, that is a thank you, good night.
Done in episode, done in season
and done in show to Chris.
[cheering]
O'DONNELL: You kind of know it's coming, and then all of a sudden,
like, you know, then you know they're gonna say,
"Oh, this is the last scene for, you know, Chris
on the set," and it-- You're just like...
- Mm-hmm. - "Wow," it's just, you get overcome with emotions.
Thank you, everybody.
[choked up]: That's amazing...
...to say the least.
And it was because of all you guys.
It's so hard to get these things to work.
And this was beyond anything I could have imagined.
So thank you, everybody. You've worked really hard.
And, uh, I hope everybody finds another run like this
'cause they don't come up very often.
And take care, everybody.
[cheering]
LL COOL J: We did something great. I mean, you know,
we're the 14th longest-running show in history
and we're, you know,
number five, I think, on-- for CBS.
I mean, this was a-a huge accomplishment...
- Mm-hmm. - ...and I want the crew to be proud of that.
Never feel like you don't have access to me in that,
now, if you see me on TV, I'm no longer your friend,
or now if you see me on TV,
you can no longer reach out to me.
You can. You know what I'm saying?
We have a relationship. That doesn't change.
So I love you, I appreciate you.
- Thank you. - [cheering, applause]
I realize now that a lot of these things,
how important they are.
And there's more to this than just
money and jobs and mortgages and people.
Yes, that's all important, I know people want to take care
of their families, but you also have to take a moment
and just remember that you really did something major.
- -And-and that means something. - O'DONNELL: Yeah, and it was nice
that you singled out how everyone contributed, you know?
- LL COOL J: Yeah. - 'Cause there's a lot of people that,
if you're in front of the camera,
if you're in the vicinity of the camera, you...
you know, everyone knows who you are and sees you,
but there's so many people that...
work just as hard that nobody really knows,
and they're kind of in the background doing stuff, so...
It's a r-- It-it is absolutely a team effort.
RAHIMI: LL Cool J always has the music playing,
and he doesn't just listen to hip-hop and rap.
FRAZIER: Secrets from theNCIS: L.A. set.
Dani's a professional dancer.
FRAZIER: Plus, what happens when you bring your mom to work.
I was nervous, I thought she was gonna be...
- [babbling] - [laughs]
♪
PRODUCER: We are rolling now.
- Well, there's no hope for me. - [laughs softly]
What's up? [laughs]
- Kind of looks like him, right? - Thanks.
Thanks a lot. Thank you.
Look at this.
Get in the middle, get in the middle.
You know who's the fastest lip balm putter-oner?
BOTH: LL Cool J.
We doing it. Enjoy.
- Hello. - [laughter]
Welcome to NCIS: Los Angeles.
- Ah. - What's your favorite part of the set?
RUAH: I think the Ops center
is really, really cool.
We have a bunch of technology.
O'DONNELL: This is kind of our little
bullpen area where we all hang out.
This is the gadget room.
I don't know what the hell they do in there.
It's nice to meet you. I'm LL Cool J.
- Nice to meet you. - [laughs]
I-I forget he's LL Cool J,
but then when we get out in public
and people are, you know, yelling for him
and the whole thing, it-it reminds you.
[people screaming]
FRAZIER: People always used to wonder,
what are rappers gonna do when they grow up?
NCIS: Los Angeles.
[both laugh]
FRAZIER: When the show started in 2009,
LL Cool J was a Grammy-winning rapper and superstar.
But to theNCIS: L.A. cast and crew,
he just wanted to be Todd Smit.
I just didn't want to bring that part of my life to the set.
That's a big name, it's a big persona,
and there's a lot that comes with that.
- And I think it was the right decision. - And you did that.
I was watching the-the Grammys,
did this, you know, massive performance
with the whole thing-- I was like,
"I can't believe that's the same guy...
[both laugh]
"...that I sit and screw around with all day long,
that that's him up there."
That's the bigger act, let me tell you.
I think Sam Hanna's a lot closer to who you are
- than-than that. - [laughs] Okay.
RUAH: And in his own words,
he's an introvert by nature.
O'DONNELL: He's a little nerdy guy that reads stuff all the time.
He'll make comments on stuff, and I'm like,
- "Where are you coming up with this?" - [laughs]
And then I'll kind of look it up, I go,
- "He's actually right." - [laughs]
And I go, "I don't... I wasn't expecting that."
McRANEY: He's got a vast amount of knowledge.
He's highly intelligent.
I enjoyed the conversations
that I would have with him between shots.
But he does bring the good energy.
LL COOL J: It's just like, "Let's play music, let's have fun.
O'DONNELL: He brought more of the music than I did.
- You knew when Todd was coming onto set. - Thankfully.
You know what I mean? - [laughs]
♪ Brothers and sisters...♪
SMITH: Oh, yeah. When Todd walks in,
he'll be playing some sort of music.
We're like, "What genre
are we playing today?"
And there were a few times when they would have
to get his attention.
"Todd, we're-we're ready."
"Oh, okay."
And he'd turn the music off, go to work.
[hip-hop music playing]
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Let's roll.
Let's roll sound, everybody, here we go.
It's funny, 'cause Chris O'Donnell likes a quiet set
and Todd likes the music.
And so when they're working together,
they're always kind of bickerig
and joking with each other, and...
It's just, their dynamic is so good.
Keep it up. I'm-a bounce you off a rock.
From day one, the thing that's been the most enjoyable for me
are my scenes with-with Todd,
and just the-the banter back and forth
and needling each other on the show, and...
and we do that off camera as well.
Well, he's got a fan on him right now.
Seriously. Do you want to--
Take your picture with her, would you?
Come on. She's dying.
- We already did. - Okay.
PRODUCER: You guys are like the odd couple. I love it.
I remember my first scene with them together.
We're in the boatshed, and I think I improv,
"You two are adorable"?
That is adorable.
And the look on, the look on their face.
And I remember just them being like, "What the..."
Cuckoo. You're crazy.
He gives me a thousand paper cuts.
- I give him one big stab wound... - [laughs]
...you know, like a-- like, three months later.
Then we go three months with the paper cuts,
and then I give him a stab wound.
- It's-it's perfect. [laughs] - That's so true.
It's perfect.
I don't even know why I try.
I don't, either, but it's fun.
FRAZIER: Yep. And when Chris,
who the cast calls C.O.D.,
directed his first of three episodes back in 2013,
Todd thought it was about time.
Set and action.
And he's always in my ear with a-- It's something, anyway,
so it didn't really make a difference. [laughs]
Gonna have to have pep talks with my actors today here.
[laughs]: I mean, I was like,
it was-- He's running around here
like a soda bottle that got shook up.
He needed to, he needed to direct, so it was great.
I think it's-- I'm happy for him.
- And cut. - ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Cutting.
Thing of beauty.
I am gonna be directing again this season,
so I'm looking forward to that.
That's always kind of fun, to get behind the camera
and get to tell LL what he has to do.
You get up quickly because I'm like, "Sam," and then
you get up, you're like, "I'm good, I'm going after him."
FRAZIER: Chris wasn't the only cast member
to sit in the director's chair.
Daniela directed six episodes,
including a very special one in 2022,
which was written by Eric.
I fell in love with it.
And it's something that was not a--
it's not to replace acting,
but it's a lateral step that I fully intend
on continuing to pursue.
CASTILLE: Daniela communicates in a way, as a director,
that is so conducive, uh,
to just pulling the performance you want as an actor.
She has evolved into the kind of mother on the set.
CASTILLE: Daniela is-is that-that fun mom on set.
You know? She lets us joke around, but it's--
when it's time to work and it's time to get down to business,
she's able to-to, you know, bring it in.
FRAZIER: And speaking of moms, in 2012,
the cast's real-life mamas made cameos
alongside their famous kids.
Now, that's what I call two well-mannered young men.
LL COOL J: She did excellent. She did better
than I thought she would do. I was nervous.
I thought she was gonna be... [babbling]
O'DONNELL: She was rehearsing at home, though, yesterday.
Well, yeah, 'cause I have one line.
It was like Peter Brady running around the house saying,
"Hark. Who goes there?"
Hark. Who goes there?
She was doing it all the different ways possible.
Someone certainly taught them well.
It was really fun to see the moms, especially when they,
you know, they call cut, and then all the moms
kind of turn to each other and kind of go...
[babbling] "Oh, my God, oh, my God."
JEANNE OLSEN: It was a once-in-a-lifetime experienc,
and I wouldn't give it up for anything.
♪
[cheering, applause]
Just catching bad guys in my frills.
OLSEN: I'm not exactly sure how we end up undercover
at this dance club.
All I know is that, uh, Dani's doing
a lot of fantastic dancing, and I am, uh,
I am running the men's room attendant.
RUAH: I forgot how happy dance makes me.
There's, like, this "zing" that comes up in your body.
OLSEN: She won't talk about this, but she was on
Dancing with the Stars in Portugal,
and I think she won.
FRAZIER: Yeah, she did.
And another thing Dani always gets asked about:
- her different-colored eyes. - RUAH: I have a birthmark
in my black eye, which makes it black.
Otherwise, they would both be hazel.
I was born with it. [laughs]
It doesn't affect my vision.
FRAZIER: And as we look back on some of the show's
most memorable moments,
it wasn't until season seven that G. Callen
finally found out his name.
I was excited myself.
[both laugh]
It took a little while.
We started out, I didn't even know my name.
- [both laugh] - Oh, my God.
Tell them what it stands for.
- Grisha. - Oh, yeah. [laughs]
Grisha?
Grisha Aleksandrovich Nikolaev Callen.
- [laughs] - I love it. I love it.
O'DONNELL: I didn't want to know. I-I...
I just thought it was fun to let the writers go
and-and take the ride with them.
FRAZIER: Kensi and Deeks' relationship
was also quite the ride.
After four proposals,
Densi said "I do" in season te.
The wedding is here.
O'DONNELL: They're getting married overlooking the ocean,
in a beautiful setting here.
Callen and I are giving Kensi away.
[cheering, applause]
The fans are finally getting what they've been hoping for
all these years.
[cheering]
FOA: But it was really fun
to see... [laughs]
Barrett fail.
FRAZIER: But one thing fans didn't get..
Barrett and I were always pulling for a musical episode.
[laughs]
FOA: We did have
our-our candy cane dance moment.
- Wow. - ♪ Toys♪
♪ Toys, toys for tots.♪
FOA: Renée and I choreographed that ourself.
Yo, a lot of pyro, lot of explosions.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Fire in the hole.
FRAZIER: From fires to fistfights,
the intense action.
You wake up the next day. "What happened to me?"
FRAZIER: Plus, set life on location.
We shot at every L.A. sort of monument.
OLSEN: These sea lions would come up
and they'd be like... [imitates barking]
♪
DIRECTOR: Three, two, one, action!
- I could use some help here! - [gunshots]
LL COOL J: The coolest thing about the show to me is that...
...when you're doing it, everything is so real.
Get down!
When you're running from,
you know, these explosions...
...when I'm jumping over cars...
[tires screech]
...like, I'm really doing it.
Where else in the world do you get paid
to run around firing guns and driving cars?
I've lived ten lives, you know, doing this,
because every week is, like, a huge adventure.
So many fights, so many shoot-outs,
so many crazy stunts.
Up steps, down steps,
jumping off a balcony,
shooting backwards, looking up.
I still think back to that, like--
I think this was season one or two.
I had one thing, I ran out of this building,
and every ten feet, another bomb would go off.
The explosions we had in this show,
it was just unbelievable,
some of the things they did.
But it was incredible,
because they would get it all set,
there'd be a big safety meeting.
They'd say, "Okay, we're going hot."
DIRECTOR: Nine cameras are speeding.
We're going hot on the effect.
- And then they'd yell, "Action." - DIRECTOR: Background. Action!
And these bombs just start going, and flames.
- It became second nature and... - It was amazing.
DIRECTOR: That's how we do it on NCIS: L.A.
[cheering, applause]
LL COOL J: A lot of pyro,
lot of explosions, lot of guns.
It was, it was fun.
FRAZIER: From the start, NCIS: Los Angeles
came out guns a-blazing and full of action.
In 2012, the show earned an Emmy nod for its stunts,
and over 14 seasons, fans saw it all.
- DIRECTOR: Action! - [grunting]
LL COOL J: I've been sore for ten years.
I'm always sore. [laughs]
OLSEN: This is what I went to college for.
[babbles]
The best stunt that I've done is the, uh,
is the fight scene with LL Cool J.
That's all me.
[cheering]
I learned that choreography in literally,
like, 20 minutes.
Uh, Todd is the most professional,
in control, total stud athlete.
- [grunts] - LL COOL J: This is, uh,
for me, it's like a dream come true.
I'm like a kid in a candy store.
[grunts]
RUAH: During that MMA episode,
he actually got punched by LL accidentally.
OLSEN: We're going through the steps
and it just all of a sudden connects,
- and I just go... - [laughs] Just "boink."
I'm, like, 185 pounds.
LL Cool J is 230 pounds of muscle.
So it hurts a little bit.
SAM: Yeah.
Laid him out like Sunday supper.
OLSEN: I just ran through
about seven alleys and, like,
kung fu-fought a guy in that alley right there.
RUAH: He's, like, reading the script, going,
"Why didn't they call in my brother?"
I can tell you what my brother's doing right now: he's surfing.
My brother is surfing while I'm fighting people
in an alley going, "Where is my double?"
- DEEKS: Really? - FRAZIER: Yes, you heard it right.
Eric's stunt double is his older brother
and former Navy SEAL Dave.
Dave is now married to Daniela in real life.
But don't worry, we'll get to that love story
a little later.
My brother is so fun to have on set.
He's so good at his job.
Like, that first giant explosion,
he jumped up, and as it did,
the fireball just wrapped around him.
Like, he's done some unbelievable stunts on the sho.
Stunts that I wish that I had done.
That's such a question that Dani would have, like,
five answers to, 'cause she's so into, like,
her knife fights and everything.
God, I-I have so many things that I want to say right now,
and it's not coming out fast enough,
because that's how passionate I am about
the action sequences in our, on our show.
[grunting]
I would literally ask writers to write me more,
you know, fight sequences.
This is how somebody gets hurt.
OLSEN: She's throwing real punches every time,
and if I don't block them, she's gonna hit me in the face.
Those are my favorite parts of the show.
- [shouts] - Yeah? How do you like that?
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.
So, the hand-to-hand combat was mostly me,
um, but everything else is Kim. [laughs]
[grunts]
[yells]
I love every stunt that they let me do.
Recently, we had the crossover episode,
and we were in this crazy, like, airplane graveyard,
and, uh, my character had
to jump off the wing of a plane
onto a perpetrator.
They let me jump, but obviously, onto a big,
cushioned, you know, surface.
But I felt really cool doing it.
[laughs]
Shooting on location, I love those days.
Literally, this job is how I learned how to get around L.A.
L.A. is another character on this show,
so we got to show her love.
If you're gonna get shot at, you might as well
do it in the sunshine.
Being all over L.A., I mean, we w...
we went to every part of L.A.
I've been in alleyways. I know restaurants.
- Water treatment plants. - You know, water treatment plants.
I know it all. I know all the spots.
- All the good spots. - But it was great. To shoot
at all the iconic locations was pretty amazing.
That's got to be near the L.A. Forum.
That is the Forum.
Boom. Didn't even need MapQuest.
I mean, I remember seeing Linda
having this amazing scene in the Hollywood Bowl.
I was like, how did we get tha?
Bob's Marionette Theater?
♪ Another opening♪
♪ Another show...♪
We've shot in Long Beach where it was LL's birthday,
and we were shooting at a fish market,
and these sea lions would come up
and they'd be like... [imitates barking]
And so for, uh, LL's birthday,
he was taking the fish and chucking it to the sea lios
in the middle of Long Beach.
He and I were laughing so hard, like two eight-year-olds
just so excited to feed fish to sea lions.
That was a great day.
Got hit by a car today. That was a lot of fun.
FRAZIER: We're throwing it back to when the cast made
their prime time debut.
We were lucky we jumped in to NCIS'sshow.
I'm definitely hoping that the spin-off, uh, goes ahead.
FRAZIER: Plus, the real story behind Dani and Dave's romance.
RUAH: I looked down, I was like, "Wow, that guy's attractive."
[laughs] The rest is history.
FRAZIER: A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles:
An Entertainment Tonight Special will continue. This is CBS.
♪
Chris, Dani, Eric, Todd.
You guys killed it, man. 14 years.
And, uh, just, well done. Well done, guys.
VALDERRAMA: To all my brothers, uh, and sisters over there
at, uh,NCIS: L.A., um, I love you guys.
And you guys know how I feel about you.
So good luck, break a leg.
COLE: To everyone atNCIS: L.A.,
best of luck.
Cheers.
LAW: Thank you for holding down theNCIS fort
and, uh, representing, and then, uh,
who knows, maybe you pop over to our show every now and then.
Hmm.
FRAZIER: Oh, yeah, you see, that's some love right there
from theNCIS flagship.
You know,NCIS: L.A. was the first of three spin-offs
from the show, making its debut back in 2009.
But get this: the O.G., starring Mark Harmon,
actually branched off
from the hit seriesJAG in 2003.
Now, we first met Callen, Sam, Kensi and Beale
in a two-partNCIS episode that served
as a backdoor pilot for L.A.
So what was it like on set for that very first scene?
- ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: A mark! - DIRECTOR: Action!
[tires screech]
Yes, I got hit by a car today. That was a lot of fun.
It's my first, uh, I s-- yeah, big American job,
so, uh, I'm pretty excited.
- Are you trying to get under my skin? - Is it working?
O'DONNELL: I'm at the table read onNCIS,
and, uh, I remember we walked in that room,
and I'm just meeting everybody.
I'm like, "I remember watching him
- onFriday Night Videos, you know?" - Yeah.
♪ Don't call it a comeback♪
♪ I been here for years...♪
O'DONNELL: You got my man here, and...
and, uh, and then, the cast came in
from the original show, and they were like a family.
We're like-- I'm looking around, going, uh,
"Is this group gonna be close like that group?"
- And you just don't know. - Oh, wow.
O'DONNELL: If you look back, the journey
and the friendships and the bonds, it's incredible.
And we absolutely do have that relationship
that we saw the other cast had.
FRAZIER: And just like the original,
NCIS: L.A. has been at the forefront
of telling stories that matter.
O'DONNELL: What Sam went throuh with his wife dying,
and stuff like that.
And-and my character was searching for his parents
and-and their relationships with Hetty.
And there-there are certain episodes
where it's-it's action and fun,
and then there's some where you're kind of digging deep.
FRAZIER: Honoring the military is another mission
that's highly personal to this team.
LL COOL J: My-my grandfather was in the Army,
um, my dad was in the Navy.
So I believe in this country,
I believe in what the military does
and I believe in supporting the troops.
And, uh, as-- My character's a former Navy SEAL,
so it-it just, it's a lot of fun to-to...
- to be able to represent! - [cheering]
I think you got to celebrate the people
that put their lives on the line.
You know, I-I do believe, as, uh, as somebody
that has a brother-in-law
that's done seven tours as an E.O.D.
and a brother that is a former Navy SEAL,
that you got to celebrate the people
that are willing to go out thee and put their lives
on the line every single day to-to give us this opportunity.
McRANEY: They have touched on some
controversial subjects from time to time.
But their overall emphasis is on entertainment.
They never preached.
They would take a point of vie, but they didn't preach.
They entertained with it.
FRAZIER: Entertaining with a message
is what madeNCIS: L.A. so compelling.
Consider this: it's one of the first American TV shows
to feature a series regular wearing a hijab.
Special Agent Fatima Namazi.
RAHIMI: It was always a character with a hijab.
That was always the plan.
Went into the audition with a headscarf on.
Um, yeah, I think that they-they really wanted
to represent that, um,
so they wanted to find someone who-who emulated that.
We've made a point of sort of
shining a light on certain issues,
whether it was Asian American hate,
whether it was LGBTQ in the military,
whether it was police brutality against African Americans.
- Out of the car. - Hey, w-whoa!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
It was very, very important for me to tackle that
and tell that story in a way that also
reflected, like, my life.
Super important for me as a young Black male.
Unless Rountree murdered somebody this morning,
there's no explanation for this.
FRAZIER: And then there are the fierce women ofNCIS: L.A.,
giving us strong, independent
and empowered role models for generations to come.
Out of the car.
[over radio]: Weapon.
RUAH: I presumed,
in my 24 years of age,
that if I'm going to be strong and intelligent
and a go-getter and all this stuff,
that I had to perform, like, kind of stiff
and very poised
and-and once I fell into being more at ease
with the character and knowing that I could be strong
and tough and capable and smar,
but also a goofball, it kind of changed everything.
And that was the empowering thing.
To be an example for other young women...
Actually, I have a great story.
I went home to New York for the summer,
and this person, she said,
"I just want to tell you that Nell Jones
"makes all that tech stuff look cool.
"And my daughter sees that, and she sees you,
and you've helped her see herself."
OLSEN: It is the difference of entertainment
from when I was a kid, like,
what an '80s hero looks like versus now.
Like, the fact that my two daughters,
when they get to watch their aunt,
like, as the toughest person in the room,
I think it's, whether it's conscious or subconscious,
I think it's an absolute necessity
for-for us to have, you know...
...those-those heroes.
FRAZIER: Coming up in our Salute to NCIS: L.A.,
the family behind the scenes.
McRANEY: She's married to her on-screen husband's brother.
So, it's...
FRAZIER: And remembering a fallen legen.
Miguel was special, man.
Even in his last weeks of life, he never missed a table read.
♪
That guy there-- the really cute one--
so you think it's Deeks? It's not Deeks.
That's my husband.
RUAH [with British accent]: Right in the back there.
They're interacting in a very interesting way.
Perhaps we can get closer and observe them... in the wild.
That's my husband right there!
McRANEY: She's married to her on-screen husband's brother.
So, it's...
a strange family dynamic.
You are so not my type.
RAHIMI: Oh, boy.
Talk about family drama. No, I'm just kidding.
[laughs] They're so great.
[laughs]
CASTILLE: I'm like, "You guys are
like brother and sister."
Like, the conversations, the...
you know, the little bickering back and forth.
God. Now they're gonna air this.
This is the worst part about your bad decisions.
How does it...?
God, no.
- Yes. - Do you know how much time we spend...?
- We do, actually, don't we? - Yes.
- [beeps] - [both making retching sound]
- [beep] - Now. Bam. Done. Cut.
- [laughter] - You got it. It was great.
RUAH: Eric joined us, uh, end of season one,
and he said, "You need to meet my brother."
And then I met Eric's now-wife- at the time, girlfriend-- Sara.
And she was like, "You need to meet Dave.
You need to meet Dave."
Eric and Sarah invited me to go to a friend's house.
Dave was there, and he...
They were playing, uh,
touch football or something like that.
And the ball came flying in my direction,
and he kind of, like, flew and caught the ball
and fell at my feet.
And I looked down, and I said, "What's up?"
And I didn't know that was Eric's brother at the time.
I looked down, and I was like, "Wow, that guy's attractive."
Turns out it was Dave, turns out the attraction was mutual,
and turns out we got married and had two kids.
[laughing]: The rest is history.
FRAZIER: In 2013, Dave and Dani had their first son, River,
just four months after Eric and Sarah welcomed his cousin Wyat.
Then, in 2016, both women gave birth to girls
just three weeks apart.
- Eric definitely got the brunt of it. - Comes home,
and he's like, "Man, phew, Dani today." And I'm like,
"What are you talking about? What do you mean?"
- [laughing] Just like... - [laughing]
RUAH: I remember the first time
the cast ever went out to dinner together.
And it was season one, so at the time,
I was like, "Oh, my God, I'm having dinner
with Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Oh, my God."
And now I'm just like, "Yeah, what's up, bro?"
They're my brothers. [laughs]
I love them so much.
LL COOL J: I think when you work
this closely with people for so long, we have a real rapport
and a real relationship with them.
We're going to always know each other and always be friends.
I mean, it's just, this is what it is.
CASTILLE: The relationships that you see on camera,
the chemistry that you see there, is-is due to the fact
that we all have great relationships outside of work.
RAHIMI: It is like a family.
That's what was so beautiful
about the show, is it really was a family.
FRAZIER: And just like any family,
the cast faced some heartbreaking losses.
In January 2017, their beloved costar,
Miguel Ferrer, passed away after battling throat cancer.
His final episode as NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger
aired February 19, 2017.
His loss is still felt.
Yeah, it's tough. Miguel was tough.
You can watch his last couple episodes. He was...
He was really struggling.
RUAH: And the fact that
even though he was...
Even in his last weeks of life,
he never missed a table read. He came
to every table read.
OLSEN: I just assumed that
he was going to get better like he did the time before.
And then when he passed away, like...
Didn't get a chance to...
Uh, we didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him.
RUAH: After he passed, his wife
came up to me, and,
um... she said, "You know,
Miguel was always really shy on the red carpets and stuff."
She said, "He would wait for you to arrive."
'Cause I'm obviously, like, big and loud and whatever.
And she's like, "He would wait for you to arrive
so he could walk down the carpet with you."
His last red carpet, I was super pregnant with my daughte,
and I kept yelling out that it was his baby. [laughs]
You know, and he laughed, and we laughed together.
He was...
...a big storyteller.
I mean, he was the epitome of a Hollywood baby, right?
SMITH: He grew up
in old Hollywood, and he was
just a wealth of information.
Frank Sinatra was in his living room when he was a kid
because his mom was Rosemary Clooney,
and I mean, just...
You know, and his cousin George Clooney.
We got inside tips about George's wedding.
SMITH: You know,
that's not normal life. [laughs]
LL COOL J: Miguel was special, man.
Uh, you know,
he was Miguel Bond to me. He was the coolest dude.
And I saw him-- He rolled up on a horse one day,
one of these seasons. He, like, rolled up so cool.
Like, yo, Miguel was
the coolest dude on the planet.
Yo, he was hilarious. He was amazing.
Good memories.
It's hard for me to even put into words.
14 years is one-third of my life.
FRAZIER: The cast reflects on their journey, but if you think
they left the set empty-handed, oh, think again.
LL COOL J: I was thinking about putting the boatshed
- in my backyard. - [laughing]
♪
- What am I doing? Praying? - RUAH: Not so much here.
Okay, this is going to be on national television.
[laughs] Okay.
REPORTER: Can you describe NCIS
only using the letters N,C, I and S?
Wow.
New.
Classic.
Uh, NCIS.Hmm, geez.
Inspiring, did you say? Yes.
Sexy.
Really?
- Okay. You ready? - [laughing]
Yeah. What was the question?
"Never ceases..."
"...to interrupt...
the sexy." [laughs]
That's the worst thing I've ever said on camera.
- What did Chris say? - Sexy.
Same thing? Oh, my God.
[laughter]
I'm on the catwalk with...
♪ I'm too sexy for this uniform.♪
FRAZIER: You know, it wasn't always hard work and chasing
bad guys for theNCIS: L.A. cast.
[laughs]
FRAZIER: And after 14 years on a set,
it starts to feel like a second home.
So, what do you do when it's time to say goodbye?
You take some keepsakes.
I got all the goodies.
[both laughing]
LL COOL J: I got all the goodies.
Nah, I just wanted my, um...
- O'DONNELL: I got my vest. - LL COOL J: I got my vest.
- Um, I got my badge. - Oh, you did?
- Yeah, I got the badge. - I need to...
- I need to get my badge. - You like that? You like that, huh?
Yeah, you kind of one-upped me there.
RUAH: I took a lot of Kensi clothes because,
come on, those boots, those jeans,
those sweaters, those plaid shirts. [laughs]
So we always had two badges in case
one got lost. We had two badges.
And I asked for both badges
so I could eventually give one to each kid.
I'd be like, "Look."
And on the badges is still my photograph from season one.
So... [laughing]
OLSEN: If you, uh, watch the finale,
I'm wearing a pink blazer to the wedding.
And I literally took that,
uh, and then wore it to the wrap party.
And a bunch of Jordans.
Wearing them right now. Just go like that. Yup.
I got to snag a few clothes and some shoes.
I just took my chair back,
and I took a lot of wardrobe. [laughs] I...
Rountree's got a good wardrobe.
LL COOL J: I want to make sure I get a Sam Hanna outfit
and a Callen outfit.
I want that, as well, so I can put it
in one of those shadow boxes.
I'm trying to pack up
the rental house that we've had in Encino
and move all of that stuff to Florida.
And when I thought about taking something
from the set, it was like,
"What are you thinking of?
"You got enough crap to haul to the other side of the country.
Get over it."
FRAZIER: But it's not really goodbye for this cast, 'cause
once you're family, you're always family.
And let's not forget about the group text.
I'll text him dumb stuff, and he will me,
as much as I would my best friends
from college or high school.
There's a couple of different ones, which is interesting.
You got LL Cool J on a text thread,
you don't want to just be hitting it every day.
That's LL.
So that one's... You-you save the special stuff
for-for the one with everybody on it.
Just pick up the damn phone and talk to me.
McRANEY: Everybody in that cast I want to see again.
I've given everybody my number.
They know where I'm moving. It's, uh.... yeah, you know.
- O'DONNELL: I will see him more... - LL COOL J: Yeah.
O'DONNELL: ...now that we're not working.
It's my man. Like, we...
Look, we worked together for 14 years.
He's got a little BabyBjoörn.
He's going to carry me around town.
- [laughing] - Just kind of cozy in there.
It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great.
Chris needs some milk.
[both laughing]
Here's to happy endings and new beginnings.
OLSEN: What is the thing that I will miss the most?
And when you have a kid
that moves out here from Iowa with $500
in his pocket with, like, the hopes and dreams
of doing something special, you can't ask for more than that,
which is to go to work with people you love
and get to do something that-that you care about
and to tell stories that sometimes,
much to my surprise, like, mattered to people.
I-I mean, I don't understand how you can't miss that.
I'm going to miss this.
And I think we did good work here.
We did great work.
I look around, and these are the people
who I'll remember for the rest of my life.
FOA: You hear from other cast members,
you hear from other crew members
how these other shows... They're like, "Nothing is like this."
We are on something very special.
You really have to remember to cherish it,
um, and I think we did.
Now that it's all over, how do I feel?
I feel super grateful.
I'm... so grateful
to have been a part of something,
to be a part of history, reall.
RUAH: I got to be a part of it
with those particular people, that particular cast,
that particular crew, those particular directors.
This particular network.
My God.
Pinch me.
It's time, and we're good.
I think we're fine with it.
I think, at the end of the day, would we have continued? Sure.
But if this is... But the time is right.
- We ended on top. - Yeah.
You know, we ended on top,
and-and that's a beautiful thing.
- That was a pretty sweet moment. - Yeah.
I've had a lot of those over the years.
FRAZER: You know, this empty soundstage
holds a lot of memories.
Lifelong friendships were forged here.
Great television was created.
Here's one last salute to the cast and crew
ofNCIS: Los Angeles.
Keep believing in the beauty of your dreams.
Thank you for sharing this journey with us.
Thank you for riding with us.
And, uh, you know, the best is yet to come.
Amen.
I'll leave it to my preacher.
♪
Captioning sponsored by CBS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org