NCIS celebrated its milestone 500th episode on March 24 with a little help from a pair of amazing guest performers from the CBS family.
In the milestone episode, “All Good Things,” the NCIS team worked together to try to help the son of a Marine that Gibbs once helped years ago. Of course, helping this man was no easy feat for the team, as NCIS has been disbanded, meaning they had to chase justice without a badge. To help tell this story, the NCIS casting team brought in some former members of the CBS family from a pair of beloved comedies that once aired on the network.
Their search for answers was complicated when CID Agent Thompson was murdered, with the disbanded NCIS team emerging as suspects in the case. Playing the role of Agent Thompson was Matt Cook, who fans will recognize from his time on the Matt LeBlanc-led comedy Man with a Plan.
In addition to playing Lowell in Man with a Plan, Cook is best known for playing Mo McCracken on the hit TBS sitcom Clipped as well as for his work playing Ivan in HBO’s acclaimed comedy The Comeback—a role he reprises in the show’s third season now airing on HBO.
Of course, these are just a few of Cook’s credits. He’s no stranger to the world of comedy and has appeared in several amazing shows over the years. Among the many comedies Cook has guest-starred on are 2 Broke Girls, Will & Grace, Mom, and Q-Force.
Also guest starring in NCIS season 23, episode 4 was Adhir Kalyan. We meet Kalyan’s character early in the episode when he comes to the old NCIS offices to arrest Vance. Vance cut him off before he could share his name, and we later learn he wasn’t quite who we expected… and that’s all we’ll say so we can help those who haven’t watched the episode avoid spoilers.
Kalyan is best known for playing the title role of the short-lived CBS comedy United States of Al. In the series, Kalyan played Awalmir (aka Al), an Afghan interpreter who came to Ohio to live with Riley, the Marine combat veteran who worked alongside Al in the service.
United States of Al is the series fans are most likely to recognize Kalyan from, but there are several other series he’s guest-starred in over the years. Among the shows you might spot Kalyan from are Above the Line, 911: Nashville, Not Dead Yet, Bob Hearts Abishola, and Arrested Development.
Warning: The final name on the NCIS 500th episode guest cast is a major spoiler.
While the NCIS 500th episode did not feature any surprise appearances from former stars of the show, it did include some incredible references to former members of the show, including Gibbs and Abby. It also featured a flashback package that showed footage of former stars from the show, and this was part of a send-off to longtime cast member Rocky Carroll, who exited the series in the milestone episode.
This is where the final guest star comes into play. In the final moments, as it was made clear that Vance had died in the line of duty and the full sequence from the episode was him recalling the events leading up to his death, the writers brought in a surprise cameo from Adam Campbell playing young Ducky.
Campbell returned to reprise his role as young Ducky as he looked to help Vance process his death and guide his friend into the afterlife. It was a shocking and touching cameo that capped off an equally shocking episode.