NCIS boss offers update on Mark Harmon's status for season 19

NCIS season 18 finale spoilers follow.

NCIS boss Steven D Binder has updated fans on the status of leading star Mark Harmon.

Season 18 ended with his character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, suspended from NCIS and seemingly attacked while on a boat, having swam away from an explosion (as you do).

There have been plenty of reports about Harmon wanting to quit the show. However, it was suggested that him doing so would likely lead to the entire show getting the axe, with some reports claiming he agreed to appear in a handful of episodes to keep the boat afloat (as it were), which would line up with everything that happened to the character.

CBS Photo Archive//Getty Images

Binder, however, states that that's actually not the case. "A lot of things are reported on this show that aren’t necessarily true," he told TVLine.

"What we’re trying to focus on right now is telling the best stories we can with the characters we have — and Gibbs is a part of that world. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job with that."

Speaking about Gibbs' season 19 storyline, Binder added: "Gibbs has been hunting down this serial killer, and he’s doing it alone He’s cut off from his team… but in the beginning episodes, that’s going to change."

The showrunner stated that filming has been made slightly more complicated due to the COVID safety protocols, echoing comments made across the entertainment industry board.

Fox

Beyond Gibbs, NCIS season 19 has hired a The Good Wife and Veep actor for a big role, as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's newest recruit.

The show is also undergoing a big change in the US, getting a new timeslot for new episodes for the first time in its lengthy history. Let's hope that fans respond well to it all.

NCIS airs on CBS in the US.

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