mark harmon

Here' s a tip for Jethro Gibbs on 'NCIS' (Tue., 8PM ET on CBS). If you're going to grill your ex-mother-in-law, brace yourself for a big slap in the face.

There's plenty of baggage between these two, and the water hasn't all flowed under the bridge just yet. "You ... you are the one that took my family away from me," she growls, stabbing her finger at him. "Because of you, they're dead."

Alright, let's all just calm down and sing 'Kum Bah Yah' together, shall we?

Watch the video after the jump.

(S07E16) When it was announced that Gena Rowlands would be on 'NCIS' as a guest, playing Jethro's former mother-in-law, you just suspected that this was going to be something special. Sometimes it's difficult to live up to the expectations, for the creators as well as the fans watching. Fortunately, this show did live up to the expectations, especially for those who have always wanted to know more about Gibbs and his tragic past.

There's more details coming out about Gena Rowlands' upcoming guest turn on 'NCIS,' thanks to a report from TV Guide soap expert Michael Logan. When Rowlands appears on 'NCIS' March 2 as Gibbs' former mother-in-law, Joann, the show will flashback to a time when Joann and Jethro were much younger.

The younger Gibbs will be played by Sean Harmon, Mark's own son, and the younger version of Joann will be portrayed by 'Days of Our Lives'' Emmy-winner Leann Hunley.

Hunley (pictured), who plays Anna DiMera on 'Days of Our Lives,' told Logan that she was thrilled to play Joann in flashback, especially because of her admiration for Rowlands. "When I first saw her back in the '70s in 'A Woman Under the Influence,' I thought, 'That woman looks like me! She has my eyes!'" Hunley told Logan.

(S07E14) As the title suggests, what we witnessed going on for much of this episode was not reality, but a 'Masquerade.' If you pay attention to titles, you can have an edge figuring out what's what. Meanwhile, beyond the action, there was more character interaction as 'NCIS' continues to weave a few mystery threads, including M. Allison Hart's fascination with Mr. Gibbs.

Characters Welcome.

That's not just the slogan for the USA Network but an apt description of TV as a whole -- character and personality driven. And to drive that point home again -- lest we forget it in this era of reality TV (which, admittedly, is also character/ personality driven -- what would 'Jersey Shore' be without Snooki and The Situation?), the folks at Harris Interactive have released the results of their latest poll listing the top TV personalities for 2009.

What do Ralph Waite, Robert Wagner and Michael Nouri have in common? They've all turned up on NCIS for guest roles. And not just a quick pop in scene or two. No, they've been integrated into the show and two of them have already recurred. (I'm counting on Robert Wagner to recur in the future, as well).

So, the news today that Gena Rowlands will be on NCIS in March has me feeling very enthusiastic. And it's a multi-episode role.

Michael Ausiello reports in Entertainment Weekly that Gena has been cast as Jethro's former mother-in-law, Joann, an elegant, upscale type. NCIS executive producer Shane Brennan said that her showing up in Jethro's life again will bring with it lots of turmoil and emotional "heartache, anger and blame in the process."

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actors of the decade. And, boy, was it a tough choice.

From a meth-making chemistry teacher to a damaged 1960s ad exec, the guys populating the dramatic actor category in our best of the decade are nothing short of brilliant.

It's hard to choose favorites when you're dealing with the likes of Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston, Mark Harmon, James Gandolfini, and many others, but the TV Squad team has spoken.

Did your favorites make our list? If not, feel free to add them in the comments below.

(S07E09) If you want to show the soft side of Jethro Gibbs, involve a kid. That would seem to be the logic behind this episode which was a bit of a reach, what with cornfields, a think tank for gifted children, government secrets, a tenuous link to gang activity, a dead Marine, and pink cupcakes ... but still interesting.

There was also the whole connection to Thanksgiving at Ducky's. Would our favorite NCIS team make it to dinner together or would they be setting out on separate paths? Would Abby master the cranberry sauce? Read more after the jump.

(S07E05) Happy Halloween from your friends at NCIS! There was definitely some creepy stuff going on with this case, and for the first time in weeks, the concentration of the show was strictly on the mystery. No Ziva flashbacks, no Gibbs questions about Mossad, no Vance at all. It was just about how a Marine recently back from Afghanistan wound up dead in his car on the night before Halloween.

(S07E04) First of all, let's get this out of the way quickly. This might be the best episode of the season. It was all character with just enough action to keep those who love gunfire happy. But most importantly, it cemented Ziva's place in the world of NCIS (the show and the organization). For that reason alone, this was four stars all the way.

Mad Men is the kind of show where allusions are made and words have meanings that are not always readily apparent. It's a great show to watch, sometimes difficult to comprehend. NCIS doesn't pretend to be poetic. It presents compelling, dynamic situations in which characters face tough decisions and loyalty is tested and burnished over time. And the words matter here, too.

Tonight the word was mishpocheh. It's Yiddish for family. Ziva used it in one scene referring to her mission on the freighter (the dead Marine was not mishpocheh), but it mattered more in a later scene with Gibbs. More on the complexities of the episode after the jump.

(S07E03) Is it even possible that an NCIS team led by Jethro Leroy Gibbs would make a mistake that would leave the agency open to an investigation by a blogger with an attitude? Nah. Not our Jethro. Still, that was the premise for the case on tonight's episode.

Hard as it was for Gibbs, DiNozzo and McGee to believe they'd screwed up, when the blogger -- BeltwayBurns.com -- turned up as a corpse, a whole can of worms was upended and a closed case was suddenly wide open. Fortunately, that meant a lot more chances for Ducky to interact with Gibbs, something sorely missed in the first couple of shows.

Leo G. Carroll did it in 1966. Lisa Bonet sort of did it in 1987. What am I talking about? Double duty. That is, playing the same role on two series which are running at the same time. There are probably quite a few other instances, but Leo was head man Mr. Waverly on both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. for a year, and Lisa was Denise Huxtable in college (A Different World) and when she came home to visit the family in Brooklyn on The Cosby Show.

Now, Rocky Carroll will appear on both NCIS shows. Doing double duty makes perfect sense for the NCIS twosome, especially since they're going to be airing back to back on Tuesday, 8-10 P.M.

And so ends the sixth season of NCIS. For some reason, I didn't think the show would even last one season, but sometimes a show just surprises you with how strong it does in the ratings. If anything, the show has gotten stronger as the years have gone on. It survived the departure of its creator and has hung around long enough to spawn a spinoff this fall, with Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. No name for that show yet. Any ideas? They'll probably think of something with an "NCIS" and a ":" in it.

This was the second part of "Legend," the episodes that are acting as the NCIS spinoff starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. It looks like a sure thing for the fall, though CBS will make it official at their upfront on May 20.

What did you think of this two-parter? Can you imagine following O'Donnell and LL Cool J for as many seasons as you've followed Mark Harmon and Michael Weatherly?

So ... what did you think of the first part of NCIS' big spinoff episodes? "Legend" is the episode that serves as the spinoff launch for a new series starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Maybe this is the first step in an NCIS franchise, a la CSI. Let's hope not.