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For CBS's 'NCIS,'
yet another record

Cop procedural is airing its 200th episode this month

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 7, 2012

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This February sweeps may be defined by milestones.

Later this month "The Simpsons" will air its 500th episode, followed eight days later by the 400th episode of "American Idol." And tonight at 8 p.m., CBS's "NCIS" airs its 200th episode.

Nine seasons in, "NCIS" remains the most popular drama on television by a wide margin. It's averaging 19.6 million total viewers this season, according to Nielsen, down just a few thousand from last year. The No. 2 drama on TV, "NCIS: Los Angeles," is averaging 15.7 million viewers.

"NCIS" is the No. 3 show overall, behind "Sunday Night Football" and the Wednesday edition of "American Idol." Among adults 18-49 it's averaging a 4.0 rating, 0.2 ahead of the No. 2 drama, "Grey's Anatomy."

"NCIS's" longstanding appeal can be traced to one main thing: its characters. Unless most police procedurals, which relegate investigators' lives to the background with their cases squarely in the foreground, "NCIS" often spotlights the investigators' personal lives.

And the characters are a quirky bunch, from goth lab whiz Abby to trained assassin Ziva to ladies' man/movie buff Anthony to the closed-off and mysterious Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), who is the focus of tonight's episode.

He is at a coffee shop when a patron pulls out a gun, prompting Gibbs' life to flash before his eyes.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN	"College Basketball" (S)	SEC matchup between Florida and Kentucky.
8 p.m.	CBS	"NCIS" (D)	In the show's 200th episode Gibbs reflects on the choices he's made--while he had a gun pointed at his face.
9 p.m.	ABC	"The River" (D)	Series premiere. A documentary crew searches for a missing TV explorer.
9 p.m.	Bravo	"Real Housewives of Orange County" (R)	Season premiere. Vicki finalizes her divorce and starts a new relationship.
9:30 p.m.	A&E	"Shipping Wars" (R)	Season finale. Roy gets excited to haul
10 p.m.	Oxygen	"Jersey Couture" (R)	Season premiere. The mom and boyfriend of client end up in a fight over a dress.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	"Person to Person" (N)	Charlie Rose and Lara Logan interview George Clooney, Warren Buffett and Jon Bon Jovi.
8 p.m.	Fox	"American Idol" (R)	The Hollywood round gets underway.
9 p.m.	NBC	"Rock Center with Brian Williams" (N)	Moves to a new night and timeslot.
9 p.m.	Showtime	"Inside the NFL" (S)	Season finale. Putting an end to the NFL season.
10 p.m.	BBC America	"Mistresses" (D)	Season finale. The women deal with a shocking death.
10 p.m.	Food Network	"Restaurant: Impossible" (R)	Season premiere. Irvine tries to make over a failing restaurant in Ohio.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	"American Idol" (R)	Another Hollywood round episode.
8 p.m.	NBC	"30 Rock" (C)	The first of back-to-back Valentine's Day-themed episodes.
8:30 p.m.	Showtime	"On the Shoulders of Giants" (N)	Documentary about an all-black basketball team in the 1940s.
9 p.m.	ABC	"Grey's Anatomy" (D)	Lexie and Mark both have to babysit on Valentine's Day.
9 p.m.	History	"Swamp People" (R)	Season premiere. First episode of the season promises plenty of alligators.
10 p.m.	MTV	"Jersey Shore" (R)	J-Woww has BF drama when Roger won't return her calls.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	USA	"NFL Characters Unite" (A)	Football personalities tell their tales of discrimination.
8 p.m.	ABC	"Shark Tank" (R)	Inventions include a towel used for changing bathing suits and a combination sweater-quilt.
8 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	The Lakers take on the Knicks in New York.
9 p.m.	CBS	"CSI: NY" (D)	Two seemingly random deaths turn out to be related.
10 p.m.	Animal Planet	"Confessions: Animal Hoarding" (R)	A man secretly keeps way too many dogs in a junkyard.
10:30 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Western Conference matchup between the Thunder and Jazz.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Time	Network	Program	Description
1 p.m.	CBS	"College Basketball" (S)	Big East rivalry game between Connecticut and Syracuse.
2 p.m.	NBC	"Winter Dew Tour" (S)	The season-ending Toyota Championship featuring men's snowboarding.
3 p.m.	CBS	"PGA Golf" (S)	Tiger Woods should help boost ratings for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
6 p.m.	ESPN	"College Basketball" (S)	Good Big Ten matchup between Michigan State and Ohio State.
8 p.m.	Fox	"America's Most Wanted" (N)	Special "Crimes of Passion" edition.
10:30 p.m.	DIY	"The Bronson Pinchot Project" (R)	Series premiere. Is that Balki? Yes, yes it is.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 p.m.	CBS	"PGA Golf" (S)	Final round from Pebble Beach, which of course will do well if Tiger's in contention.
3:30 p.m.	ABC	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Good Eastern Conference game between the Bulls and Celtics.
8 p.m.	CBS	"Grammy Awards" (A)	The 54th annual ceremony, hosted by LL Cool J.
9 p.m.	AMC	"The Walking Dead" (D)	The second half of season two has Rick trying to calm things down a bit.
10 p.m.	Discovery Channel	"The 9/11 Tapes: Chaos in the Sky" (N)	A new look at the Sept. 11 attacks.
10:30 p.m.	HBO	"Angry Boys" (C)	Season finale. Blake gives surfing another try.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.