Why Was Gibbs Replaced on NCIS?

NCIS has been a big hit for CBS since the pilot episode aired in September 2003 and features many well-crafted characters, including charming and likable Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Like The Rookie season 7 and Chicago P.D. season 12, NCIS is still as thrilling as the beginning of the series.

While fans loved watching Gibbs solve mysteries and motivate the people around him, he sadly left the show, and viewers have missed him. There’s a reason why another character took Gibbs’s place on NCIS, but thankfully, Gibbs’s final episode was moving and perfect.

Leory Gibbs was replaced on NCIS because Mark Harmon decided to leave the series. According to Soaps.sheknows.com, Harmon explained during the NCIS season 19 DVD special feature that he left because he wanted his acting career to feel “fresh.” He said:

“What has always drawn me here is the character I play and to keep it fresh and to keep it challenging. Plot-wise, this character has taken the path that it did. I thought it was honest and OK with.”

In 2024, Harmon appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show and talked about the busy schedule he had when playing Gibbs on NCIS. The actor said:

“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.”