33 secrets of NCIS (plus a short interview with Brennan), from a French article.
Some of them, we already know. (It's the one with Sean and Michael playing Guitar Hero.)
http://www.team-ncis.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=24598
http://www.team-ncis.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=24597
http://www.team-ncis.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=24596
Birth:
Spin-off of JAG (France 2), NCIS started during episode 20 season 8, where Gibbs, Tony, Abby and Ducky worked with the lawyers of JAG.
Punk Muse:
Pauley Perrette was the leader of the female punk rock group Lo-Ball, and participated to the clip St Anger of heavy metal group Metallica. Those experiences played in creating the character of Abby.
Boat:
Gibbs spends his free time building a sailing boat. In the show, Mark Harmon uses his own tools from his days as carpenter and roofer to put the finishing touches to his 'baby'.
Error:
Several times, Ducky (David McCallum) forget to change his clothes between the field and the morgue. A grave fault for a coroner, who risk a bacterial contamination of the body.
Homework:
To better understand the character of Gibbs, Mark Harmon often visits the navy base of San Diego and sees frequently real NCIS agents and Marines.
Expert:
David McCallum became an expert in forensic: he gives conferences to forensic doctors!
In family:
Sean Murray (McGee) is the step-son of Don Bellisario, the creator of the show.
Sons and daughters of…:
Troian Avery, one of the daughters of the creator, plays McGee's sister. One of his sons, Michael, played Charles Sterling, an assistant of Abby.
Record!:
With 21.3 millions of viewers, episode 2 of season 7 breaks the rating record of the show in the USA. From 11.8 millions in 2003 to 19.3 millions in 2010, NCIS see the ratings climb every year.
Heroic:
Mark Harmon is a hero in reality: in 1996, a car was in fire after an accident near his home. He rushed to it with a hammer to break the windscreen and save two trapped teenagers.
Disavowal:
In the show, DiNozzo's father, rich businessman, disinherits Tony. Like the father of Michael Weatherly, when he told him he wanted to be an actor.
Bad joke:
For his 54 birthday, the 150 members of NCIS wore a t-shirt with the words 'It's Mark Harmon's birthday' and his trailer was full of balloons and confetti. Harmon disliked it!
Pranksters:
Rocky Carroll (Vance) burst of laughing during his first apparition in the show. The boss had a tooth pick in his mouth. And during a scene where he sanctions the team, the actors hid a tooth pick in their mouths. They took it out one after another to imitate him.
Joke:
One day, Michael Weatherly put a tarantula on Cote de Pablo's desk just before her scene. She's still scared.
Shortcut:
In the beginning, the show was named Navy NCIS.
Localisation:
While it's supposed to happen in Washington DC, on the East coast of the USA, the show is filmed near Santa Clarita, in California, at 50 kilometres of Los Angeles.
Camping:
Harmon found his trailer, an Airstream of 1972 and long of 8 meters, in a ranch in Arizona.
Addicted:
Pauley Perrette watches the show every week.
Refusal:
Mark Harmon refused to be in the spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles.
Loyal:
From the stars of NCIS, only Rocky Carroll and Pauley Perrette played their roles in some episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.
Rock'n'roll:
Between two scenes, to relax, Michael Weatherly and Sean Murray play video games in DiNozzo's trailer. Their favourite? Guitar Hero!
Vocalize:
Michael Weatherly wrote and sung Bitter and Blue on disc 2 of the NCIS's soundtrack. Pauley Perrette sung Fear.
Big heart:
Pauley Perrette is involved in 30 charities: from homes for homeless to animal protection.
Transition:
It's Don Bellisario who recorded the sound we hear at the end of every part of an episode, when the scene is white and black.
Nod/hint:
Harmon wears sometimes a 'NIS' sweat-shirt, initials of the agency which existed before NCIS and where Gibbs started.
Twins:
Carroll and Weatherly have a 5 years gap between them, both born the 8 July…1963 and 1968.
Bad choice:
Don Johnson was considered to play Gibbs, but he refused!
Aircraft carrier:
In the credits of season 1 and 2, we saw an aircraft carrier moving under the Golden Gate of San Francisco. The images come from The Presidio, a movie of 1988, starring Harmon.
Quick diet:
Murray lost weight during the season 7. By simply giving up alcohol and sugar, the actor lost 13 kilo.
Gourmand:
Favorite dessert of Cote de Pablo? A tarte Tatin, which she orders in her favorite LA restaurant, The Little Door.
Teasings:
Harmon is 'the' joker of the team. "He even put insects in my water bottles!" complain Cote de Pablo, his favourite victim.
Long distance:
Even after 8 seasons filmed in California, McCallum still lives in New York with his wife, Katherine.
Chihuahua:
For Abby's body language, Pauley says she copies her Chihuahua, CeCe, even her way to move her head.
The interview of Shane Brennan:
What do you think explain the international success of NCIS?
We put in front universal emotions. I travelled a lot when I was young, in Iran, in Afghanistan. I saw people dying, breathtaking landscapes, I cried of relief when I escaped dangerous situation. Human emotions are the same everywhere.
Adrenaline, laugh, complicity, love…
So you do have a formula?
We need at least 7 or 8 'moments' in an episode. It can be a headslap given by Gibbs to DiNozzo, a funny reply or a heart wrenching twist. The case story becomes a simple coating.
Why the ratings of NCIS climb every year?
Reruns help us a lot. In the USA, a lot of cable channels make NCIS marathons. Some discover the show, become fans after 13 episodes in a row, and start to follow the current season.
http://www.team-ncis.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=24598
http://www.team-ncis.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=24597
http://www.team-ncis.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=24596
Birth:
Spin-off of JAG (France 2), NCIS started during episode 20 season 8, where Gibbs, Tony, Abby and Ducky worked with the lawyers of JAG.
Punk Muse:
Pauley Perrette was the leader of the female punk rock group Lo-Ball, and participated to the clip St Anger of heavy metal group Metallica. Those experiences played in creating the character of Abby.
Boat:
Gibbs spends his free time building a sailing boat. In the show, Mark Harmon uses his own tools from his days as carpenter and roofer to put the finishing touches to his 'baby'.
Error:
Several times, Ducky (David McCallum) forget to change his clothes between the field and the morgue. A grave fault for a coroner, who risk a bacterial contamination of the body.
Homework:
To better understand the character of Gibbs, Mark Harmon often visits the navy base of San Diego and sees frequently real NCIS agents and Marines.
Expert:
David McCallum became an expert in forensic: he gives conferences to forensic doctors!
In family:
Sean Murray (McGee) is the step-son of Don Bellisario, the creator of the show.
Sons and daughters of…:
Troian Avery, one of the daughters of the creator, plays McGee's sister. One of his sons, Michael, played Charles Sterling, an assistant of Abby.
Record!:
With 21.3 millions of viewers, episode 2 of season 7 breaks the rating record of the show in the USA. From 11.8 millions in 2003 to 19.3 millions in 2010, NCIS see the ratings climb every year.
Heroic:
Mark Harmon is a hero in reality: in 1996, a car was in fire after an accident near his home. He rushed to it with a hammer to break the windscreen and save two trapped teenagers.
Disavowal:
In the show, DiNozzo's father, rich businessman, disinherits Tony. Like the father of Michael Weatherly, when he told him he wanted to be an actor.
Bad joke:
For his 54 birthday, the 150 members of NCIS wore a t-shirt with the words 'It's Mark Harmon's birthday' and his trailer was full of balloons and confetti. Harmon disliked it!
Pranksters:
Rocky Carroll (Vance) burst of laughing during his first apparition in the show. The boss had a tooth pick in his mouth. And during a scene where he sanctions the team, the actors hid a tooth pick in their mouths. They took it out one after another to imitate him.
Joke:
One day, Michael Weatherly put a tarantula on Cote de Pablo's desk just before her scene. She's still scared.
Shortcut:
In the beginning, the show was named Navy NCIS.
Localisation:
While it's supposed to happen in Washington DC, on the East coast of the USA, the show is filmed near Santa Clarita, in California, at 50 kilometres of Los Angeles.
Camping:
Harmon found his trailer, an Airstream of 1972 and long of 8 meters, in a ranch in Arizona.
Addicted:
Pauley Perrette watches the show every week.
Refusal:
Mark Harmon refused to be in the spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles.
Loyal:
From the stars of NCIS, only Rocky Carroll and Pauley Perrette played their roles in some episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.
Rock'n'roll:
Between two scenes, to relax, Michael Weatherly and Sean Murray play video games in DiNozzo's trailer. Their favourite? Guitar Hero!
Vocalize:
Michael Weatherly wrote and sung Bitter and Blue on disc 2 of the NCIS's soundtrack. Pauley Perrette sung Fear.
Big heart:
Pauley Perrette is involved in 30 charities: from homes for homeless to animal protection.
Transition:
It's Don Bellisario who recorded the sound we hear at the end of every part of an episode, when the scene is white and black.
Nod/hint:
Harmon wears sometimes a 'NIS' sweat-shirt, initials of the agency which existed before NCIS and where Gibbs started.
Twins:
Carroll and Weatherly have a 5 years gap between them, both born the 8 July…1963 and 1968.
Bad choice:
Don Johnson was considered to play Gibbs, but he refused!
Aircraft carrier:
In the credits of season 1 and 2, we saw an aircraft carrier moving under the Golden Gate of San Francisco. The images come from The Presidio, a movie of 1988, starring Harmon.
Quick diet:
Murray lost weight during the season 7. By simply giving up alcohol and sugar, the actor lost 13 kilo.
Gourmand:
Favorite dessert of Cote de Pablo? A tarte Tatin, which she orders in her favorite LA restaurant, The Little Door.
Teasings:
Harmon is 'the' joker of the team. "He even put insects in my water bottles!" complain Cote de Pablo, his favourite victim.
Long distance:
Even after 8 seasons filmed in California, McCallum still lives in New York with his wife, Katherine.
Chihuahua:
For Abby's body language, Pauley says she copies her Chihuahua, CeCe, even her way to move her head.
The interview of Shane Brennan:
What do you think explain the international success of NCIS?
We put in front universal emotions. I travelled a lot when I was young, in Iran, in Afghanistan. I saw people dying, breathtaking landscapes, I cried of relief when I escaped dangerous situation. Human emotions are the same everywhere.
Adrenaline, laugh, complicity, love…
So you do have a formula?
We need at least 7 or 8 'moments' in an episode. It can be a headslap given by Gibbs to DiNozzo, a funny reply or a heart wrenching twist. The case story becomes a simple coating.
Why the ratings of NCIS climb every year?
Reruns help us a lot. In the USA, a lot of cable channels make NCIS marathons. Some discover the show, become fans after 13 episodes in a row, and start to follow the current season.