NCIS co-creator Donald P. Bellisario’s alleged feud with Mark Harmon is addressed 16 years after the creator’s departure from the show.
Sixteen years after co-creator Donald P. Bellisario left NCIS, the show’s co-creators, producers, and director discussed the struggle that led to his departure. NCIS, which premiered in 2003, is a police procedural centered on the Naval Cr1minal Investigative Service. It began as a spin-off of JAG before becoming successful enough to warrant its own spin-offs in NCIS: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai’i, and the impending Sydney. Harmon played agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs for the first 19 seasons.
While we wait for NCIS season 21, several long-time creatives spoke with The Hollywood Reporter on the show’s long history. Executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson, co-creator Donald P. Bellisario, co-creator Don McGill, executive producer Horowitz, director James Whitmore Jr., and casting director Susan Bluestein all spoke about the conflict between Bellisario and Harmon, which led to the co-creator’s departure from the show. Take a look at their responses below:
JOHNSON (executive producer): Eventually, actors began to wonder whether they would receive two or one act, and they were unsure about their trajectory for the show. They couldn’t remember their lines. In the beginning, it was a really complicated show. So, by the fourth year, Harmon had decided that it was too difficult. He never told anyone, “Get rid of Don.” He just stated, “This is too hard to work this way.” Finally, the network approached Bellisario and suggested, “Perhaps you should work from a distance and not be quite as involved in terms of the way you work.” So Bellisario was gone by the fifth year.
BELLISARIO (co-creator): It was just time for me to move on and pursue other interests. I’d had enough of the show, so I walked away. It was all my choice.
JOHNSON (executive producer): I spent a lot of time in the middle. I was allowed to walk the line while also working with Harmon and Don. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to do it. When the train slid off the track, I felt like I was the one in charge of bringing it back on and keeping everyone together. But I have a lot of admiration for Don. There would be no NCIS without him. Bellisario and Harmon were the two most powerful people in getting the program up and running and keeping it that way.
WHITMORE JR. (director): Mark Harmon is a good pro who is dedicated to his work. He is completely creative, never stops working, always supports the other performers, and expects everyone to show up ready to go, just like he does. He doesn’t play games.
MCGILL (co-creator): All I know is what I read in the trades. (Laughs.) I know Mark was unhappy, and his connection with Don became strained. Because I wasn’t present, I don’t know much about what happened behind the scenes. It’s just one of those things that happens in Hollywood, the classic creative differences.
BLUESTEIN (casting director): I’ve always had a soft spot for Don because he was so generous to me. Don was always very kind to me.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER HOROWITZ: He was unquestionably the leader – the show’s creator – and I believe there was always a question mark in people’s minds: How would it proceed?
JOHNSON (executive producer): That was difficult for all of us to accept because he had always been so closely involved in every program, and he had built so much of the character pattern. I was the showrunner for a period alongside Shane Brennan, although I wasn’t a writer in the traditional sense. We eventually hired a couple of writers to oversee the show’s creative direction. But I was quite fortunate. I’d worked there for so long and had such good relationships with everyone that I was able to stay and be a valuable producer for them. It must have worked because I’m still here. (Laughs.)
Mark Harmon’s NCIS Role Explained
Gibbs has been a leading man and the show’s cornerstone since the show’s inception. That is why his departure from Season 19 put the show in such jeopardy. Harmon quit NCIS early in season 19 to give the show an opportunity to prove that it could still attract viewers without him. It was a gesture that demonstrated his dedication to the series.
While Bellisario and Harmon had a great feud, the two were hugely instrumental in shaping the show into what it is now. Harmon’s acceptance of the Gibbs role surprised the producers, adding to his tremendous and influential run. Harmon spent the rest of his career training to play the same character for the next 19 seasons. However, there was a time in season 4 when it appeared that Harmon was about to leave NCIS, but Bellisario’s exit kept him on the program.
Harmon is recognized for helping those around him and devoting himself totally to his work. That persistence is why he stayed with NCIS for so long, and why he functioned so well as the similarly determined Gibbs. Even if it did result in Bellisario quitting NCIS, the show was able to thrive thanks to Harmon’s assistance and enthusiasm for the show.
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