# Does "NCIS" try too hard? Or not hard enough? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481 "2008-12-24T00:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/21 "2008-12-26T22:48:34Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > And why do they pull a gun and identify themselves as “NCIS”? Who knows what that is? Usually they say “Federal Agent” as well, but sometimes not. Presumably Navy Staff would know. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/22 "2008-12-27T01:34:15Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42zWIp583E](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42zWIp583E) - my favorite NCIS scene. > I like whimsy. BTW, if you get TNT, Leverage has a similar sense of humor. Hey, that was a great scene! I should give NCIS (and, apparently, Bones - as per the other thread) another shot. Seems I may have been looking at both of them from entirely the wrong perspective. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/23 "2008-12-27T01:56:52Z")
I just watched the episode from a last season where Jethro helps the childhood friend of his daughter. Not too bad. One thing that bugs me about the show is the black and white snapshot thing they do. Stop that! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/24 "2008-12-27T03:25:32Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > The show doesn’t take itself too seriously. Case in point - the episode where the team was protecting Ducky from an expected abduction. Kate was speaking to Gibbs about the good doctor and asked “What did he look like when he was younger?” > > After a beat or two, Gibbs replies “Illya Kuryakin.” > > Cracked me up. I loved that scene. _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._ was a bit before my time, but I got the reference. They’ve also made sly references to Ted Bundy a couple of times - Mark Harmon played him in a TV mini-series. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/25 "2008-12-27T04:30:54Z")
NCIS does feel like “The Shenanigans of a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits (They Fight Crime!)” sometimes, and the “naval” aspect of a few of the cases really feel shoehorned in. A recent Law and Order: SVU (I think) episode took what I felt like a minor potshot at the show when a naval officer was involved in something-or-another and NCIS was brought up–of course, that being Law and Order, they didn’t have nice things to say about what NCIS did or didn’t find. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/26 "2008-12-27T04:40:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Does “NCIS” try too hard? Or not hard enough? Bwah-hah-hah! It TRIES? You’re too much! No, it’s a dopey waste of an hour and I’m glad Pax, er, Ion, is rerunning the ones I missed. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/27 "2009-02-02T05:41:43Z")
> [@vison](#): > > If some kind terrorist would remove that fake-Goth creature from the show it might be bearable. She utterly and totally makes me want to chew my own arm off in an agony of misery. > > My husband watches the show and I just leave the room, but sometimes I have to endure 4 or 5 seconds of her and it wrecks my whole evening. > > Mark Harmon, OTOH, gets a pass from me for one thing: many long ages ago he was a guest star on Moonlighting, and the scene in the restaurant when he tells Bruce Willis he’s an astronaut remains one of my favourite TV moments. “Kind terrorist.” My, but aren’t _you_ the intellectual snob! That remark of yours reminds me of an old cartoon in which a skywriter–thankfully, the FAA is after him–defaces the sky with “Joe Freen is a lousy son-of-a-bitch.” It’s a remark of the kind made by a hostile drunk about someone he doesn’t happen to like. I am delighted by the comic element of Abby Sciuto, who, I must point out, knows her work. (Pauley Perrette went to the trouble to get a degree in criminology!) “Kind terrorist.” Indeed. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/28 "2009-02-02T08:15:14Z")
I’ve had quite enough of serious cop shows. What crime could writers come up with I haven’t already seen? What is comforting about NCIS is the dynamics of the team/family while they figure out the crime o’ the week. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481/29 "2009-02-02T09:52:24Z")
> [@vison](#): > > If some kind terrorist would remove that fake-Goth creature from the show it might be bearable. What’s “fake” about her? Anyone who’s (rather excellent) punk band did a song about the isolation of [Kerguelen Island](http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AF57428574864BA7&playnext=1&v=XgIQOGFnXe8) is alright by me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ncis-try-too-hard-or-not-hard-enough/478481.md?page=1)