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NCIS MODERATORS' BLOG 19
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MARK HARMON AS LEROY JETHRO GIBBS
2nd September 2009
Seeing as it is Mark's birthday today (Happy Birthday Mark.... I hope your fellow cast members at least got you a cake), I thought I would do my blog entry on Mark himself.
Apart from David McCallum, Mark is the actor with the most experience on the show. Mark started in the early 1970's with an appearance in a gorilla suit on "Ozzie's Girls" and his career has gone from strength to strength. Where some actors are typecast early in their careers, Mark has flowed from role to role in a dazzling array. It's hard to imagine that same actor who played womanizing Dr Bobby Caldwell also played laid back, quirky Freddy Schoop, serial rapist/murderer Ted Bundy and murderer Thomas Capano. Mark could very easily have been typecast in the 1980s when he played in a succession of romantic comedies such as "Summer School", "Prince of Bel Air" and "Worth Winning". But at the same time as he was playing the charming romantic lead, he was also scaring women witless as Theodore "Ted" Bundy.
Voted "Sexiest Man Alive" by People Magazine in 1986, Mark lost no time in sending himself up on the comedy show "Saturday Night Live". The sight of Mark Harmon in gold jocks, a gold sash with his name on and a cheesy grin is NOT for the fainthearted. But the absolute refusal to take himself and the award seriously is delightful.
Long before Michael Mann produced "Public Enemies" about John DIllinger, Mark had already brought this charming, much loved gangster to life in the telemovie "Dillinger". I am not being biased here, but Mark's portrayal was much more true to the character of John Dillinger than Johnny Depp's is. John Dillinger was known for his charm, boyish smile and ready laugh. The Michael Mann/Johnny Depp "Public Enemies" is so boring I know three people who fell asleep in the cinema whilst watching it....one of them was me. I could never fall asleep watching Mark Harmon!
The 1990's saw Mark in the perennial favorite "Chicago Hope". His portrayal of gambling addicted doctor Jack McNeil won him even more fans. Note to producers of "Chicago Hope". When are you releasing this wonderful show on DVD? A lot of people want this for their collections. "E.R." is out on DVD..... get a move on.
It was, however, the role of Secret Service agent Simon Donovan in "West Wing" that lead to Mark starring in NCIS. Donald Bellasario saw Mark as Simon and it convinced him that Mark would be perfect for Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He was. Without Mark Harmon, we would not have "NCIS". As much as Mark may deny it, without him there is no "NCIS". Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the pivot around which the show swings. He is the show's anchor. The rock that the other characters lean on. None of the other characters can carry the full weight of the show. Michael Weatherley once described Mark as being the show's spine, without Mark the show is a show about jellyfish.
If anyone would like to see photos covering Mark's career, please visit the Mark Harmon Fan Wiki.
Mark Harmon in Saturday Night Live
(If he sees this blog I am dead meat! hehehehehe)
LAST UPDATE ON 3rd September 2009, 6.31AM Australian Time
SUBMITTED BY MargyW
A BIRTHDAY BLOG :-)
2nd September
Totally unoriginal I agree, but what else could one write about today if it weren't to celebrate a certain silver-haired gent's birthday. I could sing I suppose but that might be cause an apocalyptic storm :-) However, if only to be different I'll write out the happy birthday song in Basque, essentially because I don't know how to write Chinese pictograms. So here goes: Zorionak zuri, zorionak zuri, zorionak Mark Harmon, zorionak beti. That was painless at least.
Anyhow, having fulfilled the formalities of wishing the gent a happy birthday, I wonder if anyone will pull a birthday prank on the fellow, it would after all be only fitting. Of course, one would also like to see if he can manage to blow out 58 candles in one breath.
Well, as you all know there is a birthday page set up for you to add your wishes to Mark Harmon NOT me!!! I've already had PMs wishing me a happy birthday as if I were the gent in question, or maybe they were belated wishes for my birthday last week? Nooooooo!! Highly unlikely, those who know me have already done so. My avatar might be that of a witch but my witchcraft powers are non-existent I can assure you, at least when it comes to transforming myself into other people, if anything I'd clone myself from time to time in order to be able to work full blast and be on here at the same time.
So enjoy your day MH and I raise a toast to you, and may you have more many to celebrate and us to celebrate with you albeit virtually. Zorionak!
PS. Perhaps MargyW will wish the gent happy birthday in Maori, since she and I are nothing if not original - and no!! You our fellow members are not allowed to disagree with that final aseverance :-))))
LAST UPDATE ON 2nd September 2009 7:25 PM - CET
SUBMITTED BY Sorgiñak
SEASON 5 HIGH POINTS REVISITED
1st September 2009
I got an excellent response to my blog on my personal high points of season 5, so have decided to share with you some of the feedback received.
"Requiem" was very much a high point for many fans. As chrissyjoy put it, we got a small glimpse of the softer, more vulnerable Gibbs.
"Chimera" was also popular. The playfulness of the episode combined with a solid story is what made it very popular. The scene with the team relating dealing with their phobias to Abby was the most popular scene. Abby: "What's Gibbs dealing with?" Gibbs: "Them!"
a_giblet pointed to the scene in "Internal Affairs" where Tony tells Jeanne it was all a lie as a high point. As a_giblet rightly points out, it took guts for Tony to do that. To tell her it was all a lie, when he was heartbroken.
Another high point was also from "Internal Affairs". Many people said Tony punching Trent Kort in the face was a highlight for them.
However, the overwhelming favorite high point of season 5 was the interrogation scene in "Internal Affairs". The stylish movement between each interrogation and the intermingled flashbacks made it a standout amongst a season of standouts.
LAST UPDATE ON 2nd September 2009, 6.24AM Australian Time
SUBMITTED BY MargyW
PROMOS - TRAILERS - SPOILERS
1st September
Today's entry refers to the information issued by producers and frequently stolen by those who wish to spoil not only the plot for the viewer but also the hard work of everyone involved in TV (and films).
Many years ago, few TV series had trailers only films had them, and what was offered was the bare outline, a mere nuance of what might happen. Today when you go to the cinema, trailers generally offer the best of any film to such an extent, the film itself is a disappointment. And this is unfair to all involved from the scriptwriter through to the cinema audience.
With the advent of computerised technology, digital photography, etc., TV series now offer us promos or publicity spots and trailers - then there are the spoilers, which go far beyond that.
A promo or publicity spot lasts somewhere between 10 and 60 seconds maximum (give or take), where the viewer gets just enough information to whet the appetite, and spike curiosity. This is the "good" spoiler, since it is little more than half a clue, nothing to take away the essence of what will eventually be shown, and on occasions it's a deliberate red herring to get the prospective audience on tenterhooks.
Next we have the trailer, the duration of which depends largely on the final extension of the episode in question. In the US they're not much longer than the promos as episodes are short, in the Spanish state where episodes are considerably longer (double and sometimes more), then obviously the trailer goes in proportion, in the same way as it does for films. You've probably noticed in the cinema that some trailers are long whilst others are short, and except for commercial cinema, again you're just given the barest of clues so as to give nothing away. Otherwise what's the point? Besides, who wants to know the end of an episode or film before it starts? It takes all the enjoyment out of it.
Finally, we have the "spoiler", which as the name implies "spoils" the plot for those who don't want to know, unless of course they're official ones, where really and truly they're again little more than trailers with insinuation about what is/might be going to happen.
Unfortunately, the majority of the spoilers going the rounds as season premieres approach are unofficial not to mention a breach of copyright, since the aim is not so much to provide the TV viewer with a few subtle hints, but rather the opposite. These "unofficial" / "illegal" spoilers have become so rife that many TV producers of serials in the Spanish State will produce more than one episode ending in an attempt to thwart this, so that at the last minute they can insert whichever ending or beginning takes their fancy. A recent case in hand in the Spanish State was the end of the first season of the popular series "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso" (There's No Paradise Without Boobs - that really is the name of the series based on high standing prostitution aimed at essentially at a teenage audience!!!), they made 3 different endings, offering the press a few stills to confuse, because otherwise there was a serious risk of the series ending being made public and uploaded to the internet before it was even aired!!!
Now this is terribly sad, because both the season premiere and the season final episode are essentially the driving forces in a series; the former to get the season off the ground and the latter to finish in such a way as to encourage the audience to stay around for another season.
Obviously, the people involved in a TV series from the scriptwriter through the director, actors, production, etc., really work tremendously hard with a lot of illusion to get these products off the ground; so to discover all your hard work has been for nothing becomes some bright spark thought it would be funny to expose all the ins and outs of the episode before it was aired, or maybe because the competition offered a sum of a money. I honestly don't understand why some people feel this desperate need to destroy the work of others, I mean where's the kick out of it?
A reflection of this sad fact are the personal data protection laws in force throughout Europe and elsewhere, to prevent the vulneration of people's rights; and in work contracts over the last 5 to 10 years ever tighter confidentiality clauses are being added to keep information pertaining to a company watertight, and default on these clauses carry heavy penalties.
This is one of the reasons why last year NCIS production at least put a ban on spoilers to prevent their interests from being threatened.
Of course, the worst part of all this, is that this kind of confidential information, albeit company know-how, the spoiler of a TV series or a film, etc., are often leaked from the inside. I often wonder, how people who do this kind of thing would react if it were their own lives, which had been exposed to the general public in glorious detail, would they still get a kick out of it? I very much doubt it, this is why I fail to understand all this desperation to find out all the minor details of the latest TV premiere before it's aired, because if you know beforehand, what's the point in watching? All the anticipation and enjoyment is lost, rather like getting opening birthday presents 3 weeks before the day, because when the day finally arrives you have nothing left to look forward to.
As you may have gathered spoilers are one of my bugbears, they annoy me terribly because I think of all the work, time and effort that's gone into producing a TV series or a film, and in particular the premiere episode of a season where those involved in the making are filled with illusion and hopes of providing their audience with something special, that will keep them interested along the way. It's rather like their let's say "thank you prize" for audience loyalty, so they want to surprise us with their work, and like everyone else after their holidays they've gone back to work with more energy to get the show rolling.
So let's just stick with the official promos/trailers that keep us on tenterhooks about what will or will not happen and ignore those spoilers that certain internet sites will dangle before your eyes like a carrot to a donkey, remember they are breaching copyright as well as destroying the hard work of months.
I think it would be a really nice gesture if NCIS fans set an example among all other TV fans by openly rejecting and reporting these spoilers.
LAST UPDATE ON 1st September 2009 9:30 PM - CET
SUBMITTED BY Sorgiña
MargyW |
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, Sep 2 2009, 4:43 PM EDT
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| MargyW | Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs | 5 | Sep 3 2009, 10:36 PM EDT by NCIS_Ziva_Abby | ||
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Thread started: Sep 2 2009, 4:39 PM EDT
Watch
My blog entry today: http://cbsncis.wetpaint.com/page/NCIS+MODERATORS%27+BLOG+19
I would love any feedback/discussion
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| Sorgiña | Promos - Trailers - Spoilers | 14 | Sep 3 2009, 12:46 PM EDT by jml709 | ||
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Thread started: Sep 1 2009, 3:38 PM EDT
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My entry today is a protest against spoilers. Your feedback is welcomed
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| Sorgiña | A birthday blog:-) | 0 | Sep 2 2009, 1:22 PM EDT by Sorgiña | ||
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Thread started: Sep 2 2009, 1:22 PM EDT
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An unoriginal but appropriate entry today
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