You Won’t Believe How ‘NCIS’ Got Its Start on ‘JAG’ – Here’s the Shocking Truth!

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  • What’s ‘JAG’ All About?
  • ‘NCIS‘s Debut on ‘JAG’

The series known as NCIS stands among the most recognized TV shows due to its 22 seasons and over 450 episodes, making it one of the longest-running scripted primetime programs on broadcast television. Not only that, but this show has led to five other spin-offs, some of which have had extended runs. The newest addition to this family, NCIS: Origins, focuses on a younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs as he begins his career. It’s interesting to note that you might not realize it, but NCIS is actually a spin-off itself!

Much of the principal cast and settings for NCIS were initially presented to audiences during the eighth season of CBS’ JAG. Similar to its successors, JAG was also a long-running drama series based on military procedures. It ran for 10 seasons and 227 episodes from 1995 to 2005, which are quite impressive numbers until you consider that NCIS has surpassed these milestones significantly. It’s unusual for a spin-off to outperform its original series, but this is exactly what NCIS achieved. Interestingly, some viewers might not even be aware that it was actually a spin-off. So, how did JAG pave the way for one of the most renowned drama franchises? If you’re curious about where the NCIS storyline originated, you might want to watch this series. Let’s delve into it then.

What’s ‘JAG’ All About?

The TV shows under the NCIS franchise, along with its spin-offs, accumulate over 1,000 episodes across close to 50 seasons of broadcasting. Among long-running series by season count, NCIS comes in fifth place, following The Simpsons (36), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (26), regular Law & Order (24), and Family Guy (23). It’s quite an achievement for a show that started as a spin-off, called a ‘backdoor pilot.’ To put it simply, a backdoor pilot is an individual episode of a series that introduces characters for the spin-off. In this case, the NCIS characters were not regular members of JAG; they only appeared in their debut episode. Now, you might be wondering what JAG stands for. Well, JAG is short for ‘Judge Advocate General,’ referring to the legal branch of the U.S. military.

Similar to the TV show NCIS, JAG (which stands for Judge Advocate General) is also an abbreviation. This term represents legal advisors within the US military branches. David James Elliott portrayed Harmon Rabb Jr., the main character and Judge Advocate General in the JAG corps. The cast included Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts Jr., John M. Jackson as Albert Jethro Chegwidden, Tracey Needham as Meg Austin, Scott Lawrence as Sturgis Turner, and Zoe McLellan as Jennifer Coates.

As a fan, I’ve found a captivating blend of series that seems to have been tailored just for me. The shows, reminiscent of ‘Law & Order’, often take their plotlines from real-life events, making them feel alarmingly close to home. In these stories, I find myself immersed in investigations, working on criminal cases, and even collaborating with the CIA every now and then. There’s a dash of military/police action, much like NCIS, but it’s intertwined with the legal drama that Law & Order is known for. Interestingly, despite NCIS being synonymous with CBS, its roots actually trace back to an NBC series called JAG. After one season on NBC, it moved to CBS, where it stayed for the next nine. Later, Elliott, Bell, Labyorteaux, and Jackson reprised their roles from JAG in several episodes of both NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles.

‘NCIS’s Debut on ‘JAG’

The pilot episode for NCIS was presented as a two-part series within the eighth season of JAG, which was broadcast on April 22 and 29, 2003. (Spoilers ahead) These episodes, titled “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown,” were instrumental in introducing main characters such as Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Thomas Morrow (Alan Dale), Ducky Mallard (David McCollum), and Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette). The NCIS team was summoned to examine a mysterious case when the remains of a young Navy officer were discovered in a forest near a river.

The JAG team collaborates with them to locate Lieutenant Loren Singer’s body; Harmon Rabb is suspected in this case. Abby Sciuto gathers evidence, much of which suggests Rabb’s potential guilt, leading to his arrest by Gibbs. However, as more findings emerge in the subsequent stages of their investigation, they divert from suspecting Rabb. Eventually, they manage to identify the actual culprit and exonerate Rabb.

In the autumn of 2003, CBS debuted a series called NCIS, which remains on air today. For its initial run, it was referred to as Navy NCIS, but the “Navy” was eventually dropped because the “N” in NCIS already signifies Naval. One significant alteration from the JAG pilot’s storyline is the character of Vivian Blackadder (played by Robyn Lively), who was a key member of the NCIS team in the JAG pilot. However, Vivian does not join the cast of NCIS and is never seen again after that. As of NCIS’s 22nd season, none of the original cast members from either the JAG pilot or the first season are still part of the show. Sean Murray (Tim McGee) and Brian Dietzen (Jimmy Palmer), who currently lead the series, were recurring characters during that first season, but they did not have starring roles at that time.

The TV show NCIS has traveled quite a distance from its initial years and its roots in JAG. Yet, it remains one of the most successful programs on television, demonstrating no signs of decreasing popularity. It’s remarkable that NCIS has surpassed its predecessor series so extensively. Some episodes of JAG can be found on Paramount+, with the entire series streamable for free on Amazon Prime Video.

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2025-02-09 03:32