NCIS star Diona Reasonover looked back at her time on the show as it celebrates its 500th episode.
“It really is the fans. I can’t give credit to anyone but the producers, the writers and the fans,” she told Collider of NCIS’ enduring popularity. “Really and truly, they are keeping it alive.”
Reasonover continued, “I also think it’s the showrunner, the writers. They’ve crafted these amazing characters that have surpassed my imagination of what I thought was possible. I can’t imagine writing 500 episodes…It’s been a really cool place to be. I just think it’s such a special and wonderful show. And like I said, a lot of that is really due to the writers and definitely due to the fans, who are loyal.”
The actress shared that she became a fan of NCIS after joining the show’s cast in 2018 and got her family and friends into it as well.
“But it also means that whenever NCIS is on in real life, I’m not allowed to talk,” Reasonover joked.
She also spoke about how she tries to treat new cast members the way she was treated when she joined NCIS.
“I’m just trying to be as nice and as kind as the cast was to me when I got there,” Reasonover shared. “I still have memories of Mark [Harmon] clearing my lunch tray for me, Sean [Murray] and Brian [Dietzen] offering to run things with me, and Will telling me jokes when I was nervous. I just have all these great memories of the people who were there, who made me feel welcome, and I’m just trying to do that as much as possible.”
Related: NCIS Writer Goes ‘Back to the Beginning’ for Episode 500
Showrunner Steven D. Binder recently spoke to Variety about NCIS’ 500th episode, telling the outlet the show’s popularity is down to the character dynamics.
“As long as there’s an interaction, and a family-like interaction, I think the fans are enjoying watching it,” he explained. “The nutshell is, this is an ensemble show, with characters interacting in a certain way in a certain place, and as long as that continues, I think we’ll have an audience.”
Binder pointed to these “family-like interactions” as the reason why NCIS has been able to survive so many actors leaving over the years, including most recently in the 500th episode.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
In Episode 500, Rocky Carroll’s Leon Vance, NCIS director, is killed while protecting the agency from being dismantled.
“Steve Binder said, ‘This is going to be a love letter to your character,’” Carroll said of the episode in an interview with People. “‘It’s going to be a tribute to Vance.’ And when we finished it, I said, ‘I think we accomplished that.’”
However, this isn’t the end of Carroll’s time on NCIS — “I’ll be back next season to direct episodes,” the actor teased. “We’ve already talked about bringing Vance back in flashbacks.”
NCIS’ beloved characters are what drew viewers to the show and what has kept them around for 500 episodes — and counting.
Read Next: NCIS’ Dramatic 500th Episode Explained
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