Strangely enough, in all these years, I’ve never caught a full episode of NCIS. I really liked JAG when it first came on and I generally like Mark Harmon, so I’m not sure why it never graced my screen. When I heard they were making a spin-off starring Chris O’Donnell (my gimme) and LL Cool J, I couldn’t wait to check it out (and now I’ve seen the pilot). With that star power, there had to be something good going on, right?
[What? You don’t know what a gimme is? You all have them. In the event I meet Chris O’Donnell someday and he wants to sleep with me, I have permission to do so. He’s been my gimme for about 15 years … Keith’s changes with the wind.]
It will be interesting to see what NCIS fans think of this show, but I’m hoping some non-fans will give it a try, because it works for me on a number of levels.
Chris O’Donnell’s character
You may think I’m a bit biased now that you know about my gimme, and although he’s an effective actor and excellent in the role, I mean G. Callen the character, not Chris O’Donnell the actor. Although I may have mentioned that he’s excellent in the role….
Unlike Aryeh, who doesn’t think we should get too much character development in the crimetime shows, I think good characters are what make the shows unique. If I wanted just a good procedural, I’d probably watch the CSI series or the Law and Order franchise, but I don’t. Unless they have a hook for me, I’m not there.
G. Callen’s quite a hook. They just drop little tidbits to us, but these glimpses offer us a multi-dimensional character unlike any other on TV right now: he grew up an orphan and doesn’t even know what the “G” stands for. I like it, and he’s got such a homeless puppy thing about him that I can’t help but wonder where they’ll take us next in the development of G.
The chemistry between O’Donnell and LL Cool J
You know how sometimes a show needs a few episodes before the characters really fall into their groove with each other? I thought this during the first few episodes of Friends, Supernatural and Seinfeld, just to name a few shows that didn’t quite hit their stride at the beginning, but grew to be big successes.
O’Donnell and LL (Mr. J?), playing Sam Hanna, didn’t need that grace period. They are naturals together, maybe because they are such seasoned and varied actors, or maybe just because they legitimately enjoy working together, but their banter is in top form, even in the first episode. It’s so … real and honest, from a place of mutual respect and friendship. There’s no snarky meanness behind it, it just works.
Strong supporting cast
One thing that really bugs me about most procedurals, even the ones I like, is that the supporting cast gets the shaft. Even in The Mentalist, it took a while for us to really get to know Cho, Rigsby and Grace. Granted, now that we do it’s awesome, but it wasn’t there at the beginning of the series. I can’t even think of the names of the two cops on Castle who work with Beckett, and that’s not really OK with me. Using a supporting cast to make every moment of a show count is important, because I want to be entertained even when the leads aren’t onscreen.
NCIS: LA does this. Each team member is unique and distinct. We don’t get just nameless cop helpers to be bodies when Callen and Hanna have a scene off. They each have their own strengths and are valuable members of the team. It reminds me of the way I think Bones probably is, although I’m not really allowed to watch that show….
So far, so good and I’ll be tuning in to see where NCIS: LA goes with its great start.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Sep 11, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
“I think good characters are what make the shows unique”
Well, yeah; I guess you just need to find good characters first. ;) NCIS is enjoyable for the characters first, crimes second, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Can you speak to if/how the pilot relates to the two spin-off episodes from a few months back?
*POST AUTHOR*
I can’t b/c I didn’t watch the spin-off episodes, but Callen is just back to work after recovering from being shot, so I assume he got shot in the NCIS two-parter?
You skipped Chris O’Donnell time? ;)
Yeah, he was gunned down at the end of the second episode. We figured that it was a smart way to play it – if the spin-off wasn’t picked up, he had died, and we’d hear it in passing on NCIS. If the show was a go, he’d clearly survive.
Louise Lombard (Macy) was canned between then and now; I hope the new boss does a better job.
Mostly this tells me that you really need to give NCIS a go! Gibbs is the star of the show, but if you want a strong supporting cast, it has it in spades. All of the characters have unique back stories and they’ve all been given their own multiple episode stories. It kind of gets lost in the shuffle with all of the other CBS crimetime shows, but it’s still the best of the bunch for me.
just curious, who is keith current gimme??? :)
Wow … I can’t remember. It changes! It used to be Sienna Miller for a while … I guess I’d have to see her again to know if she still makes the grade. Can’t be too picky when it comes to a gimme, y’know — you only get one shot at it.
Maybe I need to pick someone who shows up at ComicCon. Hm … Eliza Dushku …?
Watch Miller in the G.I. Joe trailers (little black dress, black rubber catsuit) for a nice look. See the movie if you like cheesy fun action.
I liked Dushku much more before I watched her speak in talk show interviews. Some actors are far less interesting without a script.
My husband and I have been fans of NCIS and even watch the reruns. We don’t do that for any other show. Looking forward to NCIS LA. I too love Chris O’Donnell, not as a gimme, but more as an addition to my family!!!!
I too wonder who Keith’s gimme is right now????
I am a big fan of NCIS, I list it as one of my favorite TV shows. I can’t say the same about NCIS-LA. First, there is very little association with the Navy except for the victim. The setting is not a naval base, but some super secret water treatment plant admin bldg. Give us a break!@# I will watch the next episode, but if the writing is still as poor, then I will tune NCIS-LA out. Don’t get me wrong, the stars, Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J are great. It just that they have been given “lousy” material to work with.
I did enjoy the first episode, but really a vacant Water Plant? There seemed to be 25 plus gov’t employees. Where do they all park their cars so that the neighbors have no idea whats going on?