{"id":4203,"date":"2026-01-25T17:05:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T17:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=4203"},"modified":"2026-01-25T17:05:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T17:05:18","slug":"as-ncis-reaches-500-episodes-sean-murray-reveals-why-the-show-still-connects-with-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=4203","title":{"rendered":"As NCIS Reaches 500 Episodes, Sean Murray Reveals Why the Show Still Connects With Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What began as a spinoff of\u00a0<em>JAG<\/em>\u00a0has grown into one of television\u2019s most enduring franchises \u2013 and now\u00a0<strong>NCIS<\/strong>\u00a0is closing in on an incredible milestone: its\u00a0<strong>500th episode<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>With Season 23 currently airing, longtime fans know there\u2019s no one better to reflect on that achievement than\u00a0<strong>Sean Murray<\/strong>, who has played Special Agent\u00a0<strong>Timothy McGee<\/strong> for nearly the entire run of the series.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4204\" src=\"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FB_IMG_1769360677534-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FB_IMG_1769360677534-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FB_IMG_1769360677534-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FB_IMG_1769360677534-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FB_IMG_1769360677534.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Speaking with CinemaBlend, Murray shared why he believes\u00a0<em>NCIS<\/em>\u00a0continues to thrive more than two decades in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s great \u2013 especially because we\u2019re always trying to push forward,\u201d Murray explained. \u201cEven at 500 episodes, we\u2019re not resting on our laurels. We\u2019re still trying new things and telling different kinds of stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since debuting in Season 1 and eventually taking top billing following\u00a0<strong>Mark Harmon<\/strong>\u2019s exit, McGee has evolved alongside the show. Murray credits\u00a0<em>NCIS<\/em>\u2019 longevity to its willingness to change instead of sticking to a rigid formula.<\/p>\n<p>And fans should brace themselves \u2013 because Murray teased that Season 23 has some major surprises ahead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are things coming this year that will have jaws on the floor,\u201d he said. \u201cNot fake-outs \u2013 real, shocking developments involving multiple characters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So far, Season 23 has already delivered big moments, from spotlighting McGee\u2019s author alter ego to revisiting long-cold cases and expanding Alden Parker\u2019s backstory. But according to Murray, the biggest twists are still to come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be doing this after 500 episodes and still feeling excited \u2013 I\u2019ve never gotten bored for a moment,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re firing on all cylinders this year. I\u2019m really proud of what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While CBS hasn\u2019t announced the exact airdate for Episode 500 yet, fans can continue watching\u00a0<em>NCIS<\/em>\u00a0Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, with episodes also streaming on Paramount+.<\/p>\n<p>After all these years,\u00a0<em>NCIS<\/em>\u00a0isn\u2019t slowing down \u2013 it\u2019s still finding new ways to surprise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What began as a spinoff of\u00a0JAG\u00a0has grown into one of television\u2019s most enduring franchises \u2013 and now\u00a0NCIS\u00a0is closing in on an incredible milestone: its\u00a0500th episode. With Season&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4205,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4203\/revisions\/4205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}