Were used to seeing the intrepid team of naval special agents on CBS crime procedural NCIS working together to solve the toughest cases and bring down the worst villains. But even they may be stumped when faced with the gargantuan challenge of coming up with a deserving story to encapsulate the unique feat of producing 500 episodes of television.

But the team can rest easy since that job fell to NCIS showrunner and executive producer Steven D. Binder, who wrote Tuesdays episode, All Good Things (with Jos Clemente Hernandez directing). He shares that ideas began popping up in his mind when the shows 22nd season was wrapping up last year. I started thinking What questions should I be asking? I knew it had to be something big that resonates with the fans and should be worthy of the 500th, he says.

With its 500th episode, the show will rank among the longest-running scripted, live-action American prime-time series, behind Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order. But how NCIS began its journey to this rare milestone is a worthwhile story in and of itself.

In April 2003, CBS popular navy procedural drama series JAG was used as a backdoor pilot to introduce a team of highly skilled special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, led by no-nonsense supervisory special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Working under Gibbs was snappy special agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), quirky forensics specialist Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and endearing chief medical examiner Dr. Donald Ducky Mallard (David McCallum).

NCIS premiered Sept. 23, 2003, with Gibbs, DiNozzo, Abby and Ducky, as well as special agent Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander) joining the Washington, D.C., team. However, the series didnt burst out of the gate as the juggernaut hit it would become. Instead, its freshman season ranked an unspectacular No. 26 among all 2003-04 prime-time broadcast programs, but it was enough to keep it on the air as the audience slowly started to grow. By Season 3, the series was regularly landing in the top 20. And by Season 6, it grew into a solid top five show, and finally, in Season 10, NCIS was the No. 1 broadcast series on television.

Its become a huge international hit, licensed in over 200 territories around the world, subtitled in 35 languages, dubbed in 12 languages. NCIS is now the No. 1 TV franchise globally in terms of total minutes viewed.

Additionally, the series has spawned numerous spinoffs, set in Los Angeles, New Orleans and Hawaii, as well as one focused on fan-favorite characters Tony and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo). Currently airing is a prequel series, NCIS: Origins , which follows a younger Gibbs (Austin Stowell, with Harmon narrating) in his early NCIS days, and the franchises first international spinoff, NCIS: Sydney, streaming on Paramount+.

Clearly, NCIS has hit on a winning formula resulting in enduring success and one of the factors for that, according to David Stapf, president, CBS Television Studios, is comfort. You know what youre going to get and it feels good and you love it so you get that weekly dose or, nowadays, a daily dose because its everywhere, he says.

And in an era when time slots arent as do or die for a broadcast series success, the fact that, except from 2021 to 2025, NCIS has consistently aired on CBS Tuesdays at 8 p.m., shouldnt be dismissed. I am a believer that time slots matter, but viewers will watch the show everywhere, says Amy Reisenbach, president, CBS Entertainment. They watch it on linear and they watch it on Paramount+, where its consistently been a top streaming performer.

Like any long-running series, cast members come and go, and those departures can sometimes alter a shows future. NCIS, however, has weathered a myriad of cast changes and the audience continues to come back. The best example is when Harmon decided to step down in 2021 Gibbs decided a life fly fishing in Alaska was more his speed. But it was nearly impossible to conceive of NCIS without Gibbs or Harmon (who continues as an executive producer). What would the future hold for the show and franchise?

Its honest to say that losing Mark Harmon was definitely a little nerve-racking, says Reisenbach. He had been with the show since the beginning and had been so synonymous with the show but the DNA has remained the same.

Adds Stapf, Its a testament to the writers as well but youre always nervous on a show thats working when you change one little aspect because it is that alchemy that makes this show work. He credits the writers for bringing in new, fleshed-out characters that do more than fill gaps on the team. For example, once the steely Gibbs was gone, Gary Coles special agent Alden Parker was markedly different with his laid-back leader vibes and quirky hobbies such as talking true crime and mixing cocktails on his online show.

But Gibbs hasnt been relegated to the past and his name still comes up occasionally, including in the 500th episode case, though getting there for Binder was a journey. On the case side of things, I wanted something that encompassed the totality of the show, he says. However, having revisited a case from the shows very first episode, Yankee White, for a 2024 celebration of the franchises 1,000 episodes, that idea was out. So, I thought, Well, can we go back to episode number two?

The answer was yes and this weeks installment nods to that 2003 episode. The team meets up with a desperate young man named Billy Fuentes (Austin Marques), a Marines son, who as a boy, Gibbs promised that NCIS would always be there for him if he ever needed them. We even got the same actor, which was great, says Binder.

Though the case is connected to the past and some Easter eggs pop up, dont expect it to be a lighthearted greatest hits episode. This is an event episode and one thats going to change the DNA of the show and how the show operates from here on out until were done, says Brian Dietzen, who has played chief medical examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer since the first season.

Part of the big event began at the end of last weeks episode, when a stunned NCIS director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) tells Parker that NCIS is being shut down. Tuesdays episode picks up that thread with the future of the team in jeopardy and plays out differently from the NCIS norm. I thought it might be nice to play with the format a little bit, and that just gives the episode some energy, teases Binder. You have to keep it fresh and keep it new, but you always have to keep it within the same vein so that the next episode wont be vastly different, says Dietzen. As an actor, its a challenge to do, but its a challenge thats a really fun one to accept.

A huge component of NCIS that has remained consistent from day one is that its more than a case-of-the-week procedural. We have a character-driven procedural which, when we started, this kind of a show was not really a thing, says Sean Murray, who has played special agent Timothy McGee since the first season. The actor cites how fans loved learning years ago that McGee was also moonlighting as a writer of the fictional Deep Six novels that feature heroic characters loosely based on the NCIS team (think Tibbs instead of Gibbs, for example).

Carroll, who has played Vance since the shows fifth season, admits he didnt think hed be in the characters shoes too long given most shows dont last as long as NCIS has. He signed onto the show partly to reunite with Harmon, whom he previously worked with on the CBS medical drama Chicago Hope. I literally thought to myself, Well, I made it to the tail end of the series. If it goes seven or eight seasons, Ill get two or three seasons out of it, he says, adding with a grin. That was 18 seasons ago.

And while the original main cast that started on JAG so many years ago is long gone (though they occasionally turn up for an episode or two), newer cast members have now become the vets. For example, Wilmer Valderrama joined in Season 14 as special agent Nick Torres, Diona Reasonovers forensics scientist Kasie Hines joined in Season 15 and at the end of Season 18, Katrina Law first appeared as special agent Jessica Knight.

For Valderrama, he had initial reservations about joining the series and questioned what he could bring to such an established show. It was in that first meeting where I realized very quickly that what NCIS does really well is that it evolves with the times and with its audience, the actor says. I realized there was an opportunity there to do something very unique, to light the screen with different colors that I hadnt painted with before.

Reasonover had the arduous task of replacing fan favorite Perrette, who left the show after 15 seasons in 2018. Like Carroll, a long-running gig was the last thing on her mind when she began playing the energetic, joyful Kasie. I didnt know if [the producers] just wanted to have a quick blip of somebody else [to fill Abbys forensics role] and then move on to someone different, she says.

But that turned out not to be the case. And in another example of the show reflecting the times, Reasonover is proud of the fact that the NCIS universe has had several queer characters including Kasie. Its so nice because it just feels like real life and I always think that thats what people relate to, she says.

Thanks to his breakout role as Fez on That 70s Show, Valderrama was already well-known before joining NCIS and hes noticed which role fans recognize him for has changed. At the end of this season, I will have made 200 episodes of NCIS and I did 200 of That 70s Show, he says. I would say its like 57% Torres, but I still get Fez a lot since so many people grew up with that guy.

Since neither the love from fans nor the ratings are diminishing for NCIS, which was renewed in January for a 24th season along with Origins and Sydney, is the universe done expanding or could we get more spinoffs?

The door is always going to be open because we know how successful NCIS is and that the fans have continued to enjoy new iterations, Reisenbach says.

观众早已习惯在CBS罪案剧《海军罪案调查处》中，看到这支无畏的海军特工小队通力合作，破解最棘手的案件并缉拿穷凶极恶之徒。但即便是他们，面对如何构思一个配得上制作500集电视剧这一非凡成就的精彩故事时，恐怕也会束手无策。

不过团队可以松一口气了，因为这项工作落到了《海军罪案调查处》的剧集运作人兼执行制片人史蒂文·D·宾德（Steven D. Binder）肩上。他负责撰写了本周二播出的剧集《一切美好》（All Good Things），该集由何塞·克莱门特·埃尔南德斯（José Clemente Hernandez）执导。宾德透露，去年第22季即将收官时，各种创意就开始在他脑海中涌现。"我开始思考‘我应该提出什么问题？’我知道这必须是一个能引起粉丝共鸣的重大事件，并且配得上第500集的里程碑意义，"他说道。

随着第500集的播出，该剧将跻身美国黄金时段最长寿的剧本类真人剧集行列，仅次于《法律与秩序：特殊受害者》和《法律与秩序》。但《海军罪案调查处》如何开启这一罕见里程碑的征程，本身就是一个值得讲述的故事。

2003年4月，CBS热门海军题材剧集《执法悍将》（JAG）通过衍生试播集，首次引入了一支来自海军罪案调查处（NCIS）的精英特工团队。团队由不苟言笑的特别监管探长勒罗伊·杰思罗·吉布斯（马克·哈蒙饰）领导，其麾下成员包括：雷厉风行的特别探员安东尼·迪诺佐（迈克尔·韦瑟利饰）、古灵精怪的法庭科学专家艾比·舒托（波莉·佩雷特饰），以及和蔼可亲的首席法医唐纳德·"达奇"·马勒德博士（大卫·麦考姆饰）。

《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）于2003年9月23日首播，吉布斯、迪诺佐、艾比和达基，以及特工凯特琳·托德（萨莎·亚历山大）加入了华盛顿特区的团队。然而，该剧开播时并未如预期般一炮而红。相反，其首季在2003-04年所有黄金时段广播节目中仅排名第26位，表现平平，但足以维持播出，观众数量也开始缓慢增长。到了第三季，该剧已稳居收视前20名。第六季时，它已跻身稳定的前五名节目之列，最终在第十季，《海军罪案调查处》成为电视上收视第一的广播剧集。

这部作品已成为全球现象级热门剧集，版权销往200多个国家和地区，配有35种语言字幕及12种语言配音。据统计，《海军罪案调查处》目前是全球观看总时长排名第一的电视系列剧。

此外，该系列还衍生出多部外传剧集，背景分别设定在洛杉矶、新奥尔良和夏威夷，其中一部以外传人气角色托尼和齐瓦·大卫（科特·德·巴勃罗饰）为主角。目前正在播出的前传剧集《海军罪案调查处：起源》讲述了年轻时期的吉布斯（奥斯汀·斯托威尔饰，马克·哈蒙配音）初入海军罪案调查处的故事，而该系列首部国际衍生剧《海军罪案调查处：悉尼》现已在Paramount+平台上线。

显然，《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）已经找到了一套制胜法则，从而取得了持久的成功。哥伦比亚广播公司电视工作室总裁戴维·斯塔普夫认为，其中一个因素就是舒适感。他表示：“你知道自己会看到什么内容，这种感觉很棒，而且你会喜欢它，所以每周都会追看。如今甚至每天都会看，因为它无处不在。”

在这个时段安排对电视剧成功与否不再至关重要的时代，《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）除2021至2025年外，始终固定在哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）每周二晚8点播出的事实不容忽视。CBS娱乐总裁艾米·瑞森巴赫表示：“我认同时段的重要性，但观众会通过各种平台观看这部剧。他们既通过传统电视频道收看，也在Paramount+流媒体平台观看——该剧始终是该平台最受欢迎的流媒体内容之一。”

如同所有长寿剧集一样，《海军罪案调查处》的演员阵容也历经更迭，这些变动有时会影响剧集的发展方向。然而该剧经受住了无数次角色换血的考验，观众依然持续追捧。最典型的例子莫过于2021年马克·哈蒙（Mark Harmon）决定退出——他饰演的吉布斯认为阿拉斯加的飞蝇垂钓生活更适合自己。但很难想象没有吉布斯或哈蒙（现仍担任执行制片人）的《海军罪案调查处》。这个系列剧未来将何去何从？

赖森巴赫表示："坦白说，失去马克·哈蒙确实让人有些紧张。他从节目开播之初就参与其中，几乎已成为节目的代名词。但（核心团队的）基因始终未变。"

斯塔普夫补充道：'这同样是对编剧功力的证明。但在一部运作良好的剧集中，当你改变某个微小环节时总会感到紧张，因为正是这种神奇的组合让这部剧成功。'他称赞编剧们引入了丰满的新角色，这些角色不仅仅是填补团队空缺。例如，当铁血的吉布斯离开后，加里·科尔饰演的特工奥尔登·帕克以慵懒的领导风格和古怪的爱好（如在网络节目中谈论真实犯罪和调制鸡尾酒）展现出截然不同的特质。

但吉布斯（Gibbs）并未成为过去式，他的名字仍不时被提及，包括在第500集案件中——尽管对宾德（Binder）而言，达成这一里程碑实属不易。"在案件设计上，我希望呈现贯穿全剧的核心元素，"他说道。然而，由于2024年千集庆典已重制了首集《白宫危机》（Yankee White）的案件，这一构想被迫搁置。"于是我想：'那能否回溯到第二集呢？'"

答案是肯定的，本周的剧集呼应了2003年的那一集。团队遇到了一位名叫比利·富恩特斯（奥斯汀·马克斯）的绝望年轻人，他是海军陆战队员的儿子。吉布斯曾在他小时候承诺，若需要帮助，海军罪案调查处（NCIS）永远会为他提供支持。宾德表示：“我们甚至请回了同一位演员出演，这太棒了。”

尽管本案与过往有所关联，并穿插了一些隐藏彩蛋，但别指望这会是一集轻松愉快的经典回顾。"这是一集具有里程碑意义的事件，它将改变本剧的核心特质，并影响我们收官前的整体运作方式，"从第一季起就饰演首席法医吉米·帕尔默博士的布莱恩·迪岑如是说。

这场重大事件的序幕在上周剧集结尾就已拉开——震惊的海军罪案调查处（NCIS）主任利昂·万斯（洛奇·卡罗尔饰）告诉帕克，NCIS即将被解散。本周二的剧集延续了这一危机线索，团队前途未卜，剧情发展也突破了《海军罪案调查处》的常规模式。"我觉得稍微改变一下叙事形式会很有趣，这能为剧集注入活力，"制片人宾德调侃道。演员迪岑表示："必须保持新鲜感与创新性，但又要确保风格统一，避免下集出现割裂感。作为演员，这种挑战执行起来很有趣。"

自开播以来，《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）始终秉持着一个重要特质：它绝非简单的单元破案剧。从第一季起就饰演探员蒂莫西·麦基的肖恩·穆雷表示：『我们打造的是以角色推动的刑侦剧，这种类型在当年可谓独树一帜。』他提到多年前粉丝们发现麦基还有个秘密身份——创作虚构小说《深海六号》的作家时欣喜不已，这些小说中英雄角色的设定隐约参照了海军罪案调查处团队（比如用蒂布斯影射吉布斯）。

卡罗尔（Carroll）从该剧第五季开始饰演万斯（Vance），他坦言自己最初并未料到能长期扮演这一角色，毕竟大多数剧集都无法像《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）这样长寿。他加盟该剧的部分原因是为了与哈蒙（Harmon）重聚，两人此前曾在CBS医疗剧《芝加哥希望》（Chicago Hope）中有过合作。"我当时真的心想：'好吧，我算是赶上了这部剧的尾声。如果能拍个七八季，我还能演个两三季吧，'"他笑着说道，"那已经是18季前的事了。"

尽管多年前《JAG》剧集的原始主演阵容早已退出（虽然他们偶尔会客串一两集），但新加入的演员如今已成为资深班底。例如，威尔默·瓦尔德拉玛在第14季以特工尼克·托雷斯的身份加入，迪奥娜·里森奥弗饰演的法医科学家凯西·海恩斯在第15季登场，而卡特里娜·洛则在第18季末首次以特工杰西卡·奈特的形象亮相。

瓦尔迪拉玛最初对加入该剧有所保留，并质疑自己能为这样一部成熟的剧集带来什么。这位演员表示："正是在第一次会面中，我很快意识到《海军罪案调查处》做得非常好的一点是，它能够与时俱进，与观众共同成长。""我意识到这是一个机会，可以做一些非常独特的事情，用我以前从未尝试过的不同色彩点亮荧屏。"

里森欧弗（Reasonover）肩负着接替深受观众喜爱的佩雷特（Perrette）的重任——后者在参演15季后于2018年离开了该剧。和卡罗尔（Carroll）一样，当她开始扮演活力四射、乐观开朗的凯西（Kasie）时，根本没想过这会成为长期角色。"我不确定（制片方）是否只想找个人临时填补（艾比的法医职位），然后再换其他人"她坦言道。

但事实并非如此。作为该剧反映时代特征的又一例证，里森欧弗（Reasonover）对《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）系列中塑造了包括凯西（Kasie）在内的多位酷儿角色感到自豪。她表示：“这种感觉很棒，因为它真实反映了现实生活。我一直认为这正是能引发观众共鸣的地方。”

瓦尔德拉玛因在《70年代秀》中饰演菲兹一角而崭露头角，在加入《海军罪案调查处》前就已颇具知名度。他注意到粉丝们认出他时提到的角色已经发生了变化。"到本季结束时，我将完成《海军罪案调查处》的200集演出，而《70年代秀》我也演了200集，"他说道，"现在大概57%的人会叫我托雷斯（注：《海军罪案调查处》角色名），但仍有不少人喊我菲兹，毕竟那个角色陪伴了一代人的成长。"

《海军罪案调查处》（NCIS）不仅粉丝热情未减，收视率也持续走高，今年1月更宣布续订第24季，并推出衍生剧《起源》（Origins）和《悉尼》（Sydney）。这是否意味着该系列宇宙的扩张已告一段落，还是未来会有更多衍生作品问世？

雷森巴赫表示：“大门将始终敞开，因为我们清楚《海军罪案调查处》的成功程度，也看到粉丝们持续喜爱这部作品的新版本。”