The last time a Naval drama had been mounted for television, it had too many soap opera elements, and didn't last long (Emerald Point NAS). With Law & Order being big business for NBC, the network asked producer Don Belisario (Quantum Leap, Magnum, P. I.) to develop a procedural crime drama with a military bent.
JAG, the acronym for the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy, went to series in 1995. Unfortunately, viewers tuned it out after one season. Undaunted, Belisario and Paramount (now CBS Television Studios) moved the series to CBS, where it was relaunched as a mid-season replacement in January 1997, and continued until 2005.
David James Elliott & Catherine Bell were front & center as the lead investigators. Patrick Labyorteaux (note the spelling, but it's the same guy who, as a youth, was on Little House on The Prairie for 4 seasons from 1977-81) would reprise his role as Bud in 3 episodes of the spinoff, NCIS, and in a cameo in the CBS sitcom, Yes, Dear.
When the series went into syndication after season 4, reruns began airing on USA Network, which subsequently acquired rerun rights to NCIS, and spammed both into the ground.
Here is an intro:
We'll take a look at NCIS and its spinoffs another time. Catherine Bell most recently was starring in The Good Witch for Hallmark.
Rating: A.
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