CBS‘ NCIS — the show that launched a 1,040-plus episode franchise after being spun off of JAG (of course) — will mark another milestone midway through Season 23, when it airs its 500th episode.
What’s the early plan to commemorate the occasion? (Besides another cake shaped like a number, that is.)
Adam Campbell and Sean Harmon in Episode 400Courtesy of CBS
To recap, NCIS‘ 200th episode saw Gibbs experiencing Mike Franks flashbacks in the midst of a diner standoff with an unknown gunman; No. 250 featured an appearance by Robert Wagner as DiNozzo Sr.; Episode 300 boasted a very special guest star turn by Taye Diggs, as the “gunny” survivor of a firefight, plus some flashbacks for Gibbs; Episode 400 told the story of When a Circa-1980 Gibbs Met Ducky. Oh, and the franchise’s 1,000th total episode was chockablock with callbacks to the series’ pilot, and featured one of its biggest guest stars ever.
TVLine checked in with NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder on the very early thinking about 5-0-0.
“The only early thought is the same thought that we had for 250, 300, 400, 1,000th, which is to do something really special and worthy of that number, and what does that look like?” he said. “At various times, it’s been about going back to the pilot. At one time, it was going back to when Gibbs and Ducky first met, or having the case span the entire history of the show.”
Binder (politely) asked if I had any ideas, and it was all I could do to not pitch, again, the secret office romance between Special Agents Key and Knight, also featuring a high-octane helicopter chase.
“It’s not that we don’t have ideas,” he quickly made clear. “It’s just, which one’s worthy of this [milestone]?”
How do you think NCIS might celebrate its 500th episode with Season 23, Episode 13? Could this be when Gibbs finally resurfaces? Or should it be McGee-centric, since Sean Murray is the longest-running series regular?
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