Mark Harmon and Michael Weatherly to Reunite as Gibbs and DiNozzo on NCIS: Origins

Mark Harmon and Michael Weatherly will share the screen as Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo for the first time in 10 years.

The reunion happens in an episode of NCIS: Origins airing 20 October at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. The episode will also stream on Paramount+, as reported by Variety.

In the story, Gibbs travels back to NCIS headquarters in Washington D.C. after being shot by unknown assailants. He turns to DiNozzo for help. DiNozzo is now the NCIS director, the head of the organisation at the centre of the franchise.

Harmon and Weatherly appeared together for 13 seasons on NCIS. They were last seen together in the Season 13 finale, when Tony left the agency. That makes this month’s episode their first shared scene as Gibbs and DiNozzo in a decade.

NCIS: Origins is a prequel, meaning its story is set before the events of the original series. It follows a young Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell, in the early 1990s before he became the veteran team leader viewers met on NCIS. Harmon narrates the programme.

Harmon is also stepping further in front of the camera this year. He appears on screen in all episodes of Season 3, and serves as an executive producer, meaning he helps oversee the show behind the camera. TV Insider previously reported he is in all 10 episodes of the season.

Season 3 premiered 6 October at 10 p.m. ET. The premiere averaged 4.39 million viewers, according to CBS, up 20% from the premiere a year ago. That is a strong start for a scripted spin-off in its third year.

Weatherly is busy on two fronts. He has also returned to the main NCIS series, whose Season 24 premiered 6 October. He is back for a season-long arc, meaning a storyline that runs across the whole season.

The wider Origins cast includes Kyle Schmid, Mariel Molino, Tyla Abercrumbie, Diany Rodriguez and Caleb Foote. The series comes from CBS Studios. Its executive producers are David J. North, Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, Michele Greco and Eric Christian Olsen.

For fans, this means a short wait. The announcement came on 13 October, seven days before the episode airs. Long-time viewers will realise how rare this pairing has become, with Gibbs largely off screen in recent years and Tony long gone from the team room. Now both men return in the same story, older, higher-ranked, and on the same side again.