Next month, NCIS returns for its 22nd season, continuing its legacy as one of the longest-running prime-time procedurals. Over the years, many actors have come and gone, including Michael Weatherly, who played Anthony DiNozzo for the show’s first 13 seasons. He briefly reprised his role in Season 21 to honor David McCallum. However, Weatherly recently shared that it took CBS a surprisingly long time to realize the full potential of NCIS and market it properly.
During an episode of Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, Weatherly and Cote de Pablo (who played Ziva David) reflected on the Season 7 premiere, “Truth or Consequences,” where Tony, McGee, and Gibbs rescue Ziva from a prison camp in Somalia. Weatherly recalled ad-libbing a line during an interrogation scene, where his character, under the influence of truth serum, asked, “Can I get a glass of chardonnay? Because that would go so well with the taste of blood in my mouth.” CBS liked the line so much that they used it in an ad. This was the first time Weatherly felt CBS had truly captured the show’s spirit in its marketing.
Weatherly noted that although NCIS had been successful enough to avoid cancellation, he felt the first six seasons’ ads didn’t showcase the series properly. He explained, “I really felt that [in Season 7] the network knew what they had. Early on, the trailers would say, ‘On Navy NCIS, the team encounters… the crime is their battlefield,’ and I’d think, ‘That’s not our show.’”
He went on to explain that NCIS differs from other procedurals like FBI or Law & Order because it often functions as a workplace comedy or a romantic thriller, adding more variety to its storytelling. The earlier ads, in his opinion, didn’t reflect this, leading some to misunderstand the show’s tone. Weatherly recalled people assuming the procedural was monotonous, but for him, it was anything but. “I’ve never been bored on that set. It’s how I was able to do 13 years.”
After his long run on NCIS, Weatherly went on to star in Bull for six seasons. Now, he’s reprising his role as Tony DiNozzo alongside Cote de Pablo in the upcoming NCIS: Tony and Ziva spinoff, which will stream exclusively on Paramount+. While fans wait for a premiere date for the spinoff, they can catch NCIS Season 22 and NCIS: Origins (focused on Leroy Jethro Gibbs) when they premiere on Monday, October 14.
