NCIS Origins won’t survive without one actor’s on-screen appearance: Mark Harman’s physical appearance in NCIS Origins is crucial for establishing the show’s premise and attracting viewers. CBS can get creative with staging Harmon’s cameo, potentially through his character writing a book about his time with the agency. NCIS Origins will premiere as part of CBS’s 2024-2025 TV schedule, debuting Austin Stow as the new version of young Gibbs.
The Importance of Mark Harmon’s Role in NCIS Origins
NCIS Origins has its cast already locked in but is still missing one more character who could spell the show’s success for years. CBS has been finding ways to further capitalize on the police procedural’s popularity by launching shows that focus on satellite offices of the agency. That said, NCIS’s new expansion show will tackle Gibbs’ early years with the organization, tracking his arc until he becomes the Major Case Response Team’s (MCRT) leader as first seen in its JAG backdoor pilot and then eventually for almost two decades in the main show. NCIS Origins is recasting young Gibbs, who was initially played by Sean Harmon, Mark Harmon’s son. Austin Stowell, a friend of the family and the star of The Hating Game, has been confirmed to play the lead role in the prequel.
CBS is surrounding him with a mix of familiar and new characters. Young Mike Franks and Vera Strickland will be played by Kyle Schmid and Johnny Rodriguez respectively. Meanwhile, fresh characters like Mariel Molino as Special Agent Lala Dominguez and Tyla Abume as Field Operation Support Officer Mary Joe Sullivan round out the core cast.
Why Mark Harmon Needs to Make On-Screen Appearances in NCIS Origins
Harmon’s appearance will help establish Stowell’s new Gibbs. Amid all of this, Harmon remains involved. In fact, the idea of doing NCIS Origins came from him and his son, as they are executive producing the project. The prequel also serves as the actor’s return to the franchise a couple of years after retiring from the role in the flagship project. Besides working behind the scenes, Harmon will also narrate the events of NCIS Origins, a storytelling trick inspired by Jim Parsons’ role in Young Sheldon, which proved to be very successful for CBS. Beyond that, however, he also needs to make a physical appearance for the prequel to work.
Physically featuring Harmon will help disseminate information about what NCIS Origins is really about. Harmon will always be synonymous with Gibbs and NCIS, so Stowell has his work cut out for him. That’s unavoidable when it comes to any kind of recasting for a popular character. However, physically featuring Harmon will help disseminate information about what NCIS Origins is really about. If CBS markets it as his return to the franchise, more people may be inclined to check it out. Once that happens, they can hope viewers are convinced to stick around for the new show, assuming that it is objectively good.
How Mark Harmon’s NCIS Origins Cameo Can Happen
CBS can get creative when staging Harmon’s NCIS Origins cameo. As a prequel, a straightforward cameo is impossible. However, NCIS Origins can use Harmon’s appearance as a way to establish the show’s premise. Perhaps while Gibbs is retired in Alaska, he starts writing a book chronicling his time with the agency. This is arguably the easiest way to stage a physical cameo from Harmon without demanding him to appear in every episode. It’s worth noting that he left NCIS because the filming schedule was proving to be too grueling for him, and they couldn’t scale back on his role the way the show did for David McCallum’s Ducky.