It’s hard to imagine NCIS without Mark Harmon. Like all the great TV legends, after 19 years of seeing him in the popular CBS procedural drama, it’s nearly impossible to look at him and not see Agent Leroy Gibbs.
Since its debut in 2003, NCIS has become one of the longest-running scripted American primetime television shows, behind only Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order. Despite never winning an Emmy Award, the military police procedural’s popularity can be evidenced by the number of spin-offs it inspired. To date, the franchise includes four spin-offs: NCIS: Los Angeles (2009-2023), NCIS: New Orleans (2014-2021), NCIS: Hawaiʻi (2021-present), and NCIS: Sydney (2023-present).
Harmon’s tenure on the flagship NCIS ended in season 19’s fourth episode, “Great Wide Open.” Gibbs, no longer weighed down by the warrant for his arrest, decides to live out the remainder of his days miles away from civilization in Alaska. For the first time since losing his family, he’s found peace and isn’t willing to give it up.
After 18 years, countless missions, and more deaths than we can keep track of, Gibbs (and Harmon) hung up his badge and said goodbye to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The total number of episodes Mark Harmon appeared as Agent Gibbs in NCIS
Going off of NCIS alone, Mark Harmon appeared as Agent Gibbs in 435 episodes across 19 seasons. Of course, if you factor in the appearances he made across the entire NCIS franchise — and even an episode of Family Guy — then that number is a tad higher.
In 2003, Harmon played Gibbs in two episodes of JAG season 8. If you didn’t know, NCIS is actually a spin-off of JAG, and Harmon first breathed life into the character there in episodes 20 and 21, titled “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown,” respectively.
Harmon also played Gibbs in four episodes of NCIS: New Orleans across four seasons. The first was in 2014 in season 1, episode 3, “Breaking Brig.” The next was in season 2, episode 12, titled “Sister City: Part II.” The third was in season 3, episode 14, titled “Pandora’s Box, Part II.” The fourth and final time was in the season 5 premiere “See You Soon” in 2018.
Finally, Harmon voiced Agent Gibbs in season 10, episode 13 of Family Guy, “Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream.” That would bring Harmon’s total number of appearances as Gibbs to 441, but counting Family Guy feels a bit like a stretch, so let’s just round it down to a nice 440.
Even though Harmon said goodbye to Agent Gibbs in season 19, he still remains an integral part of the show as an executive producer. In speaking with People magazine in 2023, executive producer Steve Binder cautioned viewers from counting Agent Gibbs out for good, saying, “So regarding the future of Gibbs, as long-time fans of the show may have noticed over the years… never count Leroy Jethro Gibbs out.”
The day may come when Harmon could play Agent Gibbs one more time. If or when that does, we’ll update this list posthaste.
