NCIS Showrunner on the 500th Episode and the Show's Enduring Success

NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder discusses the show's 500th episode, reflecting on the series' longevity and its success in balancing entertainment, emotional honesty, and relatable characters. He highlights the importance of maintaining real consequences and honoring the show's history while delivering engaging storylines. The article also mentions the impact of the milestone episode.

For NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder , reaching its 500th episode comes down to something surprisingly simple: keeping the show both entertaining and emotionally honest. Speaking with Collider as part of Collider Rewind, our retrospective look at the franchise's storied history, Binder reflected on how the long-running series has managed to stay fresh for over two decades, pointing to its balance of twists, humor, and character-driven storytelling that feels grounded in real human reactions.

That sense of truth, he explains, is what keeps audiences connected — viewers aren’t just watching cases unfold, they’re seeing pieces of themselves in the characters. It’s that relatability, combined with consistently engaging and heartfelt stories, that has allowed NCIS to evolve without losing what made it resonate in the first place. When it came to crafting the milestone episode itself, Binder knew they had to go big — delivering the most surprising, emotional, and meaningful story possible while also honoring the show’s legacy. The result is an episode that puts the agency itself in jeopardy, raises the stakes in a major way, and ties back to some of the series’ earliest emotional beats, including a callback to a pivotal moment from Season 1. While fans are still reeling from the loss of Rocky Carroll's Director Vance, Binder noted that the decision paid homage to the show’s history of real consequences, acknowledging that NCIS has never shied away from loss, and that sense of risk remains essential to keeping the story compelling. Read on for the full, wide-ranging discussion that incorporates characters and storylines from throughout the franchise's history. COLLIDER: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about the 500th episode. You’ve been part of so many major milestones — the 100th, 200th, 300th, and 400th episodes — and have seen NCIS build this incredible legacy. What do you think is the secret to keeping the series feeling fresh and relevant after all this time? STEVEN D. BINDER: Well, I think a couple of things. You need to be entertaining, not to state the obvious. And we are entertaining in a couple ways. We have surprises and twists and turns and mystery, and we work really hard to make sure that those are entertaining. But also humor. We have a lot of humor in our show, and I think that's an interesting mix. I think what those two things serve is to make the show feel real and truthful. And that's, I think, the key thing is that there's a truthfulness we demand in the way our characters react and respond to things that I think resonates with people. You see yourself in the show."Oh yeah, that's how I would...""I can relate to that.""Oh yeah, of course. I've been there.""Yeah, no, I get that." If you can have an audience feeling that when they're watching your show, I think they feel more connected to it, and I think they like the ride a lot better. We work really hard to be honest in the moment, in every moment, in every line. What's that? Is the famous... The difficult actor,"My character wouldn't say that." We sort of operate on,"Would a person say that? Is that what a person would really say? Is that what they'd really feel? Is that how it would really go?" It's like a rollercoaster ride. If you can keep the audience on those tracks and really feeling like,"Yeah, that's how I would be in this situation," I think it just enables them to enjoy the show that much more. But you also have to tell good stories and interesting stories and surprising stories and heartfelt stories. Related Sex and the Quizzy — The Collider TV Quiz! And Just Like That... we're going back to where it all started for Carrie Bradshaw. On Sarah Jessica Parker's birthday, it's a Sex and the City check. Posts By Macklen Makhloghi 'NCIS' Had No Choice But To Go Big With the 500th Episode Absolutely. The series has done such a great job with that. When it comes to a milestone like the 500th episode, how early do you start planning for it? Do those ideas begin in the previous season, or at the start of the current one? How do you map out the character arcs and storylines needed to bring that vision together? BINDER: Well, the production schedule on a network broadcast show is pretty hand-to-mouth, so you don't necessarily have 18 months to get your ducks in a row before you go shooting like some of those streamers, not that I'm jealous of that timetable at all, because that would be nice. When it became apparent at the beginning of the season — we met in June — that I couldn't get anyone else to write this episode, that I was going to have to write it. That's when I started thinking,"Okay, what is it..." Well, first, a couple layers. One is you start thinking about what it is you should be thinking about. Then I realized,"Okay, I need to think about what this episode should be. It should be the best surprise we've ever had. It should be the twistiest. It should be the most mysterious. It should be the most engaging. It should be funny. It should remind audiences, above all, of why they love this show. It should pay homage to NCIS, and it should be epic." So I had this checklist of things. I had a similar checklist for the 400th, which I also somehow got roped into writing.And then you're like,"Okay, what the hell do I do now?" There were some other ideas circling that sort of crystallized into this episode, one of which was if the show is called NCIS, maybe NCIS itself should be in jeopardy, and that NCIS should be saved. That sort of became a thing floating in the clouds. And then once you had that piece, then it was the twist algorithm comes into play, which is,"All right, so the whole season, let's lead up..." We don't want just to one day NCIS is in trouble, but we also don't want to spend the whole time saying NCIS is in trouble. That's not entertaining either. So we did this misdirect where it looks like CID is in trouble, introducing the idea to the audience that there's a government agency that's going to get shut down, and it's a big one, and it's going to cause a problem, but it's in the background. Then, in the episode before the 500, we learn we had it backwards. CID is not getting shut down. We are. So that sort of sets the stage. For a long time, there was this idea that Vance would pay an ultimate price defending his agency, and that just was circling around us for years. It was a card no one ever really wanted to play, because everyone loves Rocky so much, and Vance. Leon Vance is such a great character. But this is a show that loses people. Walking Dead was another show that lost people. It's something you know. I think knowing that makes the show even more engaging for audiences; it makes them care even more because this is the real world. In the real world, you lose people, and these stakes are real. It's not just your characters. The bomb's going off, and you know the bomb's going to get diffused, and it's just not good drama. One of the ways you preserve your show from audiences falling into that kind of trap and writers falling into that kind of trap is there's stakes. We've always had stakes. It's been a while since we've had anyone pay the ultimate price. I think it just became apparent that for the 500 where NCIS is in jeopardy, that the way to close the loop on that is that someone's going to pay the ultimate price to save the agency — and Rocky drew the short straw. No, it was a story that we had talked about for a while. It seemed like it was time. If we put it off another year, it might be a year too late. It seemed strange to do the 500th and then in Episode 517, Rocky pays the ultimate price. Leon Vance pays the ultimate price. That didn't seem right. So we decided that this was time. This was time to do the episode. It was a time for the agency to be in trouble. It's time for someone to give their life to save it, and an opportunity for someone to be reunited with their loved one who was taken from him over a decade ago. It seemed like a win-win. Related 5 Years Later, ‘NCIS’ Brings Back Bishop With a Major Twist Ahead of 500th Episode "She's completely different." Posts 1 By Marisa Williams These Key Moments Still Define What 'NCIS' Is Very true, as heartbreaking as it is. When you were working on this episode, did you look back at specific moments or specific episodes in the history of NCIS to help inform some of the story beats or decisions that you were making in the episode? BINDER: I knew two things. I knew one, I wanted it to be an episode that sprouted from a seed that was planted from the very beginning. Unfortunately, for the 1000th all-show episode celebration — that's NCIS, LA, New Orleans, Sydney, Hawaii — we already did that. We went back to"Yankee White,""Air Force One," and we did that. So that left Episode 2, which, thankfully and luckily, had a really fantastic seed that we replanted, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion it was going to be that. I looked back, what were some of the most poignant moments, big arcs, characters, and things that could be that seed? One of the writers mentioned that final scene in Episode 2, where Gibbs goes and builds the tree house. As soon as he put it in my head, I was like,"Oh, it's going to be that. It's going to be this kid."Because that's a moment that sort of sets the tambour for the whole series, which is that there's cases, but then there's people, and there's Gibbs, who, as tough and locked off emotionally as he is, has the biggest heart in the world. That sort of typified the show. I thought,"I want to take that. I want to take that little boy and want to find a way to bring him back into this story." And also find that actor — who turned out was living in Colorado. I found him on Facebook, and I said,"You still acting?" And he said,"No." And I said,"Well, you want to do a little more?" And he was like,"Yep." And we got him. And so that was the heart. In terms of the case, I also knew going along that I wanted the case to involve people and characters that had been in the show over a period of time. Originally, it was going to be characters popping up from La Grenouille, his nephew was going to make an appearance. That was a big arms dealer in Season 4 and directly led to Vance's appearance in that subplot. I ended up confining myself to characters from the last season. There's an attorney general, deputy assistant, or deputy attorney general who's a part of it, all these different characters that showed up in various ways. Turns out they were together in this conspiracy. I also didn't want to make it too confusing, so I just grabbed a couple of people. But yeah, there was a look back for sure. It was a lot of material to think about and look back. I was there for most of it, but the hard drive gets full, and then you start losing things. Well, on the theme of looking back, what are some of the storylines that still stand out to you the most across this 500-episode run? BINDER: When Kate got shot at the end of Season 2, that was an extremely powerful moment. The young Ducky flashback episodes, I was always a big fan of because we got to see another side of a venerable character. It was always interesting for me to see that. God, there's so many standout episodes. I think when Ziva leaves on the tarmac, I think that's a big one. The episodes with Gibbs' father when we meet him."Heartland" was a great one. And then there's just the fun ones that are singled out back in Season 4. Those are fun episodes, fun rides. David North wrote a bunch of them. I'm a big fan of an episode where Bishop is about to go down the road Gibbs went down with exacting revenge on someone who went after his wife, and you think Bishop actually killed this person. And then at the end of the episode, there's a slow-motion shot. She didn't kill him. And the woman who they've arrested for the murder is adamantly denying it, but they don't believe her, but they're just like,"Well, if she didn't kill him, who did?" And you have this slowmo of Gibbs walking into the elevator, and you're like,"Did Gibbs get that Gibbs-ian justice again?" But I would add, just out of a sense of responsibility, it wasn't just revenge. It was set up that this person was going to kill people again.BINDER: Preventative revenge. I don't know that plain revenge would've been enough for who he was morally. It was when he killed Pedro Hernandez, the man who killed his wife, but I think the whole point of that episode was what does that get you? Gets you nothing. Related 'NCIS' Gained Its Best New Character When Tony Left 10 Years Ago Polar opposites, but both are perfect. Posts 1 By Jasneet Singh Bringing Bishop Back to 'NCIS' Was Serendipitous Since you mentioned Bishop, how exciting was it to bring her back this season, especially leading into such a major milestone for the series? She was such a big part of the show for so long, and her return feels really serendipitous. BINDER: It was one of those things where she left, so you don't want to ask the next year. And then she had kids, so you keep in touch, and you look at the baby photos and stuff. But enough time had gone by where we were talking about it. I'm like,"You think Emily wants to come back? What do you think?" And we flew out a couple floaters, and she responded enthusiastically. And then it was a done deal at that point. It was just finding out to make it work. When does it fit in the schedule and things like that, and her schedule. And it happened pretty quickly once the overtures were made. We wanted her back, and she wanted to be back, and it was a very simple process at that point. And it worked out great. Because she left in a rush. And I don't mean Emily left in a rush — Bishop left in a rush. There were a lot of T's that needed to be crossed, and I's that needed to be dotted. So we got a chance to do that. And also, it's always great to take a character... I likened it to Bill and Ted's excellent adventure when at the very end they're on stage, and they're going to play guitar, and they realize they don't know how to play guitar, so they go into the time machine, and they come out a second later, and they've got long beards, and they're... That was Bishop. I said,"She's gone away, and we sort of moved on because we're not thinking about her at that now. We're watching the show, and we're living our lives, and she just comes back into our lives, and she's completely different." She's this totally changed, badass person, and I thought that would be really fun too. So now we have Bishop 2.0, which is... It's interesting. It’s been so great to have her back — she’s always been one of my favorite characters, along with Ziva, and seeing their arcs come and go over the years has been so fun as a fan. It also made me think about all the characters who’ve passed through the series. Are there any you still find yourself wanting to bring back or revisit, regardless of how their story ended? Subscribe for Insider NCIS 500th Episode Coverage Dive deeper by subscribing to our newsletter for insider interviews, behind‑the‑scenes context, and character deep dives that illuminate NCIS’s 500th episode — plus thoughtful coverage of similar TV milestones. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. BINDER: Yeah, Mike Franks for one, and I did. I brought him back in twice, I think. And one was... He in a lot of the show as a flashback episode. Anonymous was a woman. And then I think we brought him back just in the bullpen as a vision Gibbs was having. Diane Sterling, Gibbs's ex-wife, which was fantastic. And we killed her off. I brought her back too, as at the end of... It's called Daughters, season 16, the season finale. She was either a ghost or a figment of Gibbs' imagination, depending on which way you want to go. There's something to be said about losing characters for sure. But at the risk of sounding mercenary, not until you at least juiced them, getting out all the juice out of the orange before you... Or a lot of it, and there was so much juice left in both of those characters or their storylines that it was a real bummer to lose them. Shocking. It was very shocking, but it also could have been shocking five years later or two years later. I wasn't in charge then.How Tony and Ziva Became One of 'NCIS' Biggest Draws That’s so true. And for my last question — with network television especially, fan investment is often driven by relationships, or ‘ships.’ With something like Tony and Ziva, which really paid off for longtime fans, how do you approach building those dynamics? What goes into deciding which relationships to explore, and how much do fan reactions or actor chemistry influence those choices?” BINDER: I think that's, what you just described, is where you get the best relationships. And certainly Tony and Ziva were not... No one was talking about them as a thing. I remember I had written something in an episode where they were in Mexico and it was a couple episodes later, Tony says,"Oh yeah, my back is killing me because I had to sleep on the couch." And Abby's like,"Ziva said she slept on the couch." And that was it. And it was a little gag like,"Are those two guys having sex?" And I found out years later that Michael and Cody were absolutely playing... They were deliberately playing these things up. And it was the fandom that started making us writers realize that people were shipping these two. I'm like,"Oh, they're actually... These two people who are not... She seems like she gets annoyed by him all the time, and he flirts with everybody, so nothing means anything about these two." And then, as it turns out, that was the recipe for the audience really wanting these two to get together. And I think when it's organic like that, that's where you get the most interesting relationships. When you start plotting and planning, you're rolling the dice. And one is you can't please everybody. People are going to have different feelings about it. The second thing is where the most interesting drama is isn't necessarily what people want to see, even though they might want to see it because people like drama. We had Knight and Jimmy Palmer together, and they're both emotionally mature, responsible people in a relationship.BINDER: It's zero drama. And so, okay. So, as storytellers, there's no stories there really. We're not Parenthood. We're not that show, the trials and tribulations of relationships. It made it harder to tell that story. And so we thought we would inject a little drama and then see where the day takes us with those two. The most drama would be if Knight starts dating Director Vance. Boy, her boss. He's older. He works in the office. Well, we're not going to do that either because we're also not Days of our Lives. So it's really hard... It's all really hard, really hard. And what you hope is that something organic happens and that you can ride the wave instead of trying to make the wave yourself because it's artifice, and it's just difficult, especially when you're trying to tell a procedural story in 42 minutes. Like Follow Followed NCIS TV-14 Crime Drama Action Release Date September 23, 2003 Network CBS Showrunner Donald P. Bellisario Directors Dennis Smith, Terrence O'Hara, Tony Wharmby, James Whitmore Jr., Thomas J. Wright, Michael Zinberg, Arvin Brown, Rocky Carroll, Diana Valentine, Leslie Libman, Tawnia McKiernan, Colin Bucksey, William Webb, Bethany Rooney, Alrick Riley, Jeff Woolnough, Alan J. Levi, Lionel Coleman, Martha Mitchell, Peter Ellis, Michael Weatherly, Edward Ornelas, Stephen Cragg, Tom Wright Cast See All

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