NCIS Didn't Die After Season 7 Like Rocky Carroll Thought - Now He Realizes Why

Its longevity is talked about less than a primetime icon like "The Simpsons," but CBS' hit military procedural "NCIS" may be eyeing a similarly lengthy run. The series did, after all, recently wrap up its 20th season on the air — and CBS bosses have already confirmed a 21st is in the works. Given the way fans continue to respond to the show even after the departure of longtime frontman Mark Harmon, the network will likely keep the renewals coming for the foreseeable future.

It seems there's no one in the "NCIS" cast more surprised by this fact than series star Rocky Carroll, who has portrayed unit director Leon Vance since Season 5. In fact, the actor admitted during a recent interview with KCAL News that he fully expected the series to end not long after he joined the cast. "I literally said to myself, '... If it goes seven seasons, at least I got like two seasons out of it,'" Carroll said. "And that was 15 years ago."

The actor would go on to posit that the surprising longevity of procedural dramas like "NCIS" may be explained in the way classic Westerns used to populate the network landscape. "Back in the early days of television, in the '60s, and the '70s, every network had Westerns," he said, naming the likes of "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza" as proof, before alluding to the idea that networks tend to run with what works as long as they can.

It's interesting that Rocky Carroll would reference "Gunsmoke" in discussing the longevity of "NCIS," as the 20th season of his own series actually tied it with the legendary Western for third on the list of the longest-running U.S. primetime dramas in history. And by this time next year, "NCIS" will occupy that illustrious spot all by itself, right behind "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order."

Carroll didn't seem aware of that nugget during his KCAL interview, but he did elaborate on why Westerns were so popular in television's early days. In doing so, he'd speculate a similar effect is likely being achieved by modern-day procedurals, like "NCIS." "There was something about that sort of frontier, simple justice, about somebody having an innate sense of right and wrong," Carroll said. It seems Carroll believes the simplicity of the setup made it very appealing to viewers, adding, "There were good guys and bad guys, and at the end of the hour, the bad guys were brought to justice."

Identifying the modern police procedural as the successor to the television Western, Carroll admitted that viewers are indeed getting the same sense of closure when the credits roll on an episode of his own hit series. The reign of the Western eventually came to a dramatic end and while that time may also come for the procedural, shows like "NCIS" continue to dominate the primetime game.