Every great fictional character has a great name. Duncan Idaho, Atticus Finch, Ebenezer Scrooge, Spike Spiegel; these are all names that immediately sound just too good to be picked at random and too evoking not to belong to a memorable character. These are the kind of names that make anyone go, “Whoever that name belongs to is either a total badass or at the very least a very interesting person.”
Such is the case with Leeroy Jethro Gibbs, the main character of the military police procedural “NCIS” that has run on CBS for 22 seasons as of this writing. After starring in an underrated TV movie adaptation of a classic “Twilight Zone” episode, Mark Harmon became a hugely recognizable face on television for nearly two decades as Gibbs, the head of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that was actually first introduced in an episode of “JAG” before going on to star in “NCIS.”
It’s such a good name that it was a big part of what drew Harmon to the role in the first place. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight about what initially interested him about the project, Harmon said he read the name Leroy Jethro Gibbs and thought “I like that name.” Unfortunately for him, “For a brief second when I decided that I liked the idea of the project, the name changed.”
That’s right, we almost had “NCIS,” starring Mark Harmon as, according to the actor, it was almost “Bob Johnson or something like that” a name that just screams, “meh.”
Special Agent Bob Johnson?
As Harmon tells it, it wasn’t even the network that wanted the name changed, but rather “NCIS” creator Donald P. Bellisario who nearly changed his mind on Gibbs. He explained:
“I went, ‘No, no, it’s gotta be Leroy Jethro Gibbs,’ Harmon continued. “The creator said, ‘No, you can’t play a guy named Leroy Jethro Gibbs,’ and I said, ‘Why not?'” the actor and writer continued. “And then it went back and I was happy about it.”
In the end, though, the name stuck, and Harmon went on to play Gibbs for 19 seasons until he left “NCIS.” The character proved popular enough that even as it expanded, Harmon remained the poster child for the franchise and Gibbs even went on to get its own origin story via a prequel series.
Even if Harmon was mired in behind-the-scenes drama during his time at “NCIS that led to Pauley Perrette retiring from acting due to clashes with Harmon, there’s no denying that at least Leroy Jethro Gibbs remains a badass fictional name.
