NCIS- Gibbs and DiNozzo set to return to franchise…

Heads up…. two very familiar ex-regular cast members are heading back to the long-running franchise.

Mark Harmon, for so long the lynchpin of the ‘mothership’ show as leader Leroy Jethro Gibbs (until he left in 2021), will appear in every episode of the spin-off prequel series NCIS: Origins when it returns for its third season. Previously, Harmon has provided some book-ending narration to certain episodes and appeared briefly, but this will be a more formal, regular return with an over-reaching story-arc. Gibbs will be part of a present-day mystery tied to his days at Camp Pendleton in the 1990s, though it isn’t clear just how many scenes he’ll appear in each week given that Austin Stowell is the main star (playing the much younger Gibbs at the start of his career and as NCIS itself is formed).

Over on the main NCIS show, another original cast member is back. Michael Weatherly will be returning for Season 24 as Tony DiNozzo. Last seen in the Tony & Ziva spin-off last year (which did not receive a second season pick-up on Paramount+), it is not entirely clear what the DiNozzo arc will entail. (It could pick up on details from the cancelled spin-off or totally ignore those elements. It is not known at this point whether Pablo de Coto (as Ziva) will also appear, as a regular or guest-star.