‘NCIS’ season 11: David McCallum’s Cote de Pablo comments and more
You may have already read the headlines regarding David McCallum and his comments towards Cote de Pablo. They come at a pretty surprising time, given that it has been many months since her exit from “NCIS” was first announced. Since that time, the only thing that has been said about a return is that Michael Weatherly would like her to come back at some point.
In case you haven’t seen it, here is what the man behind Mallard (a.k.a. Ducky) had to say to Digital Spy:
“It was frustration and anger that someone should just walk out on us … I just don’t understand how a leading lady in a show that’s worldwide, who ostensibly wants to have a career as an actress, suddenly walks away from such a gem and just vanishes a couple of days before we start production.”
McCallum says that around five scripts were rewritten to accommodate the sudden change in production, and while we cannot confirm that number, we do know that there were many plans that were in place had de Pablo stuck around.
Obviously, there are two things here that are worth remembering after seeing this quote: This is McCallum’s opinion on the matter, and it’s not surprising that there are strong emotions one way or another when you work with someone for so long. Most of the rest of the cast has been both cordial and supportive of Cote since the news came out, but we really feel the same way about this story as a whole as we did when the news of her exit was first announced: For anyone to say outside of the show that they understand what happened would be completely presumptuous. If she returns later, then she returns; speculation really doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
While she has not necessarily “replaced” Cote, we have seen more and more of Emily Wickersham since her promotion to series regular as Ellie Bishop. We were critical of the episode “Monsters and Men” last night, but that was mostly from the standpoint of making the entire story about her to a level that didn’t feel realistic anymore. It wasn’t so much a slight to the character herself, or to Wickersham’s performance.
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Photo: CBS
m
February 8, 2014 @ 10:59 am
I love how ncis try to fix things…
Absolutely no respect for CDP, for fans and worst for themselves too…
We do not care if they love or hate each other… It’s not our problem. We just want a show who is fun and who respects promises… The show is really a desillusion. Yes desperate people do desperate things…
TIBBSNCIS
February 7, 2014 @ 10:17 pm
Incredible how Cote resembles the the character of Ziva so much, arrogance keep it up and….. she has no future in acting.
TIBBSNCIS
February 7, 2014 @ 10:16 pm
19.53 million watched Tuesday – Highest
3.1/9 in 18-49 category – highest! highest!
Cote’s presence doesn’t matter AT ALL! Thanks Duck for telling the truth of her arrogance!
TIBBSNCIS
February 7, 2014 @ 10:15 pm
If you see the original interview – he also says that the new actress – is wonderful to be around and then adds – “the complete antithesis of Cote” …Wow! I think in a few years when the show is finally over, we will hear the real scoop.
TIBBSNCIS
February 6, 2014 @ 4:22 pm
Wow, thanks David M. for telling the truth!
TIBBSNCIS
February 6, 2014 @ 3:20 pm
Latest blurb on the chilean miners film: Bob Gunton (Argo, The Shawshank Redemption) has joined the cast of the now-filming Chilean miner drama The 33. Earlier this week Gabriel Byrneboarded the true story pic playing Andre Sougarret as part of an international cast that includes Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, and Rodrigo Santoro. Gunton will play Chilean President Sebastián Piñera. The film is shooting in Colombia before it heads to Chile. Patricia Riggen is directing. Gunton is repped by Abrams Artists Agency.
Cote not even mentioned, she’s in no press photos, she’ll be lucky if she has 5 minutes on screen.
TIBBSNCIS
February 6, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
Incredible how Cote resembles the the character of Ziva so much, arrogance keep it up and….. she has no future in acting.
TIBBSNCIS
February 6, 2014 @ 3:16 pm
19.53 million watched Tuesday – Highest
3.1/9 in 18-49 category – highest! highest!
Cote’s presence doesn’t matter AT ALL! Thanks Duck for telling the truth of her arrogance!
TIBBSNCIS
February 6, 2014 @ 3:10 pm
If you see the original interview – he also says that the new actress – is wonderful to be around and then adds – “the complete antithesis of Cote” …Wow! I think in a few years when the show is finally over, we will hear the real scoop.
Karen Janczy
February 7, 2014 @ 2:20 am
Those two remarks were not said in the same sentence, and it is deceitful to claim otherwise.
TIBBSNCIS
February 6, 2014 @ 3:09 pm
20 million people watched NCIS on Tuesday, and they still have the highest young adult ratings… the show isn’t going anywhere. Cote was not integral to the show. the hear of the show is still there.
David – is saying what the other cast members won’t say out loud – due to media attention….but David has a long and stellar career and has more confidence to speak his mind.
Bellz Webster
February 6, 2014 @ 7:34 am
NCIS is not coming to an end, what a load of baloney. Just because one cast member expresses their opinion about one that has left does not indicate the whole cast are falling apart emotionally. No sponsor is going to stop advertising in a show that’s on top even if they may drop 1 million in ratings and have a slightly lower demo. And they have not dropped by 20 % at all. There are people over 49 who watch this show. Mine are in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Fans are being fickle. One minute their ‘favourite’ show is the best on tv and then one character leaves, a totally new one comes in with a different feel to her, and then the show is supposedly now the dread of tv viewing. It takes more than one character to make a television show work. ALL the actors have done a marvelous job. They deserve credit for their part too. If you are so unhappy then just nick off and go else where, no one is holding you down and making you stay.
Marysue
February 6, 2014 @ 2:37 pm
I agree. My hubby and I are pushing 60 and still watch the show. We have loved the show from Day 1. We watched it predecessor JAG for more than 10 years. We were very sad and disappointed when Cote decided to leave but if I read between the lines correctly I think it wasn’t about money. I think there is truth to what Michael was saying about her needing a break. I agree with others that given her age and stage in life she probably wanted to try other things. Given this I wonder if she tried to negotiate a reduction of hours/ scenes she had to commit to so she would have had time to do other stuff without having to leave the show. If CBS didn’t like this they might have thought a hefty raise would do the trick. As others have said they should have had an alternate storyline ready to go so they could have enacted Plan B and not had the scramble that they did. Because of this the season has been rocky. I miss the banter that the characters always had at the beginning of the episode before Gibbs would appear and tell everyone to grab their gear. I like Emily and feel that she is doing her best with what she has to work with but Sean and Michael’s acting is really flat and I think that is where Cote fit in really well with all the quips. That was the chemistry she had with Michael. They both have a whacky sense of humour and play off each other’s energy. As Ziva she really grounded Michael’s Tony character. I think she grounded both guys in real life too. Most shows do carry on when actors leave and I believe that NCIS will but it is going to take awhile to get used to Bishop. I would like to see Michael and Sean do more than just stand around while Bishop does most of the talking. I’m giving the show time because I honestly love all the other actors as well and hope that as time goes on we will see a return of better things.
LET
February 6, 2014 @ 4:24 pm
I too was sad to see Ziva depart and hope that Bishop will come into her own on the show!! I think her character needs more strength than has been portrayed so far. Both her predecessors (Ziva &Kate) we’re ‘strong’ women!
agentscully514
February 7, 2014 @ 7:39 am
I like Bishop, but I believe she shows very little promise. no charm or intrigue. I have no interest in her background and watching her work is like wathcing paint dry.
gabi
February 6, 2014 @ 2:34 am
I admire McCallum but I am a bit disappointed by his naivete. He should know that sometimes contract negotiations fall through. If the person (Cote) signing the contract is not happy with what is being offered then she walks. Just because he is happy to sign on because it is a worldwide hit does not mean she has those same reasons. It is clear that signing a contract was her first choice because she would not have negotiated until July and gone to May Upfronts if she did not want to come back. Lastly I have no idea why she is blaming Cote for the rewrite of the season since the showrunners needed to be prepared. If they did not even consider the possibility then Glasberg and crew were being incompetent and McCallum needs to place the blame solely on them and not Cote. After all she did not walk in the middle of her contract. She merely decided it was not in her best interest to accept the contract.
BR
February 6, 2014 @ 2:31 am
Regarding the comments made by Mr. McCallum, CDP does have a career as an actress, who CBS didn’t appear to be treating as a “leading lady”. He, along with others on the show, have done movies, stage, and other series during their long careers. It appears that CDP, given her age and time spent on the show, wanted to broaden her acting experiences, much like these others did when they were the same age. However, they had the flexibility of not being linked to a recurring, popular series, whereas being on a weekly show requires a commitment of at least 9 months/year on a daily basis. Sometimes negotiations just don’t work out despite the best of intentions. Other actors on the show have had their contract negotiations continue past the previous season’s last episode. This doesn’t seem to have been a one-time occurrence, nor one that was surprising. CBS should have had a back up plan, especially since this appeared to be a very difficult decision for CDP given the length of the process.
agentscully514
February 6, 2014 @ 1:45 am
I adore and respect David McCallum. he is entitled to his opinion. And so is Michael Weatherly, who is great friends with Cote de Pablo, and knows the full story behind her departure. He has unfailingly supported her decision to leave, and has stated he wishes she would come back. I have no doubt her departure threw the showrunner for a loop. That said, I was pretty surprised there was no contingency plan. They knew perfectly well she had not signed a contract. That seems like a pretty basic thing to me.
Cote stated that she did not plan to leave. This makes sense, because why would she have paid for her attorneys to spend months in negotiations if she had no intention of re-signing? Clearly there was some kind of contract impasse. Nothing else makes sense.
I am thrilled for COte that she is working on the Chilean miners movie, with A++ actors. Her shooting schedule will last about a month, from what I heard. Very excited to see this film.
I truly hope that Cote will be able to come back for a few episodes and do justice to the Tony/Ziva storyline. not that ridiculous crap we were given.
Karen Janczy
February 7, 2014 @ 2:26 am
I agree. I don’t understand why this is coming out now and why Cote is being bashed by McCallum, except the episode Bishop is made officially part of the team just aired and an uproar was expected. Just as Paulie had her Twitter meltdown around the time Bishop first showed up. Trying to make Cote look bad so everyone will instantly gravitate toward the new girl. Desparate people do desparate things.
gabi
February 7, 2014 @ 2:34 pm
When Pauley had that meltdown I knew the tide was turning because it was clear that she received lots of complaint from people not liking the new NCIS. Still they will refuse to do whatever is necessary to get back Cote.
At some point Cote will no longer be willing to return full-time because she will have found more roles in either movies and television. I will be happy for her when she does because we really need to see more of her whether as Ziva or in other roles even though it would be sad as a Ziva fan. At this point I am not watching but the day she reaches the point when she has moved on entirely is when NCIS will die for me. Until then I might not watch the show but I holding on to the hope that I will be able to return once she is back.
Terry
February 6, 2014 @ 12:36 am
David McCallum has earned his right to speak his mind about this issue by his amazing career. I believe, however, that he was speaking out of a sense of frustration with the course this show has taken this year. The facade of the “one big happy family” has fallen away and been replaced by an almost palpable sense of “uncertainty” — which has sometimes manifested itself in the stars drifting apart.
Let’s face it…. this show is coming to an end. We can either see it gracefully exit stage left or watch it disintegrate into a train wreck. In fact it may be too late for anything but the train wreck as the wheels already seem to have come off rounding the bend of Season 11.
Yes, the ratings have remained in the 19 million range, but the demo has declined by approximately 20 percent this season to last and from the comments on this site, the NCIS facebook page and other social media, it is clear that many of these 19 million are hanging on in the HOPE of the show improving — something it has shown no sign of doing. How long will they stay? That is the question that I am quite sure is being asked in the production office of NCIS and the offices of CBS.
My guess is that it won’t last long — habit is hard to break, but it can only hold an audience used to a first-rate drama so long. And once that tie is broken, the fall will be quick and sharp.
Guest
February 6, 2014 @ 1:23 am
Terry I agree 100% about everything you said. And so well put. I can’t see this show going beyond next season (if that). I am confused by the high ratings, however, when seeing all the comments on social media. Can you tell me what the “demo” is?
Terry
February 6, 2014 @ 2:24 am
The “demo” is short for “demographic profile.” In this case it is the people aged 18-49, which is the key demographic profile that marketers (who buy ads which is where the network makes their money) look for when making an ad buy.
A show can have great overall audience numbers but if it falls short in that demo it can be in trouble. Last year, the highest rated shows for NCIS in that demo were the ones that were Ziva-centric, which was Shabbat Shalom and Shiva (the two about Ziva’s dad’s assassination and the follow up).
Using that as a guide, if NCIS’ goal was to expand their core audience (which has always been around 19 million) then they found the way to do that with this story arc. Clearly this year they have relied on that core audience and had little success in reaching that key demo — actually losing approximately 20 percent year over year in that demographic profile. Now, when you add to that the comments here and on other sites (including NCIS Facebook) it is clear that even that core audience is eroding albeit slowly.
It is hard to break a habit…and that is obviously what is holding NCIS’s ratings relatively steady. But once it is broken, the drop is fast and sharp.
When I look at the chart of NCIS using the demo and overall audience as the data points — if this were a stock on the stock market I would be selling on this false market high. The trendlines are clearly against it and it is a fool’s bet to buy stock in a product that has no “upside” visible.
Tonyfan Ncis
February 6, 2014 @ 1:27 am
I agree, Terry. I think that ncis looks like it’s ion a downhill slide, which must be frustrating to the actors whose lives have revolved around this show for 10 years. It’s frustrating as a fan too. Cbs needs to do something very soon or else I think it will be too late.
agentscully514
February 6, 2014 @ 1:47 am
They could get the highest ratings in the world, but if things crumble behind the scenes, they are done for. That’s what happened to the Beatles.
gabi
February 6, 2014 @ 2:53 am
NCIS is nearing the point of no return. I do not see it surviving past next season at least with the cast intact. Once ratings continue to fall again (they are right now around 3.0 whereas last season the average was 3.3 and the only two episodes to have surpassed last season’s average were the Ziva farewell episodes) they will start writing out all those expensive cast members to make themselves viable for renewal. I sense McCallum knows he is at the short end of the stick in that regard because he can easily have a storyline about his retirement because he is the oldest and Palmer, who is already groomed for the spot, can take over. If they do last a couple of more seasons it will be because they start shedding cast members. Regardless the point of no return is in sight and this will probably end up being the fate of the show. As a fan I am sad that this will probably be the fate of the show but I will not be sticking around for the conclusion if Ziva is not there.
Karen Janczy
February 7, 2014 @ 2:23 am
I don’t one episode this season has surpassed last season’s series high duo “Shabbat Shalom” and “Shiva”. This arc didn’t even come close.
gabi
February 7, 2014 @ 2:26 pm
Ratings for the first three episodes of 2013: 3.5, 3.9, 3.8
Ratings for the first three episodes of 2014: 3.0, 3.0, 3.1
The Ziva-Eli arc and all the Tiva storylines kept people interested and breathed new life into the show after the last two arcs of P2P and Harper Dearing which were boring and convoluted.
I think it will be interesting to see the how people react to the next episode since most people believed that there was a chance she would leave. Not that it would realistically happen since Glasberg still thinks he is the best showrunner in Hollywood and Harmon seems to not care about the show at this point.