N-C-I-S is Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down

By T.L. HEADLEY, MBA, MA, MAT, BA
For those asking what happened to the writers on NCIS in the last year or so – let’s use Occam’s Razor to solve the problem — which of course is that the simplest answer is usually right.
So the writers haven’t changed. Most of the actors haven’t changed. There have only been two significant changes to the show that was incredibly well-written and well-acted — the loss of Cote de Pablo and the entrance of Emily Wickersham.
So applying Occam’s Razor to the issue, that means the reason why the show seems flat and often downright uninteresting probably lies in those two factors.
Many people want de Pablo to return to the role of Ziva. I am one of them. Some just want Wickersham replaced because they think the show falls flat around her character. And of course there are some who genuinely like Wickersham — maybe they share some personality traits or they just like the character. I can’t understand it but it appears to be fact. However then there are the radical anti-Cote/anti-Ziva people who troll the show’s news and who have complained about her for eight years and now attack anyone who utters one word for Cote. Personally, I think they have issues with Israel and are probably at their core anti-Semitic. I dismiss this group outright.
But I would argue that MOST people sense that the show has gone flat and is not to the quality that it was. It has, indeed, lost a lot in ratings and audience as people tune out and find other shows.
I watch NCIS occasionally when I can find nothing else on TV or Hulu. As someone who has watched this group of series since the first episode of JAG, I am angered by what I see as the callous attitude apparently displayed by the people running NCIS — Mark Harmon and Gary Glasberg.
As someone who has business experience, I recognize the cold calculation that a product (show) has entered its “cash cow” phase of marketing — nearing the end of its product life, costs are cut, quality suffers and the product runs a few cycles on its “reputation” which is milked for all the profits the company can make. Sadly, I think that is what NCIS has become — a “Cash Cow” for its producers and CBS. And that is a shame.
Now, I want to turn to the issue of what made NCIS great for so long….
I have heard it described by many as a “police procedural.” And in some ways that is an accurate description, however solving cases is not what the show has historically been about except for the first year or so.
What made NCIS great was that it was a psychological drama about a highly dysfunctional “team/family” that explored in depth the things that made each character tick. From the loss of Gibbs’ wife and daughter, his bout with depression and his continuing angst with relationships, to the growth of McGee and his interactions and sibling rivalry with Tony, to Ziva’s deep psychological scars, somehow balanced by the bright and bubbly Abby and wise old Grandpa Ducky — yet both were also holding a lot of deep-seated issues tightly within.
This psycho drama was played out against the backdrop of a police procedural , but that was all the cases were — a canvas against which to paint the story of these peoples’ lives.
They have moved away from the deep writing — either losing their focus or simply taking the lazy way and just making the show about solving the case. This means NCIS today is no different than the scores of other “police procedurals” that come and go each year.
THAT is why to many of us this past year and a half has seemed flat and seemed to be drifting aimlessly toward a series end.
Maybe they want to bring it to an end. Maybe they have just lost sight of what made them just a little better than the other “police procedurals.” Either way, they are falling down and the ratings show it. There is no BUZZ about NCIS today. There is no sense left that it is “must see TV.” What is left is habit. It is the fact that for 11 seasons Tuesday night has been NCIS night. It is a sense of loyalty to those who remain on the show – who ironically serve as constant reminders of the quality we came to expect of the show.
And every so often, like last Tuesday, when the Vietnamese man shook Gibbs’ hand, we are reminded of what was.
No, it isn’t just the loss of de Pablo. It is the sense of rudderlessness that permeates the episodes now. It is the sense of loss — and the sense that it is all unnecessary.
Bringing de Pablo back would give the show a new lease on life, but even that wouldn’t solve the problem unless they — Mark Harmon and Gary Glasberg — take a step back, watch a few old shows and think about what is different. And then admit that there are problems and take the steps necessary to fix them. The first of which is to get de Pablo back and the second is to get a couple of the writers back who know how to write for these characters — and who have proven they won’t “take the easy way out.”
Otherwise, what I was saying about NCIS being nothing more than a “cash cow” being milked by the producers and the network with one foot in the cancellation door, is proven true.