NCIS (TV series)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "NCIS_(TV_series)".

NCIS
NCIS main cast
Format	Police procedural Drama
Starring	see below
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	113 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 42 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	September 23, 2003 – present
Chronology
Related shows	JAG
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

NCIS is an Emmy Award Nominated American police procedural television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The concept and characters were initially introduced in a two-part episode of the CBS series JAG (episodes 8.20 and 8.21). The show premiered on September 23, 2003 on CBS. Its executive producer is Donald Bellisario. ^[1]

NCIS is scheduled to return for a sixth season in the 2008-2009 CBS schedule. The date set is September 23, 2008^[2]

Overview

NCIS is a television show that follows a fictional team of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Major Case Response Team (MCRT) special agents, headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.. It is described by the actors and producers (on special features on DVD releases in the USA) as being distinguished by its comedy elements, ensemble acting and character-driven plots.

As NCIS is a federal law enforcement agency with jurisdiction on crimes involving persons and property associated with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, the team is frequently assigned to high-profile cases such as the death of the President's nuclear missile aide, a bomb situation on a U.S. Navy warship, the death of a celebrity on a reality show set on a USMC base, terrorist threats, and kidnappings.

In a number of episodes on NCIS, Mark Harmon's character, Gibbs is seen wearing an old shirt with NIS written on it. This is not a mistake, as Navy veterans will often point out. Prior to it becoming NCIS, it was the NIS. This also effectively plays into the idea that Gibbs has been with NCIS for quite some time — longer than the others

The communications facility above the main office floor known as MTAC stands for Multiple Threat Alert Center and is restricted to specific personnel by sophisticated retina scanning technology.

The ensemble acting approach means that the 'stars' include relatively minor characters and even extends to some recurring characters. There are 7 permanent characters credited at the beginning of season 5. Guest stars usually appear in only one episode.

Cast

Main article: Characters of NCIS

† - indicates character is deceased.

Naming the show

Prior to the launch of the first season, advertisements on CBS identified the show as "Naval CIS." By the time of the launch of the first episode, NCIS was airing under the name Navy NCIS, the name it held for the entire first season. Since the "N" in NCIS stands for "Naval,” the name Navy NCIS was technically redundant (an example of RAS syndrome). The decision to use this name was reportedly made by CBS,^{citation needed} over the objections of Bellisario, in order to:

• Attract new viewers (particularly those of JAG), who might not know the NCIS abbreviation.
• Disambiguate between NCIS and the similarly-themed and similarly-spelled CBS series CSI and its spinoffs. (The original title, for instance, was often misquoted as Navy CSI.”)

After its successful first season, the name of the series was shortened to NCIS.

Episodes

Main article: List of NCIS episodes

Filming location

NCIS is set in Washington DC area but is filmed in Santa Clarita, CA ^[4]

• The sound stages are in Santa Clarita, California
• The series is shot throughout southern California

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of NCIS on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

NCIS has become a top 10 program in its fifth season, averaging 15.65 million viewers, while remaining impervious to tough reality competition including FOX's mega-hit American Idol.

NCIS, as well as repeats of old episodes, also constantly appear in the top-20 in Australia.

Changes

It was reported in May 2007 that NCIS creator and producer Donald Bellisario would be stepping down from the show.^[9] It turns out, due to a disagreement with series star Mark Harmon, that Bellisario's duties as "show runner" would be taken over by longtime show collaborators, including co-executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson and series writer Shane Brennan, with Bellisario retaining his title as Executive Producer. Associate Executive Producer is Matthew Gomizel, who previously worked on The Pretender.^[10]

DVD releases

Main article: NCIS DVD releases

The first season DVD release omits the two-part introductory episode that aired as part of the eighth season of JAG.

References

1. ^ Adalian, Josef (2007-05-06). "Bellisario to leave 'NCIS'". Variety. Retrieved on 2008-05-22.
2. ^ The Futon Critic: CBS ANNOUNCES NEW 2008-2009 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
3. ^ ^{a b c} http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2008/08/ncis-latest-from-tv-guide.html
4. ^ "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service" (2003) - Filming locations
5. ^ "I.T.R.S. Ranking Report" (June 2, 2004). 
6. ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2004-05 primetime wrap" (May 27, 2005). 
7. ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2005-06 primetime wrap" (May 26, 2006). 
8. ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap" (May 25, 2007). 
9. ^ The Hollywood_reporter: "Creator-producer Bellisario exits 'NCIS'"
10. ^ Exclusive: NCIS Boss Exits! from the TV Guide Editor's blog

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

NCIS (TV series)

• Official NCIS homepage at CBS
• NCIS at the Internet Movie Database
• "NCIS" at Yahoo! TV
• The Real NCIS