From the Herald Sun: Mark Harmon could be set for separation on the set of NCIS
Harmon all alone in the NCIS nest?
From: HeraldSun
June 02, 2010
the show's producers.
Click here to read the article at Herald.com.au.
HE IS without doubt the patriarch of America's top TV drama series; leading his co-stars on screen as no-nonsense NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, while mentoring them off-screen as one of the show's producers.
But Mark Harmon, said to be pocketing about $350,000 an episode of NCIS, may be losing some of his "children".
Speculation is rife that co-stars Michael Weatherly (DiNozzo), Pauley Perrette (Abby) and Sean Murray (McGee) may be leaving.
It's believed some key cast members are on less than $100,000 per episode, so it's no surprise they're in a pay battle with the show's producer, CBS TV Studios, as their original seven-year contracts come to a close this year.
Founding cast member David McCallum (Ducky) is believed to have struck a deal to continue, as have Harmon, Rocky Carroll (Director Vance) and Cote de Pablo (Ziva).
Any cast losses would no doubt be a blow to Harmon, who describes cast and crew as "a family".
"In any job you have people come and go and we've had that here," he told Switched On on set recently - before rumours of the pay dispute became public.
But the loss of even one of the three hugely popular leads could have a marked effect on the show's "family" atmosphere.
While Harmon's silver hair and ageless attractiveness led one US critic to label him the father everyone would like to have, in real life he is a dad.
He and actor Pam Dawber - memorable as Mindy McConnell in the late-70s TV comedy Mork and Mindy, opposite Robin Williams - have two sons, Sean, 22, and Ty, 18.
Married since 1987, Harmon and Dawber have come to accept that his fathering role has grown exponentially since he took on the role of NCIS's Gibbs seven years ago.
As the show grew, so did the workload. He recently made a move back from 19-hour production days to a still remarkably burdensome 14-hour days.
It sparked a quip from Dawber that her husband was the only actor who gets excited about now putting in 14-hour days.
"None of that is about working any less hard than we've ever worked here," Harmon says.
"We still work hard here and working hard is what this job is. And we're proud of it.
"We're just not wasting time anymore - we're doing it better. We're more organised."
He adds with some irony: "And many people are working very hard to make that happen.
"Every nine days we're trying to put up the best show we can put on. I think what's meant by that 14-hour quote is that to some shows 14 hours is a huge day - but compared to where we were, that's progress."
He laughs at that and shoots a trademark Harmon/Gibbs grin.
Harmon, whose dad Tom was a US football star from Michigan, was a starting quarterback for the University of California Los Angeles in 1972 and '73. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974 he moved into acting. He has been a producer on NCIS since 2008.
When the show is in a production break, Harmon takes the opportunity to slow down.
"Certainly each hiatus at the end of each year is the time to get some rest and come back rested," he says.
"I've done two films in the mix of the seven years here (Chasing Liberty in 2004 where he played Mandy Moore's presidential daddy; and 2009's Weather Girl as a TV anchorman). One time all it did was bring me back here exhausted.
"It's important we all appreciate what this (NCIS) is first and then once you appreciate that, everything after that is about having the luxury of choice.
"Choice now for me in hiatus is about grabbing the family and going somewhere where there's no cell phones and getting back to that."
His other way of escape is woodworking. And yes, that is exactly what the character Gibbs does on screen.
Harmon picked up his skills as a carpenter during a summer job in high school. A casual mention to producers that he once helped a neighbour build a biplane in his garage and they promptly wrote it into his scripts.
Gibbs builds boats in his basement - and burns them once complete. Harmon, who has taught his sons to be adept with carpentry tools, says his woodwork skills don't extend to boats.
"I don't know much about building boats - it is certainly different to building an aeroplane or a piece of furniture to a degree - but it is all about the wood. It's the texture, the feel, the smell, all that."
The results of NCIS are just as rewarding.
"We always thought this was something special," he says. "This show has fought hard for every bit of that.
"And there's something progressively important in having earned something the real way - through the work."
NCIS, Channel 10, Tuesday, 8.30pm
From: HeraldSun
June 02, 2010
the show's producers.
Click here to read the article at Herald.com.au.
HE IS without doubt the patriarch of America's top TV drama series; leading his co-stars on screen as no-nonsense NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, while mentoring them off-screen as one of the show's producers.
But Mark Harmon, said to be pocketing about $350,000 an episode of NCIS, may be losing some of his "children".
Speculation is rife that co-stars Michael Weatherly (DiNozzo), Pauley Perrette (Abby) and Sean Murray (McGee) may be leaving.
It's believed some key cast members are on less than $100,000 per episode, so it's no surprise they're in a pay battle with the show's producer, CBS TV Studios, as their original seven-year contracts come to a close this year.
Founding cast member David McCallum (Ducky) is believed to have struck a deal to continue, as have Harmon, Rocky Carroll (Director Vance) and Cote de Pablo (Ziva).
Any cast losses would no doubt be a blow to Harmon, who describes cast and crew as "a family".
"In any job you have people come and go and we've had that here," he told Switched On on set recently - before rumours of the pay dispute became public.
But the loss of even one of the three hugely popular leads could have a marked effect on the show's "family" atmosphere.
While Harmon's silver hair and ageless attractiveness led one US critic to label him the father everyone would like to have, in real life he is a dad.
He and actor Pam Dawber - memorable as Mindy McConnell in the late-70s TV comedy Mork and Mindy, opposite Robin Williams - have two sons, Sean, 22, and Ty, 18.
Married since 1987, Harmon and Dawber have come to accept that his fathering role has grown exponentially since he took on the role of NCIS's Gibbs seven years ago.
As the show grew, so did the workload. He recently made a move back from 19-hour production days to a still remarkably burdensome 14-hour days.
It sparked a quip from Dawber that her husband was the only actor who gets excited about now putting in 14-hour days.
"None of that is about working any less hard than we've ever worked here," Harmon says.
"We still work hard here and working hard is what this job is. And we're proud of it.
"We're just not wasting time anymore - we're doing it better. We're more organised."
He adds with some irony: "And many people are working very hard to make that happen.
"Every nine days we're trying to put up the best show we can put on. I think what's meant by that 14-hour quote is that to some shows 14 hours is a huge day - but compared to where we were, that's progress."
He laughs at that and shoots a trademark Harmon/Gibbs grin.
Harmon, whose dad Tom was a US football star from Michigan, was a starting quarterback for the University of California Los Angeles in 1972 and '73. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974 he moved into acting. He has been a producer on NCIS since 2008.
When the show is in a production break, Harmon takes the opportunity to slow down.
"Certainly each hiatus at the end of each year is the time to get some rest and come back rested," he says.
"I've done two films in the mix of the seven years here (Chasing Liberty in 2004 where he played Mandy Moore's presidential daddy; and 2009's Weather Girl as a TV anchorman). One time all it did was bring me back here exhausted.
"It's important we all appreciate what this (NCIS) is first and then once you appreciate that, everything after that is about having the luxury of choice.
"Choice now for me in hiatus is about grabbing the family and going somewhere where there's no cell phones and getting back to that."
His other way of escape is woodworking. And yes, that is exactly what the character Gibbs does on screen.
Harmon picked up his skills as a carpenter during a summer job in high school. A casual mention to producers that he once helped a neighbour build a biplane in his garage and they promptly wrote it into his scripts.
Gibbs builds boats in his basement - and burns them once complete. Harmon, who has taught his sons to be adept with carpentry tools, says his woodwork skills don't extend to boats.
"I don't know much about building boats - it is certainly different to building an aeroplane or a piece of furniture to a degree - but it is all about the wood. It's the texture, the feel, the smell, all that."
The results of NCIS are just as rewarding.
"We always thought this was something special," he says. "This show has fought hard for every bit of that.
"And there's something progressively important in having earned something the real way - through the work."
NCIS, Channel 10, Tuesday, 8.30pm