NCIS

NCIS is an American TV crime-drama. NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and they deal with crime involving the U.S. Navy and Marines. This police procedural is based on a team of four fictional investigators headed by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon. He is a former Marine sniper who joined NCIS when his wife and daughter were murdered to prevent his wife from testifying in a drug trial. He relies on his sense of people as he deals with clues and suspects to help him find the correct direction for his investigations. He also has a long list of rules that he uses to run his life and the work lives of his team. The idea of a life managed by rules was given to him by his late wife at their first meeting. His team consists of a former police officer named Anthony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly, a former Mossad officer named Ziva David, played by Cote de Pablo, and the highly educated Timothy McGee, the grandson of an admiral, played by Sean Murray. The team receives assistance from an offbeat forensic scientist named Abby Sciuto, played by Pauley Perrette, long-time coroner Dr. Donald Mallard, or Ducky, played by David McCallum, and the coroner's assistant, Jimmy Palmer who is played by Brian Dietzen. The organization has had two agency directors who have involved themselves in Gibb's team in their own ways.

The current agency director is Leon Vance and is played by Rocky Carroll. He is a former agent. He was preceded by another former agent named Jenny Shepard, who is played by Lauren Holly. Before her death during an investigation, she tried to balance her position as agency leader and the remnants of her previous relationship with Gibbs. In her early years, she was an agent who worked with Gibbs and had a romantic relationship with him. On the show, she was preceded by Thomas Morrow, who left after a promotion. The team also experienced the loss of a team member when Caitlin Todd, played by Sasha Alexander, was shot to death fighting terrorists.

DiNozzo is the senior field agent. He uses his police experience as well as his good looks and charm to deal with witnesses and suspects. He is their class clown, and he tries to balance his view of life between his wealthy childhood with his widowed father and his current more mainstream standard of living. His biggest interests outside of his job are girls and movies.

Special Agent McGee uses his expertise in computers to uncover the technical tricks their suspects use. He has also used his job experiences to launch his side career as a novelist. He published a successful novel based on his team members. When his coworkers discovered his writing, he denied using them as characters, but naming his novel's lead investigator J. L. Tibbs made that impossible to believe.

Special Agent Ziva David is their newest agent, but not the newest team member. Before she joined NCIS, she was a Mossad agent in Israel. She is the daughter of an Israeli official. She joined NCIS as a liaison officer and has now become an NCIS special agent. She has an undeniable tough side, but as an agent, she is trying to find a more satisfying balance between her job and a more fulfilling personal life.

Forensic scientist Abby Sciuto is a Goth with a very tender side. She demonstrated her love of animals when she pulled out all of her formidable analyzing skills to prove a dog had not killed his owner. She is a special favorite of Gibbs, who treats her like a daughter.

Ducky is the chief medical examiner. He has held the job for many years and uses this experience to help him participate in solving crimes. Before her death, Ducky also dealt with his comically confused mother who suffered from dementia.

Every episode has the team investigating a serious crime, usually a murder. While they follow the clues and deal with the serious aspects of the crime and the people it affects, they find many ways to bring humor into their lives. Ziva, for instance, struggles to get American idioms straight.