In 20 years of series existence, Navy CIS has naturally had to accept some personnel losses. Abby actress Pauley Perrette left the series under controversial circumstances and even lead actor Mark Harmon said goodbye at one point.
To the One of NCIS’ most famous faces was Michael Weatherly. The actor was already seen as Anthony DiNozzo before NCIS even existed – namely in episodes of the parent series JAG – In Order of Honor, where the start of the spin-off was prepared. In 2016, Weatherly dropped out to front his own crime series, Bull. For the makers, this was a setback and an opportunity at the same time.
This is how the NCIS makers reacted to Michael Weatherly’s exit
On the 20th anniversary of the crime series, several people involved were interviewed by the industry magazine Hollywood Reporter. The topic of Michael Weatherly’s departure came up. Producer Mark Horowitz was initially shocked:
When Michael Weatherly left I thought: ‘We’re finished. How should we proceed?’
Former CBS president Glenn Geller took a pragmatic approach:
When Michael Weatherly left us, My only goal was to keep him on CBS, and I succeeded. I was excited because I knew that America [die Figur] DiNozzo loves, and I wanted him to be a part of Bull.
CBS
Michael Weatherly on NCIS
The Roaring Seventies star Wilmer Valderrama, who has played the character Nick Torres since season 14, was hired as a replacement. Geller on this:
When a series loses such an important character, there is always a void. But the writers always managed to find a way not to plug the hole, but to develop the characters and relationships in such a way that you get to know new characters and still learn to love the old ones.
Weatherly’s next series was marred by scandal
In season 13, Anthony DiNozzo left his colleagues because he wanted to take care of his daughter and get to the bottom of her mother’s death. Michael Weatherly then starred in the crime series Bull for six seasons.
The series was created by Allegations of sexual harassment overshadowed. According to co-star Eliza Dushku, she was fired after leaking these allegations against Weatherly to producers. According to CNN, Dushku explained: “I was sexually harassed by my co-star almost constantly.”
Weatherly released an apology in 2018 that was criticized by Dushku, the Boston Globe reported. The actor took on the lead role in Bull for four more years. The last season ran in 2022.
This is how you can watch NCIS
Sat.1 shows the new episodes from the 20th season of NCIS every Tuesday from 8:15 p.m. Repeats of older episodes are shown on Kabel Eins. Some seasons of the crime series stream on RTL+ and Paramount+. If you want to have them all in one place, you can currently only get them via the purchase version from providers such as Amazon.
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