Catherine Bell to Join David James Elliott on ‘NCIS: LA’ in a ‘JAG’ Reunion
UPDATED (4/2/2019):
It’s really becoming a JAG reunion on NCIS: Los Angeles as it’s been announced that Catherine Bell will reprise her role as Lieutenant Colonel Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie in the upcoming May 19 episode of the CBS series.
Unlike co-star David James Elliott, who will appear as early as March 12, Bell will make her debut on the show in the Season 10 finale. According to Deadline, Mac will become involved when Hetty (Linda Hunt) calls on her old friend for help.
ORIGINAL STORY (3/29/2019):
David James Elliott will return to the small screen as Navy Captain Harmon Rabb Jr., but this time it will be on NCIS: Los Angeles.
The character, who originated in the series JAG, will appear in a multi-episode arc ,according to Deadline. Elliott will make his first appearance in the May 12 episode, “The Guardian.”
Despite NCIS being a spinoff off of the 10-season series JAG, this will be Elliott’s first time in any of the NCIS series. In “The Guardian,” viewers will see Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) work directly with Rabb when ISIS sympathizers plan to attack the XO Captain’s ship the USS Intrepid.
The stint marks a reunion between Elliott and NCIS: LA‘s showrunner R. Scott GEmmill, who served as a writer-producer on JAG.
Gemmill said in a statement, “I was really excited to get a chance to work with David again. I did the first 4 seasons of JAG with him so to be able to work together again in and of itself is great – but to do so with the same character…on our show…this many years later — that’s pretty damn amazing.”
David James Elliott celebrate’s JAG‘s 100th episode in 2000 (Credit: David McNew Online USA Inc.)
“Bringing Harmon Rabb to work with NCIS: Los Angeles makes for a formidable coalition, and both entities are going to need all the help they can get when confronted with the greatest challenge of their careers.”
This will be the first major crossover between JAG and the NCIS franchise since their creation, which is sure to excite fans of both. Again, Elliott’s first appearance will take place May 12, so mark your calendars.
NCIS: Los Angeles, Sundays, 9/8c, CBS
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I guess that means Harm won the coin toss? This story is a little weird. It makes it sound like Harm is in command of a ship or is the “XO Captain” whatever that is (no such thing is think). Not the usual track for Navy lawyer even if he was an aviator. when last we saw Harm, he had just been promoted to Captain contingent on his taking a gig running legal services for the US Navy in Europe and he was tossing a coin with Mac who had been promoted pending taking command in San Diego. And they were getting married. The coin toss was to determine which one would take the assignment and which one would retire from the military and be the civilian spouse. If it had been Harm that won the coin toss, as this makes it seem, I would have thought he would be an admiral this many years later. I wish he was going to have the multi episode arc on the mothership instead so we could see him win Gibbs again. Instead it’s on the one show of the franchise I don’t like is probably will watch anyway, just because of this.
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It is confusing. Though I wonder why they let the characters go away except for Bud and the Admiral. And now they are doing a look alike to JAG but Marines only? Makes zero sense - Navy JAG includes the Marines.
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all true... Retired Admiral was on LA show and showed up for an episode on regular NCIS.. Bud was on a few years back on NCIS based on DC..... The new Dana Delany show looks to be more of an action show it seems than JAG mostly was.. JAG did have some but mostly a legal show..
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There is so much about this that doesn't make any sense. Harm should be, 14 years later a 3 star - if possible, but since he was a JAG, he would be a 2 star max as the Judge Advocate General. Of course, if Mac won the coin toss, he'd be retired from the Navy. This would imply that somehow he came back many years later and went back into Naval Aviation - somehow, at age 59 or so, a Captain. But then someone wrote that he's an XO Captain - no ship normally has that, though an active carrier would have 2 Captains, one as CAG, one as the ship's captain - usually the more senior of the two. And the Intrepid? It's a wonderful museum ship now - not owned or controlled by the Navy, in NYC, not LA, and while once in a while a helicopter lands on it, the cat and trap systems are long since very defunct, let alone ever capable of handling a modern jet. Then Callen and Sam are wearing 'brain buckets' like they just stepped off a COD, but also goggles, like they were flying in Harm's old biplane. IOTW, what sort of Morons dreamed up the description and pics?
Separately, there's that new show, the Code. JAG includes both Navy and Marines - Mac was a Marine, the Gunny, of course a marine, in Navy JAG. And at the end, the last JAG in the series was a Marine 2 star. No way they would have a Marine only JAG Corp, let alone a colonel as 'head of JAG'.
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Rabb lost the coin toss and he went to San Diego with Mac. They were engaged but things fell apart so Harm went back into the navy. I guess there were JAG spots so became XO on the USS Allegiance. One thing doesnt make sense, The XO on a carrier does not fly. There is too much for an XO to do, there is no time for flying.
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I suppose USS Intrepid is just a fictional carrier similar to USS Seahawk and USS Patrick Henry.
Re-using the name of a museum ship is probably not cool, but then we also have multiple USS Enterprise's in our past.
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They could have thought it out for an extra 30 seconds before choosing Intrepid. There are so many mistakes so far it's mind boggling. Makes it sound like NCISLA just got extremely sloppy.
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Okay, yeah, the article is terribly uninformative. Yeah, it sounds like Harm must've won the coin toss, as he is (apparently) still a Navy officer. (Yay, he was promoted to Captain!) That means Mac has been out of the Marines since the show ended.
I still think that the sell-out new series The Code should get Catherine Bell and/or DJE to make appearances in that show. The best of both worlds!
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If CBS want a Marine lawyer show, they could / should easily have rebooted JAG. The whole JAG / NCIS universe is still alive and kicking in the CBS world, even extending towards Hawaii Five-O and MacGyver. The crossover possibilities are limitless.
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no bud was in NCIS in the 2nd season