The NCIS Prequel Series Is Almost Impossible To Watch, But It's Coming To Streaming
Before "NCIS" and its assorted spin-offs, there was "JAG" — a series which focuses on Harmon Rabb Jr. (David James Elliott) and other lawyers working for the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's office. "JAG" ran for a very decent 10 seasons itself and has plenty of overlap with the "NCIS" universe, so fans of the latter series might be very interested in watching the show. Unfortunately, "JAG," in its entirety, has been extremely difficult to watch in recent years, with Paramount+ not carrying all of the show's 227 episodes. However, as it turns out, this might change rather dramatically in the near future.
According to TVLine, come Monday, July 1, the entirety of "JAG" will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The show is effectively the courtroom drama leg of the "NCIS" universe, largely taking place before the police procedural events that focus on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's Major Case Response Team took over. As such, "NCIS" fans should finally have a chance to access the show that started it all — all 10 seasons of it.
JAG is an instrumental and often forgotten part of the NCIS universe
The untold truth of "JAG" may be closer to courtroom drama than the field agent thrills and spills that "NCIS" eventually introduced, but that doesn't make the show any less enticing — especially if legal eagle antics are your thing. Fans might find the "NCIS" episodes of "JAG" well worth checking out to see how the original "NCIS" cast members fare as guest stars before breaking out in their own right, which alone justifies "JAG's" place in the entire "NCIS" timeline.
The truly delicious thing with "JAG" becoming available for streaming, of course, is that "NCIS" is cooking a prequel series of its own. "NCIS: Origins" features franchise key characters, Since "Origins" is set in the past and features Leroy Jethro Gibbs' (Austin Stowell) early days with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, it's fascinating to think that younger versions of "JAG" characters might turn up in the show at some point down the line. If this is the case, "JAG" episodes on Prime Video might become truly required viewing for fans of the show ... and even if it isn't, the fact that "JAG" is finally headed for streaming is no doubt good news for "NCIS" completionists who were unable to check out the show back in the day.