The actor playing Dr. Jimmy Palmer is prepared to go back to work. Now that the SAG-AFTRA strike has officially ended, NCIS star Brian Dietzen is eager to return to the set of the venerable CBS drama and has given fans a preview of what to anticipate from season 21. Taking to X, the platform that was once known as Twitter, the actor expressed his joy and relief at getting back to work shortly.
The 45-year-old tweeted: “Couldn’t be happier! Retweeting a Tweet from SAG-AFTRA’s official account which declared the conclusion of the strike I am eager to resume my work.”
Fans were over the moon with the news and took to the comments section to share their delight. One person shared a request for the upcoming season to honor the late David McCallum, who passed away in September.
“I simply hope for a chapter in honor of David McCallum,” they wrote, prompting Brian to share an insight into the new season: “There will be.”
David, who played Chief Medical Examiner Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard on the show since the pilot episode, passed away of natural causes at the age of 90.
David was referred to as a “mentor” and a “great scene partner” in Brian’s heartfelt farewell to the late actor.
“The respect and friendship people saw between Ducky and Jimmy over the years mirrored the relationship we’d developed off camera,” the Jimmy Palmer actor wrote on Instagram. “He was always up for an adventure, be it playing golf with me, going on field excursions for character research, or attending charity events. The man was capable of anything.”
What does the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike mean for NCIS?
The SAG-AFTRA strike officially ended earlier this month after the union agreed a tentative deal with Hollywood studios. This means that production on a number of TV shows and movies is set to resume following four months of disruption.
So, what does the end of the strike mean for shows like NCIS?
Now that the strike is over, US actors are expected to return to work.
However, even though production is set to resume for network TV dramas, the likelihood of a shorter 13-episode season is still possible as the writer’s strike ended in September, allowing showrunners to return to writing rooms.
Although the dramas tend to return to screens in the fall, there has been a fear that the strike would push the release back to September 2024.
Although a series may theoretically stretch through the summer, the networks usually air the shows from late September to May. This is due to the fact that ratings are predicted to decline throughout the summer as more people take vacations and spend more time outside of the home. Fans will have to wait to find out if the new episodes of NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i will air in the spring or fall of 2024 as CBS has not yet released any information about the forthcoming seasons of the shows.