NCIS: New York Star Teases Spinoff’s Story & Potential Franchise Crossovers

Federal Case File · Open Since 2003 How Well Do You Know NCIS? “Rule #1: Never let suspects sit together — and never assume.”

🚨The FieldCrime scenes

🔬The LabForensics & Caf-Pow!

⚕AutopsyDucky’s domain

📋The RulesGibbs’ gospel

🛡The TeamThe MCRT

01

The show’s title is an acronym for the real-world federal agency its agents work for. What does “NCIS” actually stand for?

✓ Correct! NCIS stands for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service — a real civilian agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy that investigates crimes involving the Navy and Marine Corps. The show follows its fictional Major Case Response Team.

✗ Not quite! It’s the Naval Criminal Investigative Service — a genuine federal agency under the Department of the Navy that handles crimes tied to the Navy and Marine Corps. The other options sound official, but only one is the real deal.

02

For 19 seasons, the team was led by stoic, coffee-fueled Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Which actor played him?

✓ Correct! Mark Harmon played Gibbs, the ex-Marine sniper and unflappable team leader, from the 2003 premiere through Season 19. Michael Weatherly played Tony DiNozzo, Gary Cole later joined as Alden Parker, and Rocky Carroll plays Director Leon Vance.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Mark Harmon, the face of the franchise as Gibbs for 19 seasons. Michael Weatherly played DiNozzo, Gary Cole arrived as Alden Parker, and Rocky Carroll plays Director Vance — but Gibbs is all Harmon.

03

NCIS didn’t start on its own — the characters were introduced in a two-part backdoor pilot during an earlier military legal drama. Which show did NCIS spin off from?

✓ Correct! NCIS spun off from JAG, the long-running Navy legal drama. Gibbs and his team debuted in the Season 8 JAG episodes “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown” (2003) before launching their own series later that year.

✗ Not quite! The answer is JAG. Donald P. Bellisario’s Navy courtroom drama introduced Gibbs and the team in a two-part backdoor pilot in 2003, setting the stage for NCIS to become a massive franchise of its own.

04

Gibbs lives by a numbered list of unwritten rules. His famous Rule #9 advises agents to never go anywhere without what item?

✓ Correct! Rule #9: “Never go anywhere without a knife.” It’s one of the most quoted of Gibbs’ rules and pays off more than once in the field. (Rule #23, fittingly, is “Never mess with a Marine’s coffee if you want to live.”)

✗ Not quite! The answer is a knife — Rule #9 is “Never go anywhere without a knife.” Coffee is practically Gibbs’ lifeblood, but the rule that’s saved his team in a pinch is the one about always carrying a blade.

05

The team’s beloved forensic specialist — a brilliant goth who runs on a giant caffeinated drink called “Caf-Pow!” — is named what?

✓ Correct! Abby Sciuto, played by Pauley Perrette, was the heart of the lab for 15 seasons — pigtails, dog collar, and an endless thirst for Caf-Pow!. Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) later took over forensic duties after Abby’s departure.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), the goth forensic scientist fueled by Caf-Pow!. Kasie Hines came along later as a lab specialist, Ziva David was a field agent, and Jenny Shepard was an NCIS Director.

06

The team’s kindly, story-telling Medical Examiner is affectionately nicknamed “Ducky.” What is his actual name?

✓ Correct! “Ducky” is Dr. Donald Mallard — Mallard, hence Ducky — played by the late David McCallum for two decades. His apprentice and eventual successor in autopsy is Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).

✗ Not quite! The answer is Dr. Donald Mallard — “Mallard” is the duck that earns him the nickname “Ducky.” He was played by David McCallum. Jimmy Palmer was his assistant, and Dr. Taft was a recurring surgeon and friend of Gibbs.

07

Fan-favorite Ziva David, played by Coté de Pablo, joined the team as a liaison and skilled operative. Before NCIS, she was an officer with which intelligence agency?

✓ Correct! Ziva David was a former officer of Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency — and the daughter of its director, Eli David. Her deadly skills and mangled American idioms made her one of the show’s most beloved characters.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency where Ziva served before joining NCIS — her father Eli David even ran it. The FBI and CIA are frequent NCIS counterparts, but Ziva’s background is Mossad.

08

The original team’s headquarters — the bullpen, autopsy, and Abby’s lab — is located at the Navy Yard in which U.S. city?

✓ Correct! The Major Case Response Team works out of the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. The franchise later spread its spinoffs across the map — Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai‘i, and Sydney — but the original calls D.C. home.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Washington, D.C., home of the Washington Navy Yard where Gibbs’ team is based. Los Angeles and other cities anchor the spinoffs, and Norfolk is a major naval base often referenced — but HQ is in D.C.

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Lead investigator — or still rinsing the Caf-Pow! out of the carpet?