NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The lead character of television's most popular drama exited the show Monday without a fuss, and without the immediate ratings bump that would be expected if there had been.
鈥淣CIS鈥� star Mark Harmon, who has played Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs since the CBS drama began in 2003, had his final night as a regular character on Monday's show. Gibbs informed his partner after working on a case in Alaska that he was going to stay there.
At Harmon's request, CBS made no special promotion of the occasion, a muted departure for an industry that has never been shy about hawking the movements of big stars.
That may partly be because Harmon, 70, hasn't ruled out the possibility of an occasional return.
鈥淥ur north star has always been staying true to our characters, and that truth has always guided the stories we tell and where those characters go,鈥� said Steve Binder, 鈥淣CIS鈥� executive producer, in a statement. 鈥淪o regarding the future of Gibbs, as long-time fans of the show may have noticed over the years ... never count Leroy Jethro Gibbs out.鈥�
Monday's show was seen by an estimated 7.37 million viewers, the Nielsen company said. That number is expected to increase substantially once streaming and delayed viewing is taken into account, particularly as word of Harmon's exit spreads.
鈥淣CIS鈥� has been television's most popular drama for 11 of the past 12 seasons, the only exception being 2017-18, when NBC's 鈥淭his is Us鈥� was hot.
Yet it stands as a symbol of another era in television. While the 7.96 million live viewers who watched last week made it, once again, TV's most popular drama, its audience is older. Five other dramas had more viewers in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic most advertisers crave, Nielsen said.
The show also doesn't match the buzz or award potential of cable or streaming shows. 鈥淣CIS鈥� has never won an Emmy for best drama. It has never even been nominated. Harmon, similarly, has been shut out of the best actor category.
NBC was the most popular network in prime time last week, averaging 6.1 million viewers. CBS had 5.9 million, Fox had 5.3 million, ABC had 3.5 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and Ion Television had 910,000.
ESPN led the cable networks with a 2.92 million average in prime time while Fox News Channel, in its 25th anniversary week, reached 2.25 million. TBS had 2.21 million, MSNBC had 1.17 million and HGTV had 885,000.
ABC's 鈥淲orld News Tonight鈥� won the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.8 million viewers. NBC's 鈥淣ightly News鈥� had 6.6 million and the 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� had 4.8 million.
For the week of Oct. 4-10, the 20 most-watched prime time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. NFL Football: Buffalo at Kansas City, NBC, 17.52 million.
2. NFL Football: L.A. Rams at Seattle, Fox, 14.76 million.
3. 鈥淣FL Weather Delay,鈥� NBC, 14.75 million.
4. 鈥淣FL Post-Game,鈥� Fox, 14 million.
5. 鈥淣FL Pregame鈥� (Sunday), NBC, 13.64 million
6. NFL Football: Las Vegas at L.A. Chargers, ESPN, 12.32 million.
7. 鈥淭he OT,鈥� Fox, 10.24 million.
8. 鈥淔ootball Night in America, Part 3,鈥� NBC, 9.39 million.
9. 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� CBS, 8.47 million.
10. College Football: Alabama at Texas A&M, CBS, 8.33 million.
11. 鈥淣CIS,鈥� CBS, 7.96 million.
12. "Equalizer, CBS, 7.67 million.
13. 鈥淣FL Pregame鈥� (Thursday), Fox, 7.57 million.
14. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� (Monday), NBC, 7.48 million.
15. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� (Tuesday), NBC, 7.21 million.
16. 鈥淐hicago Fire,鈥� NBC, 7.18 million.
17. 鈥淵oung Sheldon,鈥� CBS, 7.118 million.
18. ML Baseball: A.L. Wild Card, N.Y. Yankees at Boston, ESPN, 7.117 million.
19. 鈥淣FL Pregame鈥� (Monday), ESPN, 7.1 million.
20. 鈥淐hicago Med,鈥� NBC, 7.02 million.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
