Still destination TV

I watched the premiere of this season of NCIS last night. This is one of very few shows I make time to watch (rather than opportunistically watching, as in, "I'm tired, I have my knitting, let's see what's on TCM and if I want to watch it")

I was apprehensive because Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo) had left the show at the end of the last season (in a somewhat tearjerker way - though not as tearjerkery as it could have been, seeing as presumably the character is still alive, just not part of NCIS). Also, when I heard the replacement agent was to be played by Wilmer Valderrrama, I was like, "Fez? Really? They're getting FEZ to replace Tony?"

Well, Valderrama is now all grown up and he doesn't LOOK like Fez, and doesn't play the role like a buffoon like Fez. I actually....kinda like Torres. And it doesn't help that, IMHO, Valderrama grew up WELL. And yes, a little eye candy is not a bad thing. I hope the character goes good places and doesn't become annoying.

I will say Sean Murray (who is Tim McGee) has got a bit....thin....for my taste. I hope it's not un-wellness, just exercise and diet carried a bit far, but I liked the "babyfat Tim" of the earlier seasons' look better. (Or maybe it's just aging, a little? I think he's about 10 years younger than I am but still, we're all aging. I know my face has got thinner in the past few years and I haven't even dropped that much weight from my adult maximum).

I'm glad Abby is back, and Ducky. (And 2016: you leave your mitts off David McCallum, okay?)

I did not particularly care for the other "new agent," though she may not be permanent - Quinn? I think that was her name? I didn't like how she hazed Bishop. (And I guess Bishop has grown on me. I didn't like her at first but I felt really unhappy and uncomfortable for her when Quinn was doing the "Nope, don't remember you" bit and I was like HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER THE WOMAN WHO IS A SKINNY SNACKMOUTH WHO ALWAYS SITS ON THE FLOOR?!?! but of course it was hazing).

Also, the comment about "I'm doing this to her because she's a little too tightly wound" got my hackles up because I have been accused of being a little too tightly wound. (I probably AM, but meh. I get stuff done.) So if that was a move calculated to generate sympathy for Bishop (who seemed not to have been popular with some fans, at least at first), it worked, at least on me.

One other thing about the premiere, there was a sweet little callback to the show that NCIS was spun off of - I saw "Patrick Labyorteaux" in the opening credits and was like, "Oh, could it be?" and then I started looking for him (he has a distinctive face). And then I was like BUD!!!! (Bud Roberts was my favorite character on JAG, along with his wife, Harriet). (He's got white hair now. Not sure if the actor actually does or if it was just for the character, but whoa.)

The story....well, a lot of the NCIS stories aren't the most deeply-plotted, but that's not why I watch; it's for the characters. (Kind of like why I read some of the golden-age mysteries I read: Christie is honestly not that gloriously-written, but Hercule Poirot is so much fun I can overlook some of the clunkiness or bad handling of certain types)