NCIS

[kerravonsen]

I've just watched the first two episodes of NCIS. I was expecting to like Ducky, since David McCallum is the reason I decided to watch it. But I was surprised how much I liked Abby. She's cool. I rather like Gibbs, but the rest... don't care, really.

No, I don't like this show as much as Bones. It's shallower than Bones, though I guess no more shallow than your average crime show. I'll keep watching, for now.

Comments

[aerianya]

It gets more interesting in the second season.

[kerravonsen]

Hmm, I've had other people say that the second season is the worst season.

[aerianya]

I guess it's all subjective.

[drednort.livejournal.com]

I love Abby. She and Ducky make the show.

In later episodes, the others grow on me - I like Tim (who you won't have seen yet), Tony grew on me.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

and one of the major characters changes in later series.

You find out more about Gibbs background and that worked nicely for me ...

... and for some reason i enjoyed the early episodes of NCIS far more than I did Bones, which is why I gave up Bones sometime in the first season and I'm only going back now to see Stephen Fry :-)

And Abby stays cool or perhaps even better!

[ancientcitadel.livejournal.com]

I love NCIS, but some of the earlier episodes were hard to watch because I couldn't stand Kate and almost all Kate and Tony interaction.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yeah. What the others have said. If you're just starting out watching the first season, you're in early days, yet (It just now finished it's sixth season in the U.S.).

I can promise you that it gets better -- and deeper -- as time goes on. And, yes. there are several big cast changes in upcoming years.

When it started, it was basically a cheap coattail-rider for another hit series called JAG. And, frankly, I don't think they put much thought into it, beyond, as you say, the effort that goes into any average crime show. But it's survived long after JAG is forgotten, and several more recent episodes have taken the opportunity provided by the current world climate to explore and question the implications of a military culture.

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

My favorite characters have always been Abby and Tony, I think. But like Abby herself says, Tony can take a while to grow on you. *grin* He *seems* shallow, but over time he gains a lot more depth. Er...some of the time, anyway. The writers have always characterized him inconsistently: don't even get me started on season 2. *shudder* (In fact, I'd almost recommend skipping season two, which is almost all awful except for a few *very* bright gems...but then you'd miss those gems and that wouldn't be right.)

There's also a new character who's introduced in season three that I love. I won't say much about the character because I don't want to spoil you, but only that no matter how bad season 2 gets, it's worth persevering almost for that cast change alone.

I think what attracted me to the show was that it had a sense of humor. They had me from the minute they stuffed Tony in a body bag and gave him to the FBI so they could sneak off with the real body. *grin*

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

I loved Kate in the first few episodes when they were still flirting with the idea of her and Gibbs, but yeah, sadly as soon as they switched her to Tony the relationship became almost intolerably annoying. :-( Which made me mad because I *like* my female characters and I don't like when bad writing turns me off them. :-P

[infiniteviking]

I got into the fandom through Gibbs-Tony mentorfic and pretty much just love the entire cast. *grin* Even Tony; he's got a slew of very obvious flaws but changes a lot over the seasons, and it's very gradual and believable. But my favorites are definitely Abby, Ducky, Gibbs, and Kate. (And Fornell -- any episode with him in it is bound to be a good one.)

Never saw Bones, though I'll have to try it now if it can be compared so favorably to NCIS!

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, I could tell they were thinking Kate-and-Gibbs because of those long, lingering stares... 8-P

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, I remember JAG when it was first showing on TV. I didn't actually watch it, but I gathered it was full of pretty young things being righteous.

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, Tony seems set up to be the clown.

Never saw Bones, though I'll have to try it now if it can be compared so favorably to NCIS!
One warning about Bones; if you're squeemish at the sight of skeletons or heavily decayed corpses, then you might not like Bones. It's very CSI-ish in its gory detail of examining bodies. It doesn't bother me, but it's only fair to warn you.
But I love the characters in Bones.

[infiniteviking]

..Heee, I had NO CLUE. I was all "yay this series has no awkward pairing stuff!"

[kerravonsen]

They had me from the minute they stuffed Tony in a body bag and gave him to the FBI so they could sneak off with the real body.
That's one of the things I like about Gibbs: he's so sneaky.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

No, I don't like this show as much as Bones. It's shallower than Bones

*slow nod* Yeah, actually, I think you're right. Mind you, I enjoy both shows, but NCIS is mostly for character love (Ducky and Abby and Gibbs, just like you--I find Gibbs really amazingly attractive, too) and some on-going plot stuff they develop, whereas Bones is about the funny and the human and the wonderful relationships and I always feel better about being a human being when I'm done watching it (even when the topic dealt with in the episode is a tough and weird one).

But I also have to second what some other people are saying: first couple seasons of NCIS are a little awkward. I hated Tony DiNozzo for a long time--mostly, I think, because Kate is made so, so uncomfortable by his flirting. There are some good eps ("SWAK," near the end of season 2, is one of my all time favorites) for sure, but I got more fond of the show after a casting change later on. And you haven't met McGee yet. He's a geek, and I want to pat his head more often than not. *g*

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

LOL. Um, yeah, that's not a bad description of JAG. *snerk*

[infiniteviking]

He is. He gets more responsibilities in later seasons, but by then he's grown a lot as a character.

Point taken -- skeletons just make me want to sketch, but one never knows about corpsishness. But characterization is a big factor for me, so that's encouraging!

[ancientcitadel.livejournal.com]

It got so bad, I was happy when she left. The writing for Ziva is so much better. :)

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

Most of the time, yeah. But then the writing on *all* the characters is inconsistent sometimes. Tony seems to get the worst of it. :-\

[ancientcitadel.livejournal.com]

Have to agree there. :(

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Abby is great, but then so are the others. I must get around to acquiring the DVDs -- I was going to catch it via repeats, but Channel 5 has the rights, and they're horribly inconsistent about showing them.