Play ‘NCIS’ TV Crossword

It’s hard to think of a current TV show that has generated as much viewer loyalty as NCIS. Sure, you can look at their impressive ratings run over 19 seasons, and NCIS is only a few seasons shy of becoming the longest running live-action drama of all time. But there’s an even more substantial measure of how popular NCIS is: the covers of TV Guide Magazine!

We keep a tally of the most appearances by a celebrity on our covers, and, since 1953, classic names that you’d expect have been on our covers more than anyone else. People like Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Mary Tyler Moore and Michael Landon. But in the past 20 years or so, there has been one actor who has slowly been rising in the rankings: Mark Harmon. He first appeared in 1989 with Elizabeth Taylor for a TV movie, and then on another cover for the medical drama Chicago Hope. But it was NCIS that sent Harmon into the stratosphere. He now has a total of 24 TV Guide Magazine covers to his credit where he is the main image. Thanks to his role as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, 20 of those are NCIS covers. There’s only one other person who has more covers: Lucille Ball. That’s pretty darn good company! Here’s to a few more years of NCIS (with Harmon as a guest star), a few more covers and catching up to the legend.