Tim McGee has been one of the mainstays of NCIS. It reached a height when Sean Murray finally got top billing for the series in Season 20 and established himself as a favorite. So it may surprise newer fans to know McGee wasn’t part of the original NCIS cast! When did he join?
NCIS‘s first season can be a bit tricky to watch. The show was still finding its way as a spin-off of JAG and had not established its tone yet. It didn’t even have those black and white “fade-outs” for the commercial breaks.
The main cast for the first season was Mark Harmon as Gibbs, Sasha Alexander as Caitlin Todd, Michael Weatherly as Anthony DiNozzo, Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto, and David McCallum as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. There were a few recurring faces, like Pancho Demmings as Gerald Jackson, Ducky’s first assistant. He was shot and replaced by Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer.
It was Episode 7, “Sub Rosa,” that introduced Timothy McGee, an NCIS Norfolk agent who found a body in an acid-filled barrel and called in the team. It looked like he was just another one-shot character, but Sean Murray won over the producers to become more of a recurring face.
For the rest of Season 1, McGee would pop up, usually in the office, where he’d find out information on computers to relate to characters. It also established him as the butt of Tony’s jokes, including always calling him “Probie.”
When did McGee fully join NCIS?
With the show established as a hit, the producers decided to expand the cast. That included the Season 2 premiere, “See No Evil,” as McGee once more helped the team out hunting for a missing child.
At the end of the episode, McGee was prepping to go back to Norfolk, only for Gibbs to matter-of-factly state he’d been promoted to full field agent and now assigned to his team. It was a surprising move as Season 1 had established McGee and Abby were in a relationship that ended once they became co-workers.
It took a bit for McGee to break free of being the butt of jokes and establish himself as a top agent but it’s worked as he’s now in a position to become a team leader, showing his growth.
So, while McGee wasn’t part of the original NCIS team, he’s since become the heart of the series to show just how important adding this seemingly minor character was for the series.
NCIS is available to stream on Paramount+.