Drew Carey is undoubtedly best known for playing comedic roles or appearing as himself on the small screen. Carey starred in The Drew Carey Show for nine seasons and has been host of The Price Is Right on CBS since back in 2007. Now, he has landed a role on another CBS show, although he won't be cracking joke after joke or hosting a game show. NCIS has cast Drew Carey to play a suspected murderer.
Here's what's happening. Drew Carey has signed on to play a character by the name of Marine Sergeant John Ross in an upcoming episode of the ongoing fifteenth season of NCIS. John Ross retired from his work as a Marine Sergeant and now spends his days shipping care packages to active-duty servicemen, which is just about the last thing you'd expect from a murder suspect. He lands himself under investigation for murder after one of those care packages is discovered to contain cookies laced with cyanide, which... seems much more like something that would happen on NCIS.
The good news for fans of Drew Carey is that his character doesn't seem likely to be the actual murderer. John Ross will be set on helping Gibbs and the rest of the NCIS team to solve the mystery of who sent the cyanide cookies, presumably to both clear his own name and catch a killer. Obviously we can't rule out a twist that reveals Carey's character as the killer all along, but it's easier to imagine Drew Carey playing a lovable and respectable character than a bad guy. Carey will appear as a guest star, so we can only count on a single appearance from him at this time.
NCIS showrunners Frank Cardea and George Schenck evidently had Drew Carey's lovable nature in mind when they cast him. According to Deadline, they were looking for someone who could tackle the outgoing and passionate side of the character as well as "the dark reality" that his many years as a prisoner of war still haunt him. They describe the episode as "powerful" and "heart-warming," which leads me to believe that we'll get as happy an ending as is possible for an hour that starts with cyanide-laced cookies. Interestingly, Drew Carey served in the Marine Reserves from 1980-1986. He really could be the perfect person to tackle this role for NCIS.
You can catch new episodes of NCIS on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. No exact date has yet been released for when Drew Carey's episode will air, but you can expect it at some point in early March. For more viewing options for now and in the coming weeks, take a look at our midseason TV premiere guide, our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule, and our 2018 Amazon Prime rundown. Don't forget to check out our picks for NCIS characters that need to come back ASAP, and stay tuned to NCIS as the show builds to Pauley Perrette's upcoming exit.
