And now, an NCIS history lesson…
Long ago (1995) and far away (at least in “freeway terms”), there was a television series named JAG. One of the great comeback stories in TV history, JAG was canceled on NBC when it finished 79th in the ratings during its freshman year.
Picked up by CBS as a midseason replacement, JAG climbed to ratings success on the Eye Network to a successful 9-season run. But, before leaving the air in 2005, JAG spawned a backdoor pilot called NCIS and its offshoots, NCIS: LOS ANGELES and NCIS: NEW ORLEANS.
JAG’s high-concept was akin to “TOP GUN meets A FEW GOOD MEN,” centering its plots around cases and characters from the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s office. The Judge Advocate General, the Navy’s highest-ranking uniformed lawyer, is the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) on legal matters and the JAG office is staffed with attorneys and legal staff who advise on military justice and administrative law.
NCIS keeps it all in the family when one of the long-time portrayers of the JAG staff, Patrick Labyorteaux, returns to NCIS tonight as Gibbs’s (Mark Harmon) buddy JAG Navy Captain Bud Roberts, Jr. (Labyorteaux’s character was so young when the franchise started that he held the rank of ensign.)
Back for his third appearance at NCIS, Bud is involved in the investigation of the apparent suicide of one of his staffers, Navy Lieutenant Melissa Newhall (Kaitlyn Black). A successful attorney, Newhall had her choice of prospective law firms but opted for JAG instead. Why someone who could write her own ticket would choose a lower-paying military job is just one of the many mysteries surrounding Newhall’s life.
Not only does NCIS find a closet stocked with racy lingerie and S&M gear, but Newhall also may have been carrying on a double life as a woman named Rita.
Subject matter that is more Christian Grey than LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, Labyorteaux’s breakout role as Andy Garvey.
Guest stars on tonight’s NCIS episode, “Dark Secrets,” are James Read, Gina Hecht, Valery Ortiz, Brian Hallisay, Nathan Sutton, John L. Bader and Mark Dippolito. “Dark Secrets” was written by George Schenck and Frank Cardea and directed by Bethany Rooney.
NCIS airs tonight (January 9) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS (U.S.) and Global TV (Canada).
