Banner Courtesy of Princess_Ila
NCIS & RATINGS PHENOMENON
1st October
Given the excellent kick-off to the season and a comment made by a fellow member, this seemed to be an appropriate blog entry. First and foremost, hats off to the cast and everyone involved in the series for this excellent season start.
A member commented yesterday, that NCIS was pretty unique since it is one of the few series (I’d say the only, but as I haven’t got the facts in hand to verify for this, I’m going for the general ‘few’ to cover my statement), which with each new series gets better ratings than the previous, and considering we are now in S7 and said ratings have soared so high they’ve gone off the grid, perhaps this should be delved into.
I think most of you will agree, that after series have been going several seasons they tend to reach a peak and slope off, or retain a good share to remain on air several more season or they steadily wane until the decision is either taken by the producers to finalise as in the case of BTVS in its S7 or ER in S10, or the TV channel decides not to renew as in the case of series like Without Trace or Life. However, NCIS has yet to reach its peak although it is now in its 7th season, which raises the question when or will it ever reach a peak? In more than one blog I’ve mentioned that NCIS is a like marathon runner, in that each year is like another lap in the marathon circuit, where it moves up and ahead, up and ahead. Very few series can boast this, particularly in this day and age where audience ratings are the be all and end all; and frequently don’t give series a chance to prove themselves, not just in the US but in Europe and the rest of the world too. Probably the longest running series are in the UK with Coronation Street (50 years) and East Enders (over 20 years), which have excellent audience ratings, not to mention being breeding grounds for actors; however, they’re kind of the black sheep of today’s audience dominated TV. Will we see this happening with NCIS? A 10 – 15 year run would be more than outstanding.
This of course, raises another question: What has NCIS got? or What does NCIS do? that other series don’t have or don’t do. I mean this is the million dollar question, what makes NCIS unique? Because as series go, it’s steady consolidation with an evergrowing audience, where new and original followers merge to push it up and forward in the rankings, is quite extraordinary.
Possible reasons why, and these are open for debate:
| NCIS |
Other series |
| 1. A strong solid cast |
1. So do several others, like: CSI, West Wing |
| 2. Good scripts in general |
2. So do several others, like:, ER X Files, BTVS |
| 3. Good soundtrack |
3. Ally McBeal, BTVS |
| 4. Good photography |
4. X Files, CSI, Bones |
| 5. Team work |
5. Criminal Minds, X Files |
Perfection does not exist (thank goodness!!!), nevertheless the quality of NCIS as a whole would undoubtedly be worthy of ISO or EFQM quality certification. It’s common knowledge, and in fact the cast frequently mentions this on the commentaries on the DVDs, that they all really do get on together, there is no oneupmanship common in other series. And we all know divas are rife in the world of TV and celluloid. Another good point worth remembering here, is the fact the production staff are also treated with respect as you see and hear again on the commentaries. And when people work well together, look forward to going into work day after day then production increases and production quality is a given fact, since people who enjoy their work always give their best even when they have bad days. So maybe this is the key fact, not to mention cast and production are seriously invested in constantly improving and providing quality results.
I think this could be an interesting matter for debate, don’t you?.
Y con esto y un bizcocho, se acabó lo que se dió.
LAST UPDATE ON 1st October 2009 8:00 PM – CET
SUBMITTED BY Sorgiña
GIBBS AND VANCE – THEIR RELATIONSHIP
30th September 2009
Today I thought I would take a look at the relationship between Gibbs and Vance.
We first meet Leon Vance in the season 5 episode “Internal Affair” when he is sent by SecNav to keep an eye on the FBI’s investigation into the murder of Rene Benoit. It is established that he and Gibbs know each other. Obviously quite well, as nine years previously Gibbs had bought him a cheese danish, which Vance now insists on paying him for.
They work uneasily together during Jenny’s absence. Vance has difficulty with Gibbs team management style. Though he seem impressed that the team know what they are doing without direct orders. Vance: Short leash. Gibbs: Them or me?
Vance is not impressed when Gibbs brings Mike Franks into the investigation into Jenny’s murder, and is even less impressed when the two of them fly solo to trap the killer. However, he is prepared to go along with the result, arranging the cover story of Jenny being killed in a gas fire in her home.
Vance’s tenure in the Director’s chair starts shakily however when he breaks up the team and doesn’t tell Gibbs why. Gibbs is understandably annoyed at being left out of the loop, and is convinced that Tony’s agent afloat posting is a punishment for screwing up as Jenny’s security detail, even though Vance denies this.
Vance trusts Gibbs. He is prepared to go along with Gibbs and act as if he knows what is going on, when Gibbs arrests Senator Patrick Kiley and his wife for murder. Even if he does complain gently afterward at being left out of the loop. Payback anyone?
Both Gibbs and Vance are protective of NCIS and their people, which can set them at loggerheads. Vance’s loyalty to an old friend sees him using NCIS people to investigate the murder in “Knock Out”. All Gibbs can see is another director with a personal agenda, and he won’t allow that to happen again.
By “Semper Fidelis” things have become so bad that SecNav steps in to sort things out. He visits Gibbs at his home. To say it would be unusual for the Secretary of the Navy to step in to attempt to heal the breech between the Director of NCIS and a senior agent, is an understatement. Gibbs obviously trusts Phillip Davenport, because Davenport is welcome in Gibbs’ basement. He also knows Gibbs well enough to know to bring bourbon! That isn’t going to be in Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ personnel file! The two of them obviously go back a long way. Gibbs has Davenport’s number in his cellphone. Again, not usual for a mere NCIS agent, never mind how senior. Davenport appears to convince Gibbs that he can trust Vance. Even telling him he is pleased he didn’t read the CIA file, as it is a fake.
Davenport refers to them as “brothers”. In a way they are. They both love their country. They both are loyal to their people. Both are men of strong principles. I suppose it was inevitable that if they were working closely together they would clash. Alpha males always do.
The season 7 premiere “Truth of Consequences” shows that the relationship has changed again. Although Vance can’t authorize an expedition to take out the terrorist’s nest without further evidence. The look that passes between him and Gibbs is tacit approval for Gibbs to get that evidence. The two men have now become comfortable enough with each other that communication with words isn’t always necessary. I would love to know what occurred in the four months between the events of “Aliyah” and “Truth and Consequences”, because something has certainly changed the balance of the relationship. It appears to be a much easier working relationship than before.
LAST UPDATE ON 1st October 2009, 6.38AM Australian Time.
SUBMITTED BY MargyW
S7 RATINGS/RANKING DE LA 7ª TEMPORADA
30th September
An excellent kick-off to the season with the ratings for episodes 1 and 2, now we just need the hat-trick with episode 3 to consolidate Season 7. I think one of the best things apart from being Nº1 is that we’ve beaten CSI and American Idol/Dancing with the Stars. This is why I’ve decided to keep track on the page I’ve set up (http://cbsncis.wikifoundry.com/ncis-s7-ratings), so we can make our own analysis of the season evolution, comment on it in discussion threads. I mean we all know this is the best series on air at the moment, but it’s nice to get confirmation from the ratings.
Dado el buen comienzo de la 7ª temporada (ya sé que todavía estamos con la 6ª en el Estado español, pero también sé que algun@s estaís viendo la nueva temporada por internet), he montado una página para monitorizar el ranking de la temporada. Los primeros 2 episodios según el ranking Nielsen han mostrado el aplastante liderazgo de Navy, y solo falta que el 3º funcione igual para que la temporada se consolida. Espero que participaraís en las discusiones sobre el ranking, no importa que no tengaís buen nivel de inglés eso es lo de menos. Lo importante es participar. ¡Ojála la serie obtuviese esos resultados aquí! Quizás los que manden en LaSexta vayan viendo al menos esta web cuando no el ranking Nielsen, para que presten más atención a esta serie y la anuncien como está mandado.
That’s all folks, short and sweet, and all things neat 🙂
LAST UPDATE ON 30 de septiembre de 2009 20:12H – CET
SUBMITTED BY Sorgiña
7.01 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
29th September 2009
I might seem to be a bit late here, but season 7 only began screening here in Australia last night. I have decided that the day after each episode I will share with you in my blog my thoughts, impressions and opinion on each episode. These blogs will not be a review or a recap. Just my little look at it.
Channel 10 here in Australia have spent a week hammering home the fact that “Truth or Consequences” pulled 20 Million viewers and was the most watched episode of NCIS ever. Given that 20 million is about our entire population (minus the cattle and the sheep), it won’t have had that many viewers here. It certainly should have had the majority as it was a wonderful episode. Written by the brilliant and witty Jesse Stern, “Truth or Consequences” was probably the best season premiere since “Yankee White”.
I liked the device of using a drugged Tony to reintroduce the characters. It gave new viewers and returning viewers a chance to understand where each character slots into the scheme of things. There was a nice tip of the hat to the fans on this site, with Tony’s summation of Leon Vance. “Some people don’t like him. Some people don’t trust him. Some people want to replace him.” Sounds like just about every discussion on Leon Vance on here.
Tony’s summing up of Gibbs as “a coffee aficionado and functional mute” was spot on as well.
The episode swung between choking me up with emotion and reducing me to tears of laughter. Some of the lines I remember:
Tony: If I had a thing I’d show it off all the time.
Gibbs: There’s rules against that, DiNozzo.
Tony: Might be easier to find a new drummer for Spinal Tap.
Gibbs: Some idiot put a koala on a submarine.
I won’t swear to the veracity of that particular line, as it was in the midst of Tony’s dazed and confused sequence after finding out that Ziva is dead.
And, of course:
Tony: Vengeance, Saleem. I’m here to kill ya.”
I loved the rescue of the team. Gibbs definitely wasn’t alone. If you listen to the background noise, there are helicopters in the mix. So Gibbs was only leading the cavalry, he wasn’t the whole package. I loved Gibbs standing in the reflected sunshine in his ghillie suit. He looked like an over-sized Care Bear!
Vance leading the applause when they got back to NCIS headquarters was a nice touch. I wanted to stand up and applaud myself. Applaud the cast and the crew for creating such a wonderful, memorable episode.
LAST UPDATE ON 30th September 2009, 6.34AM Australian Time
SUBMITTED BY MargyW