NCIS’ Mark Harmon Pays Mourning Tribute Following Death of Former NCIS Showrunner George Schenck

While the world waits for NCIS first return to the universe prequel NCIS: Originsin which the former leader of the flagship returns Mark Harmon as the series narratorFans of the long-running CBS crime drama suffered a major behind-the-scenes loss. Former showrunner, writer and executive producer George Schenck, who was with the series for multiple seasons before retiring, died at the age of 82.

As reported by the CBS spokesperson (via THRGeorge Schenck died at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday, August 3. The cause of death was not released.

After receiving the sad news, colleagues NCIS Veterinarian Mark Harmon shared the following statement mourning the death of his former boss:

I am so sorry to hear about George. The professionalism and perseverance of George and Frank changed the face of the show. I am so grateful for the team and the teamwork they both represented.

Born on February 12, 1942, Schenck was always destined to be a Hollywood storyteller. He earned a degree in screenwriting from USC while also serving in the U.S. Navy.

George Schenck landed for the first time on NCIS the creative team returns for its first season as a spin-off PERFORMANCEserving as a consulting producer and writer with writing partner Frank Cardea for the first eight seasons. He was promoted to executive producer for Season 9.

The team of Schenck and Cardea were promoted to co-creators of the series during the 14th season, replacing Gary Glasberg, who died in September 2016.The duo took over the first season without Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo and then had to navigate their way around the new situation. Pauley Perrette’s somewhat controversial departure in 2017.

Schenck ultimately departed the industry just two seasons later, hanging up his creative hat in 2018. Frank Cardea, meanwhile, continued to serve as the show’s head honcho until his retirement in 2022. The duo were responsible for creating over 40 episodes of the ratings-topping series during their lengthy stint behind the scenes.

Long before work begins NCISGeorge Schenck honed his talent by starring in films from the 1960s and 1970s such as Barquero, More dead than alive and the sci-fi sequel The future world. He went on to write and produce a number of television shows, many of them with his writing partner Cardea. Over the years, he wrote episodes Luck, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, Crazy as a fox, Let’s bring them back aliveAND High Sierra Search and Rescue.

Recently apart from his NCIS During his career, Schenck wrote episodes of David Morse’s two-season crime drama Hack and Kristanna Loken Jane’s Painkillerand the 2008 TV movie Kiss me deadly co-directing Shannen Doherty recently passed away

We at CinemaBlend would like to express our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of George Schenck in their time of mourning.