‘NCIS’ Creators Thought the Show Was ‘Done’ After Michael Weatherly’s Exit
An 'NCIS' executive producer thought Michael Weatherly's exit after 13 seasons might be a kiss of death for the long-running CBS procedural.
NCIS has been going strong for two decades. But there have been a few times when it seemed like the show might not be able to continue, particularly when fan-favorite characters such as Abby Sciuto and Leroy Jethro Gibbs left the show. In fact, the departure of another key actor felt like a death knell for the long-running series, an NCIS insider recently revealed.
Michael Weatherly left ‘NCIS’ in 2016
Michael Weatherly played Tony DiNozzo on NCIS. DiNozzo was a senior NCIS agent who was part of the team led by Gibbs (Mark Harmon). The character was introduced in a JAG episode that served as a backdoor pilot for NCIS and continued to appear through season 13. DiNozzo ultimately left the team in order to care for his daughter with fellow agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo).
In reality, Weatherly had decided it was time to move on from the CBS show. He also wanted to spend more time with his family, which included several young children with his wife Bojana Jankovic.
“The kids are very excited to have me around, mostly because I’m wrapped around their little fingers,” he told People at the time. “I’m just a sucker and I’m trying very hard to be authority dad.”
“As a lot of working parents know, when you’re not around a lot and then you’re with your kids, it’s very hard to just come in and be the strict one because then you’re just an *sshole,” he added. “But you don’t want to be too soft.”
‘NCIS’ executive producer didn’t think the show could go on without DiNozzo
Weatherly had good reasons for wanting to move on from NCIS. But those running the show feared what his exit might mean for the series.
“When Michael Weatherly left, I thought, ‘We’re done. How could we go on?’” JAG director and NCIS executive producer Mark Horowitz told The Hollywood Reporter for the magazine’s oral history of NCIS.
But Horowitz needn’t have worried. The show brought in That ‘70s Show
“And yet Wilmer Valderrama comes in and creates his own persona, and he’s got his own thing,” Horowitz said.
“I knew America loved DiNozzo … When a series loses a major character like that, there’s always a hole,” former CBS president Glenn Geller said. “But the writers always managed to really find a way to not plug the hole, but to massage the characters and the relationships so that you were being introduced to new ones, and you still got to love the ones that are there.”
Michael Weatherly teased a return to ‘NCIS’
It’s been seven years since Weatherly left NCIS behind. He later went on to star in CBS’s Bull, but that show ended in 2022. But could the actor be contemplating stepping back into DiNozzo’s shoes? A recent social media update has NCIS fans hoping.
“I feel like things are starting to happen. Things that will be very exciting. Stay tuned,” the actor wrote in a July 2023 post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
That comment led some to believe that Weatherly might be preparing to confirm his return to NCIS, which is heading into its 21st season. He also hinted at a possible return in a January 2023 post on X, TV Insider reported. But so far, there’s been no official confirmation that Weatherly will be back on the show.
