Tag Archives: NCIS
It has been another slow month here, and I remain conflicted about trying to blog both here on WordPress and now, on Substack. Last May I committed to posting on my WP programming blog (The Hard-Core Coder) every two weeks.
I’d discovered that I didn’t like writing about programming as much as I enjoy doing it, but figured I’d give it one more try (hence the commitment). So far, I’ve been keeping it up, and plan to continue, but it’s one more thing taking time from this blog.
It’s possible (but maybe not yet likely) this is the penultimate Friday Notes.
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7 Comments | tags: blog, blogging, die spammers, Election 2024, grammar, NCIS, Ziva David | posted in Friday Notes
We’re about to enter a new phase of Friday Notes. I’ve cleared most of the primary pile of notes for blog posts. What remains are notes that still might lead to posts if I find the motivation. There is also a thick sheaf of much older more ambitious notes, most of which are probably past their Use-By date by now.
The destiny of that thick sheaf remains to be seen, but I recently dug out an even older set of notes. Two old spiral-bound half-sized notebooks… from the late 1970s and early 1980s! One contains thoughts and ideas, the other fragments of song lyrics.
I haven’t looked at this stuff in years. Going through it, I decided to record some of the more interesting in blog posts before I toss those notebooks.
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11 Comments | tags: imagination, language, Letterkenny (TV series), NCIS, Peter Gabriel, stories | posted in Friday Notes
‘Tis human trait that, when we love something or someone, we accommodate and excuse flaws. We may not even see them. The classic example is the love a mother has for her child. Very similar is the love any pet owner has for their pet. (Of course, dogs don’t have flaws, so it’s extra easy to love the little darlings.)
Conversely, not loving something or someone tends to amplify flaws. Sometimes to the point it’s all we see. We lose sight of the good, especially over something we once loved. [As Danny DeVito says about Bette Midler in Ruthless People (1986), “I hate the way she licks stamps!” Great line.]
Which brings us to the TV series NCIS.
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21 Comments | tags: Doctor Who, NCIS, South Park, The Blacklist, YouTube TV | posted in TV Tuesday
For broadcast networks that still observe such archaic traditions, the new “season” has begun doling out episodes. Over the years I’ve watched fewer network shows, although this year I’ve actually added two new ones (at least temporarily). I’m still watching the old three… and still questioning why I do.
It would be easy to dump the three old giant dinosaurs, CBS, NBC, and ABC. I haven’t watched the smaller ones (TNT, USA, etc) in years. Other than baseball, regularly scheduled TV broadcasts are decades in my past. I’m solidly about streaming these days — Netflix, Hulu, Prime. I’m considering adding Apple TV and HBO Max.
I’ve definitely taken to binge watching!
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23 Comments | tags: anime, CSI, Gibbs' Rules, James Spader, Japanese anime, Jethro Gibbs, Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Nadine Velazquez, NCIS, Reservation Dogs | posted in TV Tuesday
Going back quite some time, my posts about CBS’s NCIS, or its spin-offs, all express disappointment. I gave up on the spin-offs long ago, but their parent show (itself actually a spin-off of JAG, another show I loved) has retained a favored spot in my heart despite my growing disappointment with it.
That I let three episodes accumulate before I got around to watching says something about my disengagement. That I liked the two episodes of Bull more than any of the three NCIS episodes says even more.
What I’m trying to figure out now is how much of this is me and how much is the show. Some of both, for sure.
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18 Comments | tags: Jethro Gibbs, NCIS, Northern Exposure, The Blacklist | posted in TV, TV Tuesday
With the distraction of the election, on top of the distraction of the pandemic, my note pile has started to accumulate again. I’m way behind on my “Fall Clearance” plan to either finally write the posts or throw away the notes. (The issues I’ve been having with my laptop’s WiFi incompetence haven’t helped.)
Between winter and social distancing, I’ve had plenty of time to catch up on reading. I’ve also been catching up on TV shows I wanted to either check out or re-watch. There have been some new shows I liked so much the first time that I wanted to see them again.
So for this TV-Tuesday I’m channel surfing over all those shows.
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19 Comments | tags: Ben Edlund, David Tennant, Good Omens, Michael Sheen, NCIS, Neil Gaiman, Northern Exposure, Patrick Warburton, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Terry Pratchett, The Blacklist, The Simpsons, The Tick (TV series), The West Wing | posted in TV, TV Tuesday
This past Sunday I watched and very much enjoyed the last ever episodes of The Good Place (CBS). I’ve avoided articles about it in my newsfeed, but a headline or two suggested some fans weren’t satisfied. (A rant for another time: Clickbait headlines and headlines with spoilers. So annoying.)
Maybe some fans just didn’t want the show to end, which I get, but I appreciate knowing when and how to make a graceful exit. I like the way the show’s creator, Michael Shur, effectively said, ‘This much and no more.’
As it turns out, it’s not the only show I watch that’s ending. Several of them are. (And there’s one or two I really wish would call it quits.)
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7 Comments | tags: Fresh Off the Boat, James Spader, Madam Secretary, Michael Shur, NCIS, South Park, The Blacklist, The Good Place, The Simpsons, Will & Grace | posted in TV
This TV Tuesday post was originally going to be another rant about WTF is going on with NCIS (I held off on because I didn’t want to kvetch on Christmas). But then I had a really interesting thought about my other favorite (broadcast) TV show, The Good Place.
There’s an old joke about the philosophy professor who says, “Every time I think I’ve had an original though, it turns out some damned ancient Greek thought of it first.” There’s a more serious version in Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new under the sun.”
It turns out I’m not the first, by a long stretch, to notice how The Good Place echos and references The Wizard of Oz.
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10 Comments | tags: Cote de Pablo, Gibbs, Jack Ryan (TV series), Jethro Gibbs, NCIS, The Good Place, The Wizard of Oz, Ziva David | posted in TV, TV Tuesday
Maybe it’s expecting too much that a TV series remain in your heart for 17 seasons. I still enjoy The Simpsons (starting its 31st season) and South Park (starting its 23rd season), but both the cartoon format and the nature of those shows gives them a lot of latitude in exploring new ideas while remaining true to the show.
A drama, like NCIS, which I’ve rated as my favorite TV show for well over a decade, is more restricted. It’s harder for a drama to find new ground while remaining true to its nature. That can lead to stagnation, viewer fatigue, or, in some cases, “jumping the shark.”
Which is all to say I’m very disappointed in NCIS, season 17.
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26 Comments | tags: Jethro Gibbs, NCIS, Ziva David | posted in Rant, TV, TV Tuesday
Just last March I asked, Am I Over NCIS? The question seems even more pressing given the NCIS season 16 finale. (Spoiler warning on the season, not to mention any and all previous seasons.) I’ve never been this mixed in my feelings regarding the characters, and the off-screen personal stuff is especially disturbing given other ugly entertainment-related realities that have been uncovered recently.
There is additional pressure from time in the saddle as well as from how viewing habits have changed (both mine and the world’s). Weekly episodes of commercial-filled broadcast TV seem increasingly quaint somehow. And sixteen seasons — most of them 24 episodes — is a lot of NCIS (378 episodes; over 260 hours).
All-in-all, for me the sun may well be setting on NCIS.
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23 Comments | tags: Abby Sciuto, Cote de Pablo, Gibbs, Jethro Gibbs, Mark Harmon, NCIS, Pauley Perrette, television, Ziva David | posted in TV, TV Tuesday
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