As one of several primetime shows to cross 250 episodes and even pass 450 episodes, NCIS is staying strong with the upcoming 22nd season this fall on the 2024 TV schedule. The long-running CBS procedural has seen rotating cast members throughout the years, but Sean Murray continues to portray Special Agent Timothy McGee. The funny thing is, all he initially wanted was to make it to Season 2.
The actor joined NCIS seven episodes into Season 1, and now he’s about to break a franchise record for appearing in the most episodes. Ahead of the new season, Murray looked back at his time on the show with Variety, recalling he actually told Mark Harmon he had hoped he would be asked back for Season 2:
I remember when we finished Season 1, talking to Harmon and everyone else and saying, ‘I hope I see you guys next year.’ Good things were in the air, and I came back full-time on Season 2, so I guess it worked out.
Instead of being recurring, things definitely worked out for Murray since he was upped to series regular and has remained a mainstay since then. There was a reason he was brought on full time, and it makes me wonder just how different NCIS would have been. Luckily, fans don’t have to wonder, and it just proves he was the only person to play McGee. The actor continued:
Well, it happened sort of naturally. McGee came in as a one-time guest star, and was a probational rookie officer at the local base in Virginia, Norfolk, helping the team with the case. He slowly started appearing more and more after that, and it just kind of felt like a natural sort of progression. It felt almost like he was a little slice of the pie — the pizza pie — that made up the team, like there was something untouched there, and McGee filled that a little bit and it allowed for some new dynamics.
There is never a guarantee how long an actor will be on a show for, and even though some characters have died or moved away, Murray has stayed on. There doesn’t seem to be any indication that he’ll be leaving any time soon, but you never know what could happen. With the series having no end in sight, and the franchise continuing to expand, there are plenty of chances for him to return even if he does ever depart from the mothership... as long as it doesn’t happen any time soon.
It is pretty remarkable that Sean Murray was only recurring in the first season and wasn’t even sure he’d be back for Season 2. Even if one NCIS producer thought Mark Harmon’s exit would be the “death knell” of the show, the series is still proving otherwise, and it may help that fans can still look forward to McGee. As of now, not too much has been revealed about the new season, but there is much more to look forward to from the Senior Field Agent.
Hopefully Murray won’t be going anywhere on NCIS any time soon, but it will still be interesting to see what storylines the series is able to come up with if that happens. For now, fans can tune into the NCIS Season 22 premiere on Monday, October 14 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the series premiere of NCIS prequel series, NCIS: Origins. After 1,000 episodes and over 20 years, the franchise is also not going anywhere, and there are plenty more stories to tell with plenty of characters.
