2016 has been filled with showbiz tragedies as some big names have passed away in the past nine months. Famous faces ranging from famous singers to legendary actors are no longer with us, and now one of the most successful TV producers of recent years has died on what is a very sad day for fans of the hit show NCIS, as well as the team over at CBS. NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg died today at the age of 50.
Gary Glasberg passed away in his sleep in Los Angeles, and no details have yet been released of what may have caused his unexpected death. Glasberg is survived by his wife of two decades, their two sons, his father, and his sister. He leaves behind a public legacy as a man with a magic touch for making procedurals with mass appeal.
The magic touch of Gary Glasberg began in an unexpected way. He kicked off his career by writing comic books, then moved into the world of TV as a writer for children's series like Rugrats. Glasberg thereafter moved to live-action adult television by joining the NBC police procedural Crossing Jordan as a producer when it premiered in 2001. He then carried on in a producer role until the end of its third season in 2004, later moving to Fox in 2006 to work as a co-executive producer to the pivotal first two seasons of Bones.
After leaving Bones in 2007, Gary Glasberg made the jump to CBS. He co-executive produced the legal drama Shark, then helped to launch The Mentalist as a co-executive producer in its first season. It was after leaving Mentalist in 2009 that Glasberg's career took off in a huge way. He joined the team at CBS' juggernaut procedural NCIS as a producer in 2009, and he was promoted to showrunner in 2011. NCIS has become the most-watched show in the world, and Glasberg was instrumental in keeping it as the most-watched broadcast drama in the years since he joined. He even went on to launch the NCIS spinoff NCIS: New Orleans, and he worked as showrunner for both show. A new contract in May signed him on for another three years of the NCIS franchise at CBS, and he would have presumably been at the helm of the series through 2019.
Fall 2016 started off well for Glasberg's projects.The Season 3 premiere of NCIS: New Orleans scored an impressive 1.4 rating in the valuable 18-49 demographic, with 11.12 million viewers. and the NCIS mothership scored a 2.1 rating with 15.6 million viewers in its Season 14 premiere. Gary Glasberg's family is requesting privacy at this time, but Variety reports that a memorial service for Glasberg is being planned for a date in October. Hopefully his shows will continue to do well in the wake of his death.
We at CinemaBlend send our thoughts and condolences to Gary Glasberg's family and friends in their time of mourning.
