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After 4 years, Mark Harmon candidly talks about what it would take for him to return as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS. For almost two decades, the actor was the poster face of the CBS franchise. So when Harmon retired in NCIS season 19, there were understandable concerns about what its future was going to look like. Almost half a decade later, he’s about to come back as a guest for the very first NCIS and NCIS: Origins crossover.

Based on the official announcement of Gibbs’ NCIS franchise return, Harmon is only supposed to appear in the NCIS: Origins leg of the special event. For context, he’s also narrating the events of the prequel show, similar to how Jim Parsons did as Sheldon in Young Sheldon. That said, his upcoming stint is the first time his role will be beyond providing the voice-over for the outing.

With that, questions about the chances of Harmon returning full time as Gibbs continue, with the actor addressing it in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight. The actor laughed out loud at the query, but he eventually acknowledged it by saying that “I think they gotta write letters”, referring to a potential fan-led initiative requesting him to return to NCIS full-time.

For context, it was Harmon’s decision to leave NCIS back in 2021. By then, he had been on the show for almost 20 years as a lead character. Filming for such network procedurals is more rigorous than their streaming and cable counterparts, especially since they come out with more episodes per year. As disappointing as it was to see Gibbs stay in Alaska and leave there, his decision was justified after devoting much of his life to service. Still, it’s interesting that Harmon is open to the idea.

Whether Harmon actually returns to the police procedural full-time is unclear at this point, but realistically, the chances of that happening in NCIS season 23 are very slim. CBS spent the last several years rebuilding MCRT with Gary Cole’s Alden Parker at the helm of the team. Harmon coming back as a regular presence would result in another round of changes for Gibbs to reclaim his place as MCRT, and doing that now when it’s still trying to work on getting its ratings back up is not a wise move.

Ultimately, the best-case scenario here is for Gibbs to be a recurring guest star in the NCIS franchise. Currently, he barely has any presence in the flagship bar some references, but it won’t be distracting if he gets involved in some cases a few times a year. It’s also important for him to make an appearance during special events, especially after missing NCIS’ 1000th episode and Ducky’s send-off. That way, CBS can toe the line between maintaining his relevancy and crafting a sustainable future for Parker’s team.