“NCIS” gets the “Young Sheldon” treatment

If “Young Sheldon” works, then why not a “Young Leroy Jethro”?
That’s sort of what CBS hopes to do, but it will entitle the show “NCIS: Origins.”
The network has announced the casting of Austin Stowell (shown here in a previous role with Lucy Hale) in the lead role. He’ll play an early version of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the “NCIS” hero. The show will be narrated by Mark Harmon … just as Jim Parsons narrates “Young Sheldon,” tracing the early years of the guy he played in “Big Bang Theory.”
And yes, the ages roughly work out. Harmon was 52 when he started playing Gibbs in 2003. This new series flashes back to 1991, with Austin Stowell, 39, in the role.
Stowell has had small roles in big films, including playing (briefly) such real-life people as Larry King (Billie Jean King’s husband) and Francis Gary Powers (pilot of a downed spy plane). He also played Nately in George Clooney’s “Catch-22” mini-series.
The new project is part of efforts to make “NCIS” perpetual. The original series is in its 21std season; one spin-off (Hawaii) is in its third season, another (Los Angeles) ended after 14. In addition, Paramount+ has announced a 10-episode season with Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo reviving their Tony and Ziva characters.