Mark Harmon didn’t make an appearance in the recent NCIS episode honoring David McCallum, and this has been addressed by the show’s executive producers.
Following the passing of David McCallum, the actor’s character, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, was given a send-off in the episode that aired on Monday, Feb. 19. While it wasn’t announced that Mark Harmon would appear as Gibbs in the episode, some fans thought a surprise appearance might happen with the character showing up to honor Ducky. Per TVLine, EP and co-showrunner Steven D. Binder admitted that an appearance was initially considered, but it was decided that it was best to save Gibbs’ potential return for something bigger than a brief cameo.
“In a perfect world, what we first imagined was what the Marvel Cinematic Universe did when Tony Stark died…. Our original thought was, ‘Can we get everybody?'” Binder said, addressing how it felt more special to instead bring back Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo. “We gave a lot of thought to who Ducky is connected to most, which on one level would be Gibbs. But it was Jimmy who was there, so it was [about] who Jimmy would connect with, and also bring some levity… and that was Michael Weatherly. It’s really a no-brainer.”
Weatherly had recently teased how he desired to make a return to the franchise. On the actor reprising his role, fellow EP/co-showrunner David J. North continued, “He’s DiNozzo again, there’s nothing rusty… As soon as he walked into that autopsy room, I thought, ‘DiNozzo’s back.'”
Mark Harmon’s Potential Return Needs to Be Much Bigger
Gibbs still has the door open for a potentail return. Binder went on to reaffirm how there is still a desire to bring bak Mark Harmon as Gibbs at some point in the future of the show, but it would need to be for something much more “special” than a two-minute cameo.
“Of course the door is always open,” Binder said. “When we bring him back, we’re not going to bring him back for two minutes. It’s got to be something special.”
Meanwhile, Mark Harmon will be reprising his role as Gibbs, but in a different way, for an NCIS spinoff series. He will serve as the narrator, in character as Gibbs, for the upcoming prequel series NCIS: Origins. Harmon’s continued involvement with the franchise would certainly make a return in the parent series more likely, but it remains to be seen when that might happen.
