The NCIS franchise is giving fans all kinds of returns when the various dramas hit the 2026 TV schedule this fall, with Michael Weatherly back on the flagship, LL Cool J’s Sam Hanna heading up the coast for NCIS: New York, and Mark Harmon returning to a full season of on-screen appearances in NCIS: Origins. Someone who knows more than anyone about both returns and jumping from one show to the next? Director Dennis Smith.
Starting with JAG (which he helmed seven installments of), Smith went on to direct 63 eps of NCIS proper, 37 eps of NCIS: Los Angeles, and two each for NOLA and Tony & Ziva spinoffs. (Outside of plenty of other series.) It’s been a while since he got behind the camera for the mothership series, but he stopped by the podcast Partners & Probies to talk to stars Brian Dietzen and Diana Reasonover about his prolific career, and offered a bit of hope for an eventual return. (More on that shortly.)
Smith shared the story behind his most recent NCIS gig, Season 15’s “Burden of Proof,” which came more than a year after he helmed Season 13’s “Homefront” and thought he was more or less done with that show for a while. And it might have happened if not for those meddling kids…er, I mean if not for that the show’s very influential star and executive producer. As Smith put it (via YouTube):
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I think the last NCIS I did, somebody dropped out of. And Mark Harmon — this was a year after I had left and was doing some other things — Mark Harmon had an episode where he had to go to court and testify on the stand. It was a big Gibbs episode. And whenever this director fell out, [Mark] went to the producers and said, ‘Do you think Dennis would come back and do this?’
For a sense of how frequently he worked on the show, Smith directed at least three (and upwards of seven) episodes a season for the first 13. So when he stepped back, it didn’t seem like he intended to return, and apparently was not expecting any such calls about going back. To the point where he reacted with a bit of gruff attitude when asked about it. He continued:
He called me, and I said, ‘Whose idea was this?!’ He said, ‘It was Mark Harmon’s idea.’ I said, ‘Oh, I’d love to do it.’
Had anyone else requested Dennis Smith by name to fill in during a time of need, who knows if he would have been convinced to do it? But when the main man himself puts the call out, its easy to understand why Smith agreed.
And what do you know? Mark Harmon isn’t on the main stage anymore, but it may not even require his direct request to bring the director back. Smith said when he popped by the studio to reunite with everyone surrounding the NCIS franchise’s 1000th episode, he chatted up Steven J. Binder and they discussed possibly getting him back to tackle at least one episode in the near future. It doesn’t sound like he’s got plans to hit up New York just yet, but he definitely continued helming eps of Los Angeles and Tony & Ziva after his last flagship effort.
Fans won’t have to wait too much longer to see Mark Harmon back in Gibbs mode, as NCIS: Origins Season 3 will premiere on CBS on Tuesday, October 6, at 10:00 p.m. ET, two hours after NCIS’ Season 24 debut at 8:00 p.m. ET, and right after NCIS: New York’s series premiere at 9:00 p.m. ET. All three shows’ episodes will be available to stream the next day via Paramount+ subscription.