NCIS's star Gary Cole is approaching five years as the lead of the CBS hit, and as the series continues on the 2026 TV schedule, he's opening up about how Mark Harmon's exit "baffled" him. Specifically, he was shocked by how it all came together, and he reflected on the suddenness and overall uncertainty that was felt when the former lead decided to step away.
As we now know, there were producers who felt NCIS would die when Mark Harmon announced his exit. The series' heads didn't have a lot of time to make a decision, and Cole spoke to that while appearing on co-stars Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover's Partners & Probies podcast:
I was actually surprised at the circumstances from what I understood, and you may know more about it than I do, because it’s a behind-the-scenes type of thing. I was surprised that there was no definite plan when Mark exited. First of all, I was baffled as to when they knew it, how quickly it was before the 19th season was supposed to start, and when he was making this decision. So it all seemed very hurried to me.
As mentioned, NCIS hadn't planned for a reality in which it would continue without Mark Harmon's Gibbs. Some thought it'd just be best to close out the flagship series, and even went to work planning on how to proceed in the early stages after learning about Harmon's decision.
It seems silly in hindsight, but a reality at the time. Gary Cole admitted he couldn't believe that Mark Harmon hadn't thought through what might happen to NCIS if he left, though he admitted he didn't know him as well as others on the cast:
And it also surprised me that he didn’t consider that if he left, the show might not continue. I don’t know if that’s true or not.
Gary Cole has previously said there were initial discussions to end NCIS after Mark Harmon left, and Brian Dietzen reconfirmed that during this latest conversation. The latter also confirmed the possibility of the show ending weighed on Harmon, and ultimately, he and the team decided on a transitional period in which Gibbs would be phased out as a new head of the team, Alden Parker, was introduced.
This culminated in a four-episode run in Season 19, which concluded in Episode 4 during a mission in Alaska. There were downsides to how it played out, specifically when it came to characters not being able to say a proper goodbye, but ultimately, Cole was happy with it:
I think the best decision they made was that it wasn’t Mark exiting cleanly before the season began. He’s going to begin the season, and no one really knows how that pans out, and then they built an extraordinary — I think — television moment in the way they exited him from the show. I always say it made sense that I was kind of side by side in that storyline, so it wasn’t like he does four shows, and then in the fifth show, there’s a knock on the door, and I go, ‘Hi, I’m the new guy!’
Alden Parker's arrival on NCIS wasn't just a success, Brian Dietzen said the CBS series was legitimately performing against ratings heavy hitters like Monday Night Football. Even Gary Cole admitted he was surprised to see viewership rise the way it did, expecting some wane from fans unsure about a new lead character.
That's all in the past, as NCIS fans are now worried more about whether Torres or Jessica Knight will get together, or how LL Cool J's new spinoff will impact the franchise. It's a credit to the writing and Gary Cole's acting that Alden Parker fit in, and the characters got back to solving murders.
NCIS continues with new episodes on CBS on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and episodes are available on streaming for those with a Paramount+ subscription. I'm very invested in where things are going in these upcoming episodes, and how Parker may convince a passing-through Sam Hanna to set up shop in New York.
