Mark Harmon mulled killing Gibbs on ‘NCIS.’ Now, at 75, he’s back in ‘Origins’
It’s Gibbs o’clock in the “NCIS” universe. Thank the TV gods.
As Mark Harmon returns as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on “NCIS: Origins” on Oct. 6 (CBS 10 p.m. ET/PT), nearly five years after dramatically leaving “NCIS,” it’s worth remembering: Harmon once floated the idea of killing off his beloved character.
In an exclusive September interview, Harmon, 75, told USA TODAY that during the extended period when the star actor was looking to move on from the character he had played for nearly two decades, he suggested finishing Gibbs off for good. It would have made for an epic, tragic, final “NCIS” episode.
“They approached all kinds of questions: Do we kill him? Do we not kill him?” Harmon says of his “NCIS” bosses, adding that he relished at least the discussion of killing Gibbs. “I was fine with it. It’s the life of an actor.”
“But it was met with a universal thumbs-down by many people,” Harmon adds. “That was a quick discussion.”
“Origins” executive producer David J. North, who was the showrunner for “NCIS” at the time, says the idea of killing Gibbs was Harmon’s, and that it was shot down relatively quickly.
“That was [Harmon], I’ll give you that exclusive,” North says, confirming the discussion. “He had talked about it at different times, different ways. Mark is a creative and wanted to go through every possibility. I certainly heard him out on that. But I will say that there was never a point in the process that had Gibbs being killed off.”
Harmon agreed to the ending where Gibbs goes on a work trip to Alaska, and stays behind to retire. It’s a beloved “NCIS” episode. And sure enough, keeping Gibbs alive paved the way for the older character to return in “NCIS: Origins,” the 2024 prequel, the brainchild of Harmon’s son, Sean Harmon, an executive producer.
With Austin Stowell playing the younger Gibbs at Camp Pendleton in the early 1990s, Harmon’s present-day Gibbs has served as the show’s rueful narrator, looking back from the Alaskan wilderness and passing on his untold story of Special Agent Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino), his colleague and complicated love interest whose fate has loomed over “Origins” from the beginning.
Gibbs gets shot in ‘Origins’ Episode 1!
In the upcoming Season 3, Harmon’s role will become even more prominent as Gibbs is called into a case he was involved in 34 years ago. Shockingly, older Gibbs gets shot in the bang-bang Episode 1 opening. Is it fatal? Not likely. But the stakes are so high in “Origins” Season 3, there’s no telling who might die in the drama.
“This was an enormous decision,” North says of the return. “It opens up the whole thing. We’ll see what happens.”
As Gibbs hilariously quotes “The Godfather” in the “Origins” trailer: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
How to watch ‘NCIS: Origins’
“NCIS: Origins” Season 3 airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, with new episodes arriving weekly. Harmon’s Gibbs will appear in all 10 episodes of Season 3. Paramount+ Premium subscribers can stream episodes live as they air on CBS. Paramount+ subscribers can watch them on demand the next day where Seasons 1 and 2 are available
