“I was just tired”: The Brutal NCIS Schedule That Made Mark Harmon Work for 22 Hours in the First Day Definitely Played a Part in His Decision to Quit

Mark Harmon originally joined NCIS in the hopes of finding a better work-life balance. Although the procedural show did contribute to his growing stardom in the 2000s, with the show itself being voted America’s favorite television show in the 2010s, this success came at the cost of his work-life balance.

This explains why the Freaky Friday star eventually took off from the main show despite his allegiance to the IP for the better part of two decades.

Mark Harmon on his taxing NCIS schedule

Mark Harmon couldn’t have been more wrong with his initial intuitions about NCIS, especially during its first four years, which proved to be a grueling experience for Harmon and his costars. Considering how heavily the core cast was featured in most of the scenes, oftentimes Harmon and the crew had to resort to long working hours, which sometimes even exceeded the 20-hour mark.

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He detailed (via The Kelly Clarkson Show):

I think for the longest time, I was just tired. Part of taking the job [involved] being home, with a young family, not traveling so much doing movies. The first day, we worked 22 hours. So I thought, ‘That’s not exactly what I thought this was going to be.’ But we had a lot of days like that in the first four years.

However, unlike fan-favorite Sasha Alexander, who eventually parted ways with the show due to the grueling schedule, Harmon stuck to the main show for nearly two decades before folding to the pressure.

The prospect of a prequel spin-off pulled Mark Harmon back to the IP

As for his departure from NCIS, it didn’t take him long to reconsider the prospect of exploring his NCIS counterpart. But instead of making a full-fledged return as the fan-favorite Leroy Gibbs, the actor was more thrilled about joining the prequel spin-off as a narrator and executive producer.

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Harmon expressed (via Variety):

Is there a story to tell? Definitely. Is it going to be different than people know? Definitely. I couldn’t be more thrilled with Gina and David, who they represent and their history with his show.

Even though NCIS: Origins wasn’t a runaway hit like its predecessor, showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North confirmed that we haven’t seen the last of it yet.

NCIS: Origins is available to stream on Paramount Plus.

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