Knock, knock. Who’s there? By golly, it’s the return of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in “NCIS: Origins.” The good folks over at CBS aren’t making eager fans wait one second longer for a premiere date as they’ve announced that the series will officially debut on Monday, October 21, from 10:00–11:00 pm. Sure, October is still three months away, but at least now, those tuning in for the new series’ big premiere can mark the date on their calendar and begin planning their Origins party.
It’s been nearly three years since Mark Harmon hung up his hat after close to two decades playing the rough but fair Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the network’s hit series, NCIS. The beloved character was a staple of the production and audiences were gutted to see him go, which sparked an idea for CBS – why not go back in time and make a Gibbs prequel series? The project was announced at the beginning of the year, with “Bridge of Spies” star Austin Stowell unveiled to appear as the up-and-coming, younger version of the celebrated agent just a few months later. Since then, the title has only been building anticipation one block at a time, with today’s premiere announcement being the latest break in the case. The series will catch up with Gibbs back in 1991 as a greenhorn, completely fresh to the beat as a special agent at the NIS Camp Pendleton office. It’s there that he’ll join a team of fellow investigators and kick off his career. His path will also cross with fellow NCIS favorite, Mike Franks, with Kyle Schmid (“Blood Ties”) appearing as the younger version of the Texan known for his impressive mustache made famous in the original series by Muse Watson. There will be plenty of new faces too as Gibbs makes friends—and some enemies—on his journey.