David James Elliott starred on JAG for 10 seasons, and the series brought the NCIS series to fruition thanks to the backdoor pilot that would pave the way for fans to then get to know Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Despite the show bringing new characters to life and starting NCIS, Harm has never appeared on the original NCIS.
JAG fans got a treat thanks to NCIS: Los Angeles when Elliot reprised his role of Harmon “Harm” Rabb Jr. in three episodes back during the show’s 10th season. But would he ever appear in the original NCIS?
Speaking to TV Insider, he said appearing in seasons 10 and 11 of NCIS: Los Angeles was done for his friend, and former JAG writer R. Scott Gemmill. While his friendship wth Gemmill led to his appearance in NCIS: LA, Eliott seemed to hint that while he'd be open to the idea, the odds aren't looking likely that he'd reprise his JAG character on NCIS.
“I did that because of R. Scott Gemmill, who was a writer in the first two seasons of JAG on the show, and then he left and he ran, and he then of course ran NCIS: LA, and he’s still a friend of mine. I pitched an idea to him, and he liked it. We were talking about maybe taking the Harm character and doing something with him or similar to [it], and then he goes, ‘Yeah, but why don’t we do this?’ And I went, ‘Oh, great.' It was fun. It’s fun to work with him. I don’t really know any of the people on NCIS, but I guess if they came to me, I certainly would consider it. So who knows.”
So, essentially, he said that while he doesn’t see the possibility of him reprising the role of Harm anytime soon, he didn’t completely close the door.
In the NCIS: LA episodes he appeared in, which included 10x23, 10x24, and 11x01, he was reunited with Catherine Bell, who played Sarah “Mac” Mackenzie on JAG. She was also his love interest on JAG. They had originally been engaged until separating at some point after JAG’s run. It remained open whether the two would actually reunite and stay together.
There are plenty of options that could bring him back into the world of NCIS, especially since Harm was the executive commander onboard the USS Allegiance at the time of his appearance. He could have moved on to another position, or there could be a case that brings the NCIS to his door this time.
NCIS most recently brought back the character of Sam Hanna with LL Cool J reprising his role in a season 22 episode. So if Elliott got a good storyline pitch, there’s always a chance we could also get an update on Harm, and maybe get a mention of Mac as well.
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