Origins Prequel Series About Young Gibbs at CBS with Mark Harmon – Deadline

Brian Bowen Smith/CBS/Joanna DeGeneres/Courtesy/Courtney Harmon

Exclusive: Gibbs returns to NCIS universe as the lead for a new CBS drama that serves as a prequel to the long-running procedural. The network gave a straight-to-chain order to NCIS: Origins, About young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, for the 2024-25 broadcast season. The project comes from the two actors who portray Gibbs NCISMark Harmon and his son, veteran Sean Harmon NCIS Writers and producers, Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, as well as CBS Studios, which is behind NCIS Commercial franchise.

Narrated by Mark Harmon, NCIS: Origins It begins in 1991, years before the events of NCIS. In the new series, Gibbs begins his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, volatile team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks. (On Mothership, Franks was a recurring character played by Moses Watson. Franks was fatally stabbed in season 8 but continued to appear for Gibbs when he needed a sounding board on difficult cases.)

The idea to explore Gibbs' early years originated with Sean Harmon, who recurred NCISHe played the younger version of the character Mark Harmon in seven episodes from 2008 to 2020. Along with his father, who starred as Gibbs NCIS For over 18 seasons, Harmon approached Monreal, North and CBS studios about expanding the franchise NCIS Universe with a Gibbs-centered branch.

Sean Harmon is focusing on executive producing duties for the new series alongside Mark Harmon, who continues to executive produce the main series NCIS, as well as Monreal and North, who co-wrote the first episode and will serve as co-hosts. North will also continue his duties as executive producer and co-director (with Steven D. Bender) on the mothership. A search will be launched for an actor to play the lead role in the spin-off.

“The character of Gibbs has been an important part of my life for 20 years, both in watching my father create the role and previously having the honor of playing young Gibbs myself,” said Sean Harmon. “I always felt there was a story worth telling about his early years, so I'm thrilled to step into a producing role alongside Jenna, David and Abi as we tell this story and reveal a new side of this beloved character.”

Monreal and North, who said they were “thrilled to bring this new chapter to life with Mark and Sean Harmon,” teased more revelations in the new series.

“This is truly made by Leroy Jethro Gibbs,” the duo said. “And even the most dedicated NCIS Fans will discover that they don't know the whole story.

NCIS: Origins He takes a proven path for another groundbreaking CBS comedy series big bang theory, which produced a successful introduction, Young Sheldonabout the early years of one of the main characters.

“We are pleased and honored to continue expanding NCIS “The universe is in a unique and unexpected way,” said Amy Reisenbach, president, CBS Entertainment. “Viewers can look forward to Mark Harmon returning to CBS to tell the complex and mysterious backstory of LeRoy Jethro Gibbs' early years in… NCIS: Originswhich will build on the character's rich legacy while reintroducing fan-favorite characters and meeting new characters.

This is CBS's fourth scripted series for the 2024-35 season, joining dramas Matlock And Watson And comedy Bubba's house.

NCIS It is one of CBS Studios' most valuable franchises. Twenty-one seasons in – it currently ranks as the third longest-running U.S. prime-time drama series – Mothership remains the most-watched non-sports program on broadcast. A global mega-seller, once ranked as the world's most-watched drama, these venerable procedurals have spawned three spin-offs in the US, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans Beside NCIS: Hawaii, Which is heading into its fourth season. The franchise recently went international with its first non-US branch, NCIS: Sydney, Which also did very well in the US, where CBS used it in its strike-affected fall schedule, and it ranked as the most-watched new series of the 2023-24 season so far.

According to Nielsen and internal data, during the 2022-2023 television season,… NCIS The franchise had over 300 million viewers worldwide across all platforms including broadcast, cable, streaming and syndication.

“There is no denying the cultural and global phenomenon of NCIS “It's been a franchise for the last 20 years,” said David Stapf, president of CBS Studios. “When Sean and Mark approached us all with this exciting expansion of the universe – the exploration of little Gibbs – we knew it was the next story that needed to be told. We also couldn't be luckier to have Gina and David at the helm as co-directors, they're not just writers Brilliant and skilled but they know this character and this universe well.

NCIS: Origins It brings together North and Montreal who wrote NCIS For 10 years. Monreal, who left the CBS series two years ago, most recently worked on Netflix Griselda, Star Wars: The Bad Batch and an upcoming Dan Fogleman/Sterling K. Brown project for Hulu.

The casting process on the sub-display is handled by NCIS Casting directors Jason Kennedy, Christy Baxter, and Meredith Goble.

Mark Harmon is represented by Gersh and attorney Barry Axelrod. Sean Harmon is repped by 3Arts Entertainment, Gersh and Geno Goodman. Montreal is repped by CAA, Mosaic and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson McGinnis Ryan. North is represented by Dan Halsted Management-Ment.