[TV] NCIS - Official Thread

[Skippy88]

Sorry, but since absolutely fantastic shows like Fringe, Community or Chuck (just to name three, there are tons more) struggle with poor ratings, I've learned that they don't tell anything about the quality of the show.

Basically, right now there are a lot of older viewers compared to younger viewers. The older folks love NCIS while the younger fans love the Fringe, Community and Chuck type shows. Unfortunately, most younger viewers are too busy with school, gaming, movies, playing on the internet to really have any time to watch tv. Older folks have nothing really else to do but watch tv. That explains mostly why NCIS has more overall viewers.

However, Advertisers look more at the number of people 18-49 viewers since they are the big spenders than overall viewers. NCIS had a 3.4 rating this week while the Fringe finale was 1.4 so even then more younger folks like NCIS better. I think the main problems is Fringe is very serial and not everyone likes Science Fiction where NCIS is not serial so you can miss an episode and still not know what's going on and it's very relatable especially given the current events over the past 12 years.

At the end of the day though if the show is not being watched then the advertisers won't want to advertise on that show which in turn means tv channels won't be paid so they really have no choice but to cancel some shows. It sucks but there's not much you can do.

[Pendulous]

I forgot about that Abby episode. Anytime you see her as the focal point otherwise, she's being kidnapped or somehow in danger. Jon's right, the show is not character driven. I mean, come on, if you have to go ten seasons before you know why one of the main characters is even on the show, then you're not telling a very compelling character-driven story. Yes, you do get attached to the characters, but it comes in time. I have yet to appreciate a Ziva story, because she's always treated as a cold-hearted nothing killer who does not care for anyone's feelings but her own, and it never seems she changes. I'm not saying I don't like it, I'm just saying that's how it is.

And I've seen every episode, multiple times. Except season 1. Season 1 sucked. Gibbs was DiNozzo, and there was no McGee.

Basically, right now there are a lot of older viewers compared to younger viewers. The older folks love NCIS while the younger fans love the Fringe, Community and Chuck type shows. Unfortunately, most younger viewers are too busy with school, gaming, movies, playing on the internet to really have any time to watch tv. Older folks have nothing really else to do but watch tv. That explains mostly why NCIS has more overall viewers.

It's because NCIS depicts the younger people as stoners on a beach who can't speak English well, or gamers sitting in their mom's basement well into their 20's. Blame the writers.

[Reg]

I think that's the beauty of the character development, it doesn't feel overbearing. As the seasons go on, you get a little deeper in to each of the characters, a little bit further into seeing what drove them to where they are today. Take Gibbs for example. At first, you never really know who he lost and how. I thought the way they progressed his story through the seasons was very well done.

And I think that's what makes Ziva's character so great. I would say at this point, she is the most "alone" character on the show. She doesn't know where she really belongs, but is slowly making the transition, and once she finally feels a little connected to her role as a full time NCIS agent, the events that happened in this season with Vance and her dad happen.(Don't want to spoil for anyone, so trying to be vague lol) You can tell there is definitely something that could happen with her and DiNozzo, but I am kind of glad it hasn't happened because I feel it could become too much of a focal point. But honestly, she really is a killer, she spent her whole life as one up until the past few years of the show, and even since then is reminded off it all too often. To me, that is more realistic than her pulling a complete 180 and being some carefree pretty face on the show.

To each his own though, it's pretty interesting to get other peoples' thoughts on a show.

EDIT: And McGee was in season one, he started and became recurring in/after episode 6 or 7

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

McGee first appeared in that episode with the submarine and the imposter crew member in Season 1.

[Pendulous]

McGee first appeared in that episode with the submarine and the imposter crew member in Season 1.

He wasn't a regular and a member of the team until season 2 as I recall though.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

He wasn't a regular and a member of the team until season 2 as I recall though.

No, he had about the same role in NCIS as Ned Dorniget does now. Except that he was better at the computer button pushy thing.

[yurano]

Sorry, but since absolutely fantastic shows like Fringe, Community or Chuck (just to name three, there are tons more) struggle with poor ratings, I've learned that they don't tell anything about the quality of the show.

I'm a huge SciFi fan but Fringe was a huge turnoff for me. Ratings do have some bearing on how good a show is although it does depends on the size of the target audience.

Basically, right now there are a lot of older viewers compared to younger viewers. The older folks love NCIS while the younger fans love the Fringe, Community and Chuck type shows. Unfortunately, most younger viewers are too busy with school, gaming, movies, playing on the internet to really have any time to watch tv. Older folks have nothing really else to do but watch tv. That explains mostly why NCIS has more overall viewers.

I'm a younger viewer. I dislike Fringe, Community and Chuck. I find NCIS somewhat amusing.

[Stormcall]

I'm a huge SciFi fan but Fringe was a huge turnoff for me. Ratings do have some bearing on how good a show is although it does depends on the size of the target audience.



I'm a younger viewer. I dislike Fringe, Community and Chuck. I find NCIS somewhat amusing.

I'm 31. So not a "younger viewer", but I doubt anyone older than their early teens is going to call me "old", either. I work 2 jobs, I play WoW, I read forums, I go to the shooting range, so I certainly do more than "sit around and watch TV". That said, I agree with you. I found Fringe tolerable and watched most of the 1st season and part of the 2nd, and I didn't find it nearly interesting enough to make me wanna keep watching it(and no, not because it's sci-fi, Star Trek and Firefly are sci-fi and I have no problems with them, hell, I just finished rewatching DS9 via Netflix). And it's also not because of it's "serial nature", as a lot of other shows I really enjoy(The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Dexter) are serial as well.

I also find Community and Chuck to be garbage, whereas I enjoy NCIS. I don't consider it one of my favorite shows, but I generally find it entertaining.

[Skippy88]

I guess I should clarify in that I'm not saying NCIS doesn't have younger viewers as obviously they do but out of the approx. 20 million viewers you would see more people aged above 50 than below 50. And it's just not NCIS. CBS has become a bit known as attracting older viewers as they usually win in overall viewers but lose in the 18-49 demographic.

And let's not forget that the cast and crew put out a great show. It's got action, drama, & comedy all rolled into one. And you can tell the actors love working on the show and like working with each other.

[Window]

I'm 31. So not a "younger viewer", but I doubt anyone older than their early teens is going to call me "old", either. I work 2 jobs, I play WoW, I read forums, I go to the shooting range, so I certainly do more than "sit around and watch TV". That said, I agree with you. I found Fringe tolerable and watched most of the 1st season and part of the 2nd, and I didn't find it nearly interesting enough to make me wanna keep watching it(and no, not because it's sci-fi, Star Trek and Firefly are sci-fi and I have no problems with them, hell, I just finished rewatching DS9 via Netflix). And it's also not because of it's "serial nature", as a lot of other shows I really enjoy(The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Dexter) are serial as well.

I also find Community and Chuck to be garbage, whereas I enjoy NCIS. I don't consider it one of my favorite shows, but I generally find it entertaining.

Im close to the same age and I find Ncis amazing show as it is but takes to long to push characters, this season was meant to be pushing Zeba and Tony together and Zeba on a path to revenge for her father
yet its down to the last episode of the season and its just been similar crimes bar a few stand out episodes, unless they really start pushing more character relationships people may lose interest sooner than later
thats one positive about Chuck and Community it didnt take them 10 seasons to get to that point

[Stormcall]

yet its down to the last episode of the season and its just been similar crimes bar a few stand out episodes, unless they really start pushing more character relationships people may lose interest sooner than later

TBH I'm surprised it's still going. Like I said, I like the show, but this is 10 seasons...not a lot of shows go that long these days, esp ones that run full(20+ episodes) seasons rather than the 12-15 ep seasons a lot of modern shows go...that it's getting kinda repetitive is kinda expected really.

[Pendulous]

TBH I'm surprised it's still going. Like I said, I like the show, but this is 10 seasons...not a lot of shows go that long these days, esp ones that run full(20+ episodes) seasons rather than the 12-15 ep seasons a lot of modern shows go...that it's getting kinda repetitive is kinda expected really.

I agree, but someone pointed out earlier in the thread that CSI went much longer, as well as having a revolving-door cast like NCIS tends to at times. At this point, as slow as character development is (I guess that's how they get you), there's not much more story to tell. I'm not sure how they intend for each character's story to resolve (Gibbs retiring, maybe finally being able to handle a relationship, Tony and Ziva getting together which can't happen as long as Gibbs is there, Ducky dying probably), but at this point there's not much else left to do.

[Stormcall]

I agree, but someone pointed out earlier in the thread that CSI went much longer, as well as having a revolving-door cast like NCIS tends to at times. At this point, as slow as character development is (I guess that's how they get you), there's not much more story to tell. I'm not sure how they intend for each character's story to resolve (Gibbs retiring, maybe finally being able to handle a relationship, Tony and Ziva getting together which can't happen as long as Gibbs is there, Ducky dying probably), but at this point there's not much else left to do.

True, CSI has gone 3 seasons longer. But it's cast has been much more revolving door than NCIS. Over the course of the entire 10 year NCIS run, how many "main cast"/title credit characters have left the show? You had Kate die at the end of season 1, then for the remaining NINE seasons the only "main cast" character to die has been Jenny. Compare to CSI, where Grissom(that show's Gibbs) left after 9 seasons, was replaced by Laurence Fishburne's character, who has now been replaced by Ted Danson's character. Then that CSI chick Grissom was dating also left, the black dude with the afro left(I don't really watch CSI, I only catch it occasionally, so I don't know the characters names off the top of my head, nor their reason/manner of leaving the show), and that's just the ones I know off hand...

[Drihan]

I can't shake the feeling that for the past 2 seasons of both NCIS and NCIS LA, the writers have been going in a direction to bring Tony and Ziva, and Kensi and Deeks, into more situations that bring them emotionally together.

[Pendulous]

New episode, comment as I go:

Wow, opening scene was a surprise. Like something out of a horror flick.
I don't know what YAW is, but I'm betting it's more techno-bull that was made up because they can't do two seconds of research.
Great......Dornegut. Yipee.....
Huh, McGee looks like he's putting on weight again. But, at least he sounds normal again.
Wow, that was a rather...anticlimactic ending to the Dinozzo/Dornegut case.
Somehow I had a feeling it would end up a copycat killer. Don't know why. maybe they overused that plot twist.

Ah well. Not bad overall. But given all the loose ends that need tying up, 17 episodes in, you would think we'd start seeing some stories resurfacing.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

"Yaw" is the side-ways motion of a movement axis. Presumably referring to the analogue thumb-sticks on the controller.

[Skippy88]

I was cringing when reading about Gibb's barber asking him for help but it came off a lot better than I thought. I like Dornegut. He reminds of when McGee first was on the show and Tony would torment him. The prank on Tony though needed to better though. I guess Vance is back full-time and the other guy is gone then?

Most of NCIS's character development happens in first and last episodes. There is a few episodes during the season which does a bit but mostly they set-up those two episodes. It is interesting they haven't had too many Tony Ziva "moments" the last few episodes. I wonder if they changed their minds or it's just setting us up for the finale. I guess we will find out in 2 months.

Next new episode is on the 18th but next week is a repeat of Devil's Trifecta which was hilarious.

[Pendulous]

So, still watching through the old episodes. A couple things about the recent ones.

Jonathan Cole. A.K.A. Stratton. First time we see him, he's pretending to be an FBI agent so he can get to Dinozzo. Next thing we know, it's the last episode of the season. He's released from prison to lure Dearing out. That part's fine. But what bugged me is how they just magically introduced all this character into him. He mentions he was in the bomb squad. And he's going off about how it's all fun to him doing these dangerous acts. It didn't fit together to me. They could have done more with him before he got caught, in order to establish a little bit instead of finagling a personality onto him later on.

A small thing, but in season 10's premier, Gibbs says "he hurt my family". Not that we didn't know he thought of his team as his family, but it's odd for him to say something like that.

And again in the premier. The FBI uses a tactic to lure Dearing into an apartment, so they can kill him. First off, why didn't the girl just walk up to him (Dearing was watching the carnage on some TV's through a window), and blow him the fuck away right then and there? He's not a physical anything, and this girl works for the FBI. This guy is number one Most Wanted, "proceed with extreme prejudice" and this bitch walks up to him and tries to seduce him. And that's the other thing. Did she really think he'd be stupid enough to think a random woman, who's a LOT younger than him, would just walk up to him and start flirting with him. Would ANYONE fall for that?

[Skippy88]

I know it's a bit late but just wanted to point out on NCIS: LA tonight they team up with "The Red Team" which if given the go ahead by CBS will be a spin-off in the fall. Kim Raver is the lead team member.

[Pendulous]

New episode:

Vance and Ziva. I knew it was gonna happen, but seeing them two socialize together, if only for a moment, is weird.

Ziva keeps blowing off Abby. Busy doing what? Is she obsessed with finding her dad's killer? At least they brought it up, when she was looking at the photo of him.

Hmm. I suspected the wife the whole time. Not because of Tony's theory, but because she didn't seem as emotional as she should have been.

I know it's a bit late but just wanted to point out on NCIS: LA tonight they team up with "The Red Team" which if given the go ahead by CBS will be a spin-off in the fall. Kim Raver is the lead team member.

Eh. I haven't watched L.A., don't plan to watch the new one either. Just isn't the same.