When the late nice Bob Newhart made a visitor look in “NCIS” Season 8, he gave star Mark Harmon some recommendation. The veteran tv actor’s sage knowledge wasn’t some inventive perception in regards to the craft; it was one thing much more sensible — and specific.
Scott Williams, government producer and author of the CBS procedural, remembered the second on a June 2026 episode of the “NCIS: Companions & Probies” podcast. It was 2011, and Newhart was chatting with Harmon throughout a lunch break. “He simply stated, in that very halting Bob Newhart type of means, ‘So, uh, hey, Mark, can I provide you with some recommendation?'” Williams recalled. “He is like, ‘Certain, Bob, what’s it?’ He goes, ‘Trip this f**ker into the bottom.'”
“Jobs do not get higher than this. You’ll miss this when it is gone,” Williams overheard Newhart saying. “You’ve got struck gold right here.” Newhart had some expertise being on a long-running hit sequence and the job safety that comes with it. He led “The Bob Newhart Present” for six seasons and “Newhart” for eight within the ’70s and ’80s, respectively. When he appeared as Dr. Walter Magnus, Ducky’s predecessor as Chief Medical Examiner, “NCIS” had already been on the air so long as “Newhart” had. Nonetheless, he may sense that the army police procedural had the potential to maintain going even longer and that Harmon would do effectively to stay round.
Harmon finally left NCIS — however not for some time
Mark Harmon made his debut as Supervisory Particular Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in a 2003 episode of “JAG” that served as a backdoor pilot for “NCIS.” He heeded Bob Newhart’s recommendation and continued to play Gibbs for a decade after their dialog. Nonetheless, he didn’t fairly trip it to the bottom. Harmon left the present in season 19, which aired in 2021. In an look on “The Kelly Clarkson Present” two years later, Harmon stated the grind and lengthy hours began to put on on him. Talking to Parade in 2024, he elaborated that the timing felt proper for him to depart, particularly since he was pleased with the storyline the writers got here up with to ship his character off.
Harmon hasn’t utterly left the “NCIS” world behind, although. He seems as an older model of Gibbs in “NCIS: Origins,” which he additionally government produces. Scott Williams, who overheard Newhart’s recommendation to Harmon a decade and a half in the past, continues to be holding robust. “Once I heard that, I used to be like, ‘I’m gonna do what Bob [said] — if they will have me, I will trip this f**ker so far as it will take me.'” Williams stated on the “NCIS” podcast. “That impressed me. So, thanks, Bob Newhart, for sending that to me.”
