Posts with tag mark harmon
Posted Apr 8th 2008 2:41PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: TV Squad Polls, Watercooler Talk, NCIS, Casting, Reality-Free
Late last night,
TV Guide's Michael Ausiello put in print words that
NCIS fans didn't want to see: "
NCIS Star Goes AWOL!" As soon as the news hit the Internet, my inbox was flooded with emails asking if I knew who was set to leave the show at the end of the season. I poked my spoilers sources but no answers yet.
NCIS fans will remember that around the same time last year, we heard that
Mark Harmon wanted out because of creator Donald P. Bellisario. The latter accepted to reduce his involvement on the show so that Harmon would stay. So who is it this time? Could it be Harmon? Let's analyze the situation and make our predictions.
Continue reading Major NCIS shake up
Posted May 23rd 2007 9:19AM by Brett Love
Filed under: NCIS, Episode Reviews
(
S04E24) CBS has been teasing this episode for a couple weeks now, with promises of secrets being revealed. They did get to the big one, though that was more of a confirmation of what we already expected. Overall though, I think they oversold it. Another case of the promotions department writing checks that the writers aren't cashing.
That feeling of something being incomplete carried over into the rest of the episode as well. It just didn't have the feel of the big season finale. The show set a very high bar with "Twilight" in season two and can't afford to just phone it in like this. Half of this episode could have just been dropped right in the middle of any other episode and it wouldn't have made a difference. That's fine, for episodes 2 through 23, but the big guns have to come out for the first and the last.
Continue reading NCIS: Angel Of Death (season finale)
Posted May 9th 2007 9:04AM by Brett Love
Filed under: NCIS, Episode Reviews
(S04E23) This was kind of a confusing episode to me. Not that the story was hard to follow, just that it seemed poorly conceived. I thought the case of the week was well done, but kind of out of place. With it being the end of the season, and the plan already in place to make this a two parter, I would have rather seen something that focused in on the big stories.
It almost felt like flipping the channels between two episodes that were running at the same time. The brief phone conversations between Gibbs and Shepard kind of tied the two stories together, but more than anything, they just pointed out that the story of the week was taking up time that could have been spent on La Grenouille. Maybe I'm just a little impatient, having caught a bit of the finale fever, but it just didn't all fit together for me.
Continue reading NCIS: Trojan Horse
Posted May 6th 2007 2:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Web, Celebrities
Posted May 2nd 2007 9:40AM by Brett Love
Filed under: NCIS, Episode Reviews
(S04E22) We started season four with a look at Tony taking over for the retired Gibbs. So it's fitting that as we move toward the end of the season we get to see the two of them in parallel stories. They both are facing big decisions where the women in their lives are concerned. And both of them are struggling with what to do, though for different reasons.
Over the last 90 episodes we have learned plenty about Gibbs' past. The issues he has with making a more official commitment to his relationship with Hollis (Susana Thompson) didn't come as a surprise. Gibbs has baggage, and a lot of it. It's a complicated situation and I really like the way they handled it.
Continue reading NCIS: In The Dark
Posted Apr 25th 2007 11:59AM by Brett Love
Filed under: NCIS, Episode Reviews
(S04E21) This week the
NCIS team managed to put the viewer in the same position as Jenny. Unfortunately, that's not a good thing. When she opened up that cargo container and realized that she had been taken for a ride, I was right there with her, because the viewers had been on a ride of their own.
Now, I get how the formula works.
NCIS is a mostly stand alone show, with serial elements. And I'm perfectly fine with that. I've been waiting anxiously for the last half of the season to get some answers about Tony/Jeanne and Le Grenouille, and that's fine. I enjoy the stand alone episodes while we wait. This week though, I would describe as a stand alone serial episode. What I mean is that while they were playing with the ongoing storylines, in the end it amounted to nothing. With the possible exception of knowing that Tony had dinner with Jeanne's mother, this episode could be left off the DVD and the story wouldn't miss a beat.
Continue reading NCIS: Brothers in Arms
Posted Apr 24th 2007 4:22PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities, NCIS
Michael Ausiello at TV Guide is reporting a big scoop: NCIS star Mark Harmon is threatening to walk off the hit CBS show.
Citing inside sources, Ausiello says that Harmon has always been fed up with producer Donald Bellisario's (Magnum, P.I., JAG, Quantum Leap) "chaotic management style" and wants off the show. The source also says that Harmon is one of the nicest guys on television and that he's in the right on this one. The dispute is described as "a big standoff."
So I'll ask you readers the same thing that Ausiello asks his readers: can NCIS survive without Mark Harmon, or is he the main reason to watch the show?
[via TV Tattle]
Posted Apr 11th 2007 9:30AM by Brett Love
Filed under: NCIS, Episode Reviews
(S04E20) Twenty episodes in, and I'm chomping at the bit to get to the Tony/Jeanne story. Credit to team
NCIS that they have created an arc that has people waiting anxiously for a resolution. With that in mind, if you would have told me that we were going to get a stand alone episode that didn't get into any of the big seasonal stories, I doubt I would have been excited about it.
But then they went and did this. Bringing McGee's next book, "Rock Hollow," into the picture made for some great scenes. And those scenes were really what sold this one. The actual mystery was interesting, but more for what we learned about McGee and the new book than the actual whodunnit aspect. I thought they gave Landon away right off the bat when he recognized "Thom."
Continue reading NCIS: Cover Story
Posted Apr 4th 2007 9:00AM by Brett Love
Filed under: NCIS, Episode Reviews
(S04E19) Those pesky writers at
NCIS just continue to tease us with the Tony/Jeanne story. I saw that Scottie Thompson was going to be in this episode, and after the way the last one ended I was hopeful that we would get tipped off to just what is going on there. No such luck, but I'm ok with that. There were a lot of other things to like about this installment.
Things like the case. The conflicting results from Abby and Ducky had me all confused. Having the plan hinge on the voice modeling software was an interesting way to go with it. The magic door was also a fun twist, and made even more so thanks to Tony's scene both discovering it, and trying to defeat it.
Continue reading NCIS: Grace Period
Posted Mar 21st 2007 9:00AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CBS, NCIS
(S04E18) One thing we can say for this episode, the answer to the mystery wasn't obvious from the get go. Between the loan shark, the shady freight carrier, and the return of Mike Franks (Muse Watson), it was a complicated affair. That's ok though, because it made for a pretty entertaining episode.
The folks in promotion over at CBS get a couple demerits this week for the misleading teasers. The various previews I saw kept mentioning "a connection to Gibbs' past." Now, that's some of the good stuff that I think a lot of fans are waiting for. If there was a connection in this episode, it was either very minor, or I completely missed it. If that connection was just Mike coming back again, then they horribly oversold it.
Continue reading NCIS: Iceman
Posted Feb 14th 2007 7:27AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CBS, NCIS
(S04E15) After the big revelations last week regarding the ongoing case, I fully expected a stand-alone episode that mostly ignored it this week. And that is pretty much what was delivered. It's ok though, because while it was open and shut, this was an interesting case.
What really sold the mystery for me was the way it was presented. The Club One angle worked on a couple different levels. I would have said it was worth it just for the scene with McGee, Abby, Ziva, and Lee making their entrance, but there was much more.
The exclusivity of the club put the team at a disadvantage because they couldn't investigate as they normally would. It had the bonus of putting us in the same situation, because we couldn't get a feel for the suspects.
Continue reading NCIS: Friends and Lovers
Posted Feb 7th 2007 9:21AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CBS, NCIS
(S04E14) And that is why sweeps are so good. We finally got some answers concerning what Director Shepard has been doing with Tony for the last few months. Plus, those answers involved a big guest star, Armand Assante. Fun stuff.
I was happy to see them get going with the undercover story. And pretty happy with the results as well. The rest of the team stumbling into the middle of the ongoing La Grenouille investigation while following their own leads was a good way to do it. Having the tip come from Ziva's Mossad connections put it out of Shepard's court.
The thing that surprised me most about all of it was the revelation that Gibbs has been in the dark the whole time. There really did seem to be some hints that Gibbs was in on it. Just some clever misdirection from the writers I guess.
Continue reading NCIS: Blowback
Posted Jan 24th 2007 11:21AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CBS, NCIS
(S04E13) There has been quite a bit of talk this season about serial dramas versus their stand-alone episode counterparts. Both have their pluses and minuses. A very serial drama will tend to inspire more loyalty as it rewards the avid fan, but is less accessible to a new viewer. A mostly stand-alone drama is much easier to get involved with and a much easier sell for syndication, but runs the risk of becoming boring or formulaic. I think
NCIS does as good a job as any series in mixing the two elements, and this week was a great example.
We still had the case of the week, and anyone just stumbling onto the show would have had no problem following the story. But for fans that are regular viewers there was quite a bit of ongoing story thrown in as well. As the title notes, Mamoun Sharif (Enzo Cilenti) is back, and coming along for the ride is Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson, pictured) . They even managed to throw in a reminder of the big Tony mystery to keep us all guessing about just what is going on.
Continue reading NCIS: Sharif Returns
Posted Jan 17th 2007 10:45AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CBS, NCIS
(S04E12) After what was an all too long winter break, our pals at
NCIS are finally back with a new episode. It's an important episode for the show. This season has seen the shows audience grow to be a top ten contender, but now things have changed. The gorilla is back in the building and it will be interesting to see how
NCIS holds up against
Idolmania.
There was a lot going on here. Aside from the case of the week there was some foreshadowing of coming stories and a crazy cliffhanger ending. I'll get to that in a minute, but first a look at the little town of Edenvale. It was obvious where they were going with the town when Tony and McGee started in with the dueling banjos. Boondocks. I can't believe that their little concert didn't warrant dual headslaps from Gibbs though.
Continue reading NCIS: Suspicion
Posted Nov 4th 2006 9:04AM by Brett Love
Filed under: ER, Nip/Tuck, Grey's Anatomy, Web
We got a message in to the TV Squad home office, located in beautiful downtown Orofino Idaho, from the fine folks over at WebMD. They have recently launched a
new blog which will support or refute cases from the various medical shows. I've always been one to just roll with whatever kind of crazy story the writers come up with. Two people stuck together on a pole? Ok. A woman with African sleeping sickness? Tell me all about it. But even with my I'll believe anything once attitude, this site is fascinating. After you watch your medical show of choice, check in with the team at WebMD to see how the writers did.
Right now they have stories on the woman with two uteruses on
Grey's Anatomy, broken heart syndrome from
ER, and the kidney thieves on
Nip/Tuck, to name a few. Next time you are at a party, just ask a random person, "Did you know that a woman can have two uteruses? And she can give birth to twins two months apart?" That's an icebreaker right there.
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