Yes, I read what you said and I read very well. However, you did not read what I wrote. I’m probably wasting my time writing this because if you didn’t read the first one, you probably won’t read this either.. Don Bellisario wrote two series that were very much related. The first was JAG.. In JAG there was a long time “will they won’t they” between the two main characters, Harmon Raab Junior and Colonel Sarah MacKenzie. They were both Navy lawyers and worked out of the same office. They were co-workers. By military law, they were not allowed to have a romantic relationship. That was one of the main things that kept them apart. Finally in the last episode of the last season they flipped a coin to see who would give up their commission. We never got to see who won the flip. The show ended with the coin in the air. The fans had to finish the story.

Then Bellisario did a spin off called NCIS. Where he had two NCIS agents Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David in a “will they won’t they.” On Gibbs’ team they also were not allowed to “date a coworker.” Some fans hated this relationship between the two characters. Some blamed Shane Brennan or Gary Glasberg. If you knew what Bellisario did in JAG, you knew that this wasn’t a corruption of the story. It was an important part of the story. If it worked well in JAG, it would work in NCIS and it did. Romance was one of the things that Bellisario put in NCIS and it helped build up the fan base. Undercovers, episode 8 of season 3, was the big tease for Tiva. After that they let it cool. DB was brilliant. He knew how to suck in an audience.

Gary Glasberg seems to agree with you about the romance so now maybe you will get the show that you want but I’m sorry it will be without Michael Weatherly.

Did you not read where I said I wanted a a return to the crimes AND THE CAMARADERIE? I never said I wanted it to be “just another crime show”.

Don Bellisario, the creator of the show, said at the end of season 4 that there were two things that set NCIS apart from the rest of the forensic procedurals. Those two things were the humor and the interrelationships between the characters. I don’t know why some fans want to make it just another crime show. There is a gazillion crime shows. This one was special.

If you want to know where Bellisario was going to take NCIS, watch JAG, the show from which NCIS was spun off. JAG also had humor, interrelationships (and some were romantic), team as family, lovable characters, patriotism, a father figure, as well as crime stories with a twist. In other words, DB wrote for a broad audience. He put in something for everyone. That is how he built his huge fan base. If Sasha Alexander stayed on the show, there would eventually have been a romance between her and Tony or maybe Gibbs, in my humble opinion. That is what DB did, He knew what sells.

Live ratings (average viewership) by season (rounded to .5 million.) I used live numbers instead of live+7 because live+7 was only available starting with season 9. Showrunners–seasons 1-4 Bellisario, seasons 5-8 Brennan, seasons 9-13 Glasberg. (In season 8, Glasberg may have been doing most of the job of showrunner. He did write the first and last episodes which was usually done by the showrunner on this series. He did not become showrunner officially and publicly until a few months before season 9 began. Brennan’s first year of NCIS-LA coincided with season 7 of NCIS)

s.1— 12 mil
s. 2—14 mil
s. 3—16.5 mil
s. 4—15 mil
s. 5—16 mil
s. 6—17.5 mil
s. 7—19 mil
s. 8—19.5 mil
s. 9—19 mil
s.10—19 mil
s.11—18.5 mil
s.12—17 mil

Sorry, I’m one of those fans who has been there since the beginning, and NCIS has always been about change; at least that’s what I’ve seen. The tone changed when first Shane Brennan and then Gary Glasberg took over. It changed when Kate died and Ziva came in, and then again when she left and Ellie joined. It changed when Jenny Shepard became the director of NCIS, and when she died and Leon Vance took her place. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. And change doesn’t have to be bad or even big. NCIS doesn’t need to reinvent itself, but it does need to stop retreading over old ground so much.

Subtext instead of being hit over the head with everything. Seasons 1 and 2 were great for that – people could see what they wanted to see rather than being told what they should see. Unfortunately somewhere along the line NCIS got twisted into something where the crime became the ‘B’ story, secondary to hitting viewers over the head with “relationship” anvils, and became the poorer for it.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s still a good show, as the ratings prove, but for me it’s not what it once was, and hopefully with the changes coming in Season 14 they can take the opportunity to “re-pilot” themselves and really return to their roots.

Glasberg and company’s obsession with making absolutely everything about Gibbs has limited the show. It has become slow and dull because Gibbs knows and does everything that matters now. No surprises. Ever. I guess all the focus on Gibbs is supposed to make us care about him even more but really it’s just over exposure and at least for me, has the opposite effect. Now they’re losing Weatherly, who for me, was the most potentially interesting versatile character but they’ve squandered his talents so that he would never be perceived as out shining Gibbs. If Gibbs was really that shiny they wouldn’t have to hold others back to prove it. The show was much better when it was a true ensemble cast and not a Mark Harmon showcase. The show has lost this viewer at the end of the this season. I wish them well but I have no desire to see more Gibbs drama.

As far as S13 goes, there’s been more than enough of Abby, McGee and Gibbs. Time to concentrate on giving MW’s Tony an exit that makes sense and that honors a CORE cast member and original character. ziva does not need to figure into that by the way. That’s what fanfic is for.

One thing I do applaud about this season was the whole thing with Tony and Jeanne. I really didn’t want to see them two get back together.