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I am – Hercules!!
It’s a drama from Donald P. Bellisario (“Magnum, P.I.,” “Airwolf,” “Quantum Leap,” “JAG,” “First Monday”) about detectives charged with investigating crimes connected to the Navy and Marine Corps. It stars Mark Harmon (“Chicago Hope,” “The West Wing”), Michael Weatherly (“Dark Angel”), David McCallum (“The Education of Max Bickford” ) and Pauley Perrette (“The Ring”).
TV Guide says:
Harmon brings his Gary Cooper-ish charm … and his costars dive into quirkier roles than can be found on JAG. We only wish the two-part pilot hadn’t been so routine.
If you tell exec producer and creator Donald P. Belisario that his newest effort, "Navy NCIS," is no envelope pusher, that it has a middlebrow appeal and a steadfast admiration for the military, chances are he'll smile and thank you. … If you like "JAG," you'll like "Navy NCIS” … B+elisario's script, which combines in a unique way elements from several familiar sources, is anything but predictable.
"Navy" focuses more on forensics than its predecessor, but it isn't different enough to shake the suspicion that it's comprised of cast-off storylines from the original. … Pilot cops much from 1997's "Air Force One," with the characters making repeated references to the Harrison Ford starrer. The resolution of the pilot is exactly that of the movie, as Gibbs helpfully exclaims during the climax. There's not a lot of originality being shown here, which is distressing to see in an initial effort that's so glacially paced. The audience literally knows what's coming and is forced to wait for the conclusion for the scenario to come to fruition. …
USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) and says:
There's no question the idea behind Navy NCIS is inspired — in commercial terms, if not artistic ones. Clone two of CBS' biggest hits —CSI and JAG— into one, and voilà , you get NCIS, a crime drama about real-life military forensics investigators. ... Unfortunately for CBS, one tiny flaw slipped into its otherwise masterful plan: The network let JAG's Don Bellisario do the clone-off rather than the folks at CSI. That may not affect the ratings, but in terms of quality, it's a deal breaker. OK, CSI's producers may not be as good at writing people as procedure, but they still would never have come up with characters this hackneyed or a plot so laughably implausible.
OK, so the premiere is a plodding mishmash of things we've seen before, like "JAG's" flag-waving bravado and "CSI's" techno-crime busting wizardry. And nearly all the characters seem so tense and terse, they should really think about lightening up with a spa day. Still, whether it's watching a gun-toting Harmon hunting for suspects on Air Force One or hearing him talk tough with Secret Service agent Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), who will eventually join his team, this is ideal viewing for all the guys who have the release date of the next Bruce Willis action movie written in pen on their calendars. The constant macho dialogue, in particular, seems like something left over from a "Dirty Harry" movie.Lines like these are pretty funny, though probably not intentionally so. ... Instead of giving "NCIS" a playful touch, which could have distinguished it from "JAG," the writers repeatedly make every word and every situation as predictable as possible. Even the attempts to be hip and humorous — Gibbs gets some shut-eye on a gurney alongside a corpse, the tattooed Sciuto loves to party into the wee hours — seem as fresh and innovative as an "Adam-12" marathon.
8 p.m. Tuesday. CBS.
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