Kudos To The Writers Of NCIS

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Kudos To The Writers Of NCIS

Have you ever considered what really goes into an episode of NCIS from the writing side of things?

In every episode there are many story lines, going one over the other, and there never seems to be anyone missing a beat.

Let's look at the most recent episode, Caged. In this episode McGee is held hostage in a women's jail after a guard is murdered.

So, at a quick glance here are the story lines in play

1. The case that gets McGee to the jail ? A body found that was murdered in a similar way to two in the past, where a woman at the jail is serving a life term. They want her to confess.

2. The guard murder ? While McGee is trying to question Celia about the new body, a guard is murdered and the riot begins in which he is taken hostage.

3. The prison warden ? Who is trying to move in from the outside while Gibbs and the team work to stop him.

Now these are all the things you expect from a good story. There are various story lines playing back and forth. Frankly, when watching this I was thinking there was enough depth in this show to write a novel. If I were a novel writer, I may have started jotting down notes. But there is more here. In addition to the three paths that are happening in the story you also have all of the ongoing things between the team that are seamless from episode to episode.

This would make sense if it were the same writers for each and every episode and they know where they left off in the sexually charged tug-of-war between Tony and Ziva or Abby's mood from one week to the next, but they aren't. There are over 40 writers that work on this show and often the writer that does an episode one week won't see another of their episodes on the air for a month or more.

So, at the end of the show, and still today I sit back and wonder how do they do it? What if you and 10 people you know were all told to write a portion of a story and then bring it together? Chances are you would all have a little bit of difference here and there and it may not flow. Frankly, it would probably be a very confusing story as everyone would be writing from his or her own perspective.

I have no idea how the writers on NCIS are so great at this. I have no doubt they have weekly or even daily meetings, but it's more like they are sharing one mind, and a great mind it is! Bravo!

Michelle Murillo
Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:48:37 +0000

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