Mark Harmon‘s Leroy Jethro Gibbs is still part of the NCIS universe, as he’s set to narrate the upcoming NCIS: Origins prequel series, but he hasn’t been seen on screen since early Season 19 in 2021.
Appearing at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Saturday, July 13, Harmon told the panel of his NCIS exit, “It wasn’t so much a decision to leave, but the right timing to push away a little bit.” (per TVLine).
“I was thrilled with the storyline they came up with and how they handled the character,” he continued. “And the show continued on.”
When fans of the CBS military police procedural last saw Harmon’s Gibbs, he had informed NCIS Senior Field Agent Timothy McGee that he would not be returning to D.C. but would stay put in Alaska, where he’d finally found peace after his family’s death. His final appearance came in the 2021 episode “Great Wide Open.”
The show hasn’t revealed many updates on Gibbs’ whereabouts since then, though in the most recent season, McGee received an envelope from Southwest Alaska, which included a polaroid of Gibbs, McGee, and Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (played by the late David McCallum). So, all signs point to Gibbs still living in Alaska, at least as of Season 21.
While Harmon remains an executive producer on NCIS, he did not appear in the McCallum tribute episode or the franchise’s milestone 1,000th episode, which aired in April.
When asked what it would take to get Harmon back on the show, the actor said, “I have been asked that a lot. [But] I’ve always let the writers do what they want to do.”
After the panel, Harmon was asked if the show’s producers had ever invited him back over the past three years. “Directly, like a phone call…? Not that I’m aware of,” he answered.
TVLine then asked him if he’d consider returning for NCIS’ eventual series finale, whenever that may be. “I don’t know,” he stated. “It’s really about feeling like you’re fulfilled with a role, or complete with a role.”
He added, “I don’t think [Gibbs] is still standing in the stream in Alaska.”
NCIS co-showrunner Steven D. Binder previously told TVLine that “the door is always open” for Harmon to return, adding, “when we bring him back, we’re not going to bring him back for two minutes… It’s got to be something special.”
NCIS, Season 22, Mondays This Fall, 9/8c, CBS
NCIS: Origins premiere, September 1, 10/9c, CBS
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