Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.
Q: “NCIS” is my favorite TV program and Mark Harmon is my favorite actor. Will he ever return to “NCIS”?
— Grace, via email
Rob: Recall after Harmon’s departure from “NCIS,” his Gibbs character remained in the show’s opening credits for quite some time, suggesting the possibility that he might return as a guest star. That never happened.
Harmon is an executive producer on and narrates this fall’s new CBS prequel series, “NCIS: Origins” (9 p.m. Oct. 14), featuring a young Gibbs (Austin Stowell) in the early ‘90s at Camp Pendleton.
After a press conference for the new show last month during the Television Critics Association summer 2024 press tour in Pasadena, Calif., I asked Harmon if he’d ever consider returning to the original “NCIS.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve been asked that a lot. I’ve always let the writers do what they want to do. I was OK with the storyline they (came up with for Gibbs’ exit]) and I didn’t really know where it was going when they started it.”
Have the producers of “NCIS” ever invited him back?
“Directly, like a phone call? Not that I’m aware of but I just changed agents so who knows,” Harmon said.
If and when “NCIS” ever ends, would he return for the series finale?
“It’s really about feeling like you’re fulfilled with the role or complete with the role or the people you went there to work with and worked with a long time and gave the character the fuel that fueled it for as many years as it did, you just pay attention to the creative part of any process,” he said in a word salady non-answer.
I wouldn’t hold my breath that Harmon will return to “NCIS” given these responses.
Q: Has the Weather Channel discontinued its Weather on the 8s? One of my family members has noticed that they haven’t presented this feature for about a week in the mornings.
— Bill, Wheeling, W. Va.
Rob: This isn’t the first time a Comcast customer has contacted me to say the local weather report disappeared from the Weather Channel and it probably won’t be the last. I assume there was some kind of technical glitch as Bill reports the local forecasts have been restored.
Q: Will “Professor T” on PBS be retuning for a season 4? Also, will “Bridgerton” be returning for another season on Netflix?
— Elaine, Mt. Lebanon
Rob: In February PBS renewed “Professor T” for a fourth season. No air date has been announced but my guess is it will be next year.
In July, Netflix announced season four of “Bridgerton” will focus on the love story of Benedict (Luke Thompson) who “is loath to settle down – until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball,” per Netflix. Again, no word on when it will air but 2026 seems likely.
Q: I have a laundry list of our favorite shows that we have been wondering about. They are “Domina,” “Vienna Blood,” “Resident Evil,” “Marie Antoinette” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Have you heard anything about whether these shows will be returning?
— Dave, Gibsonia
Rob: Several of them won’t be back with two – “Domina” and “Resident Evil” — canceled two years ago at this point.
“Vienna Blood” will be back for a fourth season and “Marie Antoinette” will return for a second season.
“What We Do in the Shadows” will air its 11-episode sixth and final season beginning at 10 p.m. Oct. 21 on FX (streaming the next day on Hulu).
