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‘NCIS’ EPs Explain Why Mark Harmon Didn’t Return for Ducky Funeral

The NCIS showrunners for a hot second thought about channeling Avengers: Endgame and having everybody show up for the funeral of Dr. Donald Mallard in this week’s Ducky/David McCallum tribute…

Speaking with TVLine at a Jan. 19 event celebrating 1,000 total NCIS franchise episodes(in the video above), co-showrunner Steven D. Binder shared, “In a perfect world, what we first imagined was what the Marvel Cinematic Universe did when Tony Stark died…. But having “everybody” of pertinence from NCIS ‘ past quickly proved itself to be above and beyond the TV series’ non-MCU budget; additionally, actor availability and scheduling issues would have been insurmountable, the EPs explained. Abandoning that Endgame notion, Binder said, “We gave a lot of thought to who Ducky is connected to most, which on one level would be Gibbs,” last played by exec producer Mark Harmon more than two years ago.

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