Friday, December 6, 2024

“NCIS” Wins Monday Night, Holds Steady as Gary Cole Succeeds Mark Harmon, Actually Goes Up in Younger Viewers

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“NCIS” unthinkable without Mark Harmon, right?

Wrong.

Monday night “NCIS” had its first post-Harmon episode and cemented in Gary Cole as the new leader of the unit, Alden Parker. He’s younger, funnier, and more off beat.

And the audience responded. “NCIS” not only won Monday night, it beat “The Voice” and rose 10% in younger viewers.

Total viewers came to 7.6 million, same as last week. But they key demo did rise, indicating that maybe a slightly younger viewer is coming over to see Cole, who has a big following from “Veep,” “The Good Wife/Good Fight” and dozens of  other outstanding performances.

The current numbers don’t compare to “NCIS” in its heyday, but everything is different now. And the show is doing its job on Mondays: winning. It’s also setting the stage for “NCIS Hawai’i,” which is holding its own at 10pm.

What would be interesting? Bringing back Pauley Perrette as Abby to mix it up with Cole. That would be a blast!

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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