The statement that “NCIS” represents one of the apex of the TV procedural drama genre is not hyperbole. The most well-known instance of real-life drama interfering with the show’s production is when longtime cast member Pauley Perrette left “NCIS” because of a falling out with the show’s star Mark Harmon, despite the fact that the show continues to enjoy enormous popularity and success to this day.
One of the juiciest details to have come out of the series is the idea that Harmon actually got the original “NCIS” co-creator fired from his own show.
In 2007, as “NCIS” transitioned from its fourth season into its fifth, creator Donald P. Bellisario abruptly announced his departure from the project. According to a TV Guide report at the time, Harmon and Bellisario started fighting over the latter’s managerial style, and the breakup was not amicable. In the end, rumors claim that Harmon pressured CBS to fire Bellisario from the show because their relationship was no longer workable.
It’s a fascinating notion that Harmon may have helped remove the original “NCIS” creator, and some fans may wonder whether this claim is a little too dramatic to be genuine. Fortunately, several recent interviews with people connected to the series paint a clearer picture of what actually transpired.
Harmon had problems with Bellisario
Based on the various accounts that have covered the situation of Donald P. Bellisario’s exit from “NCIS,” one thing is clear: it’s absolutely true that Mark Harmon and Bellisario had an ugly split in their working relationship due to disagreements over the intensity of the on-set working conditions. Whether Harmon actively moved to have Bellisario removed is a more nebulous question.
Actually, Bellisario himself was one of the most vocal early supporters of the theory that Harmon tried to have Bellisario fired. The “NCIS” creator claimed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times from 2008 that Harmon was responsible for what he called a “full-blown PR campaign” of leaks that placed him and his managerial style in a very bad light. Other “NCIS” execs have contested the assertion that Harmon held the knife in Bellisario’s departure, despite the fact that some parts of Bellisario’s narrative may be true. The Hollywood Reporter’s oral history of “NCIS” from 2023 had executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson defending Harmon.
“He never said to anybody, ‘Get rid of Don.’ He just said, ‘This is too hard to work this way,'” Johnson explained.
What’s even more interesting is that, based on this fresh account, Bellisario actually wasn’t fired from “NCIS,” at all. Per Johnson’s recounting, CBS only moved to lessen — but not sever — Bellisario’s involvement with the show. As the producer elaborated, “Eventually, the network went to Bellisario and said, ‘Maybe you should work from a distance from it and not be quite as involved in terms of the way you work.”
Interestingly enough, Bellisario supports this version of events as well, as he clarified in the same article that he actually quit the series. “I had done enough on the show, so I stepped away,” he noted. “It was my decision.”
However, other NCIS cast and crew had issues with Bellisario, too
There is one evident problem with the claim that Mark Harmon personally ordered Donald P. Bellisario removed from “NCIS,” and that is the fact that Bellisario was in fact never fired at all, according to recent interviews. Even yet, it’s still possible that Harmon made at least an attempt to have Bellisario fired behind closed doors. That’s a concept that can’t be verified or disproven beyond a reasonable doubt based on the knowledge we currently have. However, it’s crucial to remember that Bellisario’s management style didn’t just bother Harmon; other “NCIS” personnel also objected to it.
In the oral history with THR, fellow “NCIS” co-creator Don McGill recalled that he actually had a falling out with Bellisario that resulted in him departing from the series after its first season. “Our relationship became strained,” he said. “He saw things differently from me. Since he was the boss and a very successful producer, I thought it was best for me and the show that I leave and move on, which is what I did.”
Even Harmon’s fellow cast members had similar issues with Bellisario’s “NCIS” working conditions, which, according to the actor’s statement to the Los Angeles Times in 2008, allegedly had the team working for 17 to 18 hours a day. Charles Floyd Johnson revealed that the reason Sasha Alexander left “NCIS” was actually these difficult conditions, explaining, “In year two, Sasha went to Don and said, ‘I love this show, but I just can’t work this hard,'” he explained. “We were doing long hours. I don’t think she wanted to leave the show — she just wanted a lighter workload. Bellisario was always a writer who went for the cataclysmic. He went, ‘Well, what if we kill her off?'”
Things were cloudy for Bellisario after NCIS
There are a few gaps in our understanding of the events surrounding Donald P. Bellisario’s departure from “NCIS.” However, what happened to Bellisario after he departed the program is much more obvious and plain. Even though Bellisario has kept his executive producer title on “NCIS,” he has hardly been involved with the show since leaving. After quitting the show, Bellisario actually completely withdrew from the business.
Unfortunately, the end of Bellisario’s tenure on “NCIS” did not spell the end of controversies involving both him and the franchise. In 2011, Bellisario sued CBS over “NCIS: Los Angeles,” as he argued that his contract with the network originally indicated that he would be afforded the opportunity to develop the first “NCIS” spin-off or otherwise be financially compensated. The lawsuit was settled privately in court in 2013.
After the settlement, CBS offered the following statement on Bellisario: “Although we differed in opinion on this matter, our admiration, appreciation and respect for Mr. Bellisario has never wavered throughout. We consider him one of the best creative talents of his time and a valued member of the CBS family, whose shows, both past and present, have played an important role in CBS’ success.”
It could appear to some, based on tales from Bellisario’s time working on “NCIS,” that his strained relationship with the “NCIS” cast and crew and his eventual departure were somewhat inevitable. However, the “NCIS” co-creator has acknowledged that he has some regrets about the circumstance. In a 2008 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he stated succinctly, “I do wish it hadn’t ended the way it did.”