One of the disadvantages of writing Christian, family friendly novels, is that we sometimes don’t have time for relaxing and watching TV. CBS’ hit show had been on for many seasons before Diane’s sister asked our opinion of the show. Truthfully, we had never watched NCIS. At her recommendation, we did and have been a fan ever since. We like, Don Clark the retired Federal Agent who commented on our last blog, are bored and put off by shows that portray police work and courtroom trials in an unrealistic way. We discovered NCIS is more authentic than many other shows. That might be because they’ve hired Leon Carrol, former NCIS Special Agent to give the writers technical advice.
Often at book signing events, people ask David if as a former NCIS Special Agent he thinks the show is realistic. His response is usually “yes and no.” Then Diane says, “Okay, you need to explain that.”
David laughs, saying, “When you pack a three or four week investigation into an hour long show, the producer compresses everything. McGee gets phone records in an instant where we jumped through subpoena loops, which took days, sometimes weeks. But I still love the show!”
He often points out that Navy and Marine Corp personnel are some of society’s finest, so in five years as a Special Agent David had only two homicide investigations. Yet, almost every NCIS show has our fine service personnel killing someone. Of course the writers are going to create homicide plots when they have the ubiquitous medical examiner, Dr. Donald Mallard on the cast.
David, Don Clark, and most every cop has had their share of brawls in the process of executing arrests and warrants. That’s part of being a law enforcement officer. Some TV shows and movies depict that part of the job, using actors who don’t seem to be made of the right kind of stuff. We are both impressed with Mark Harmon—the believable SA Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He brings the toughness of a UCLA quarterback, the job he once held and the position from which his father Tom Harmon won the Heisman trophy.
We can’t wait for this year’s season of NCIS to begin on September 22nd. Who do you think might be Jethro’s new romantic interest? Possibly Jamie Lee Curtis? He stared with her in Freaky Friday (few years back). Stay tuned for video comparing David and Gibbs, to be released soon on our blog. Link this to your friends you like NCIS.
Be Blessed,
Diane and David